- Stand back, stand very far back (out of firing range) to return serve.
- Stand in and take the serve early to neutralize the dragon’s evil spin and pace.
- Set the hands in front of your body with little or no backswing to return the dragon’s serve.
- Stay lively with your feet to get a jump on the ball or dodge the ball (fiery projectile) if necessary. Ensure to split step (unweight the feet) at service contact.
- Focus on holding your own serve, knowing it will be difficult to break the dragon. Hopefully, you can generate your own heat.
- In doubles, have your partner stay back (stay very far back) to take pressure off your return and to ensure no one gets hurt.
- In doubles, lob the return over the partner of the dragon.
- Look for body cues to get a better read on the serve. Does the toss giveaway the location and spin of the serve?
- Look for pattern tendencies to get a better read on the serve. Does the dragon prefer to hit out wide on the deuce side of the court?
- Don’t play the dragon in his den (a “fast, hard court”).
Steve Gallagher
