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The first basic question to answer is “where do we want to return.” A 3.0 player should be aiming to get the return in and deep, and only after being able to reliably do so focus on location. For 3.5 and 4.0 players, I’m assuming that you have a reasonable return of serve but you might not have a specific strategy beyond “hit it in the middle” or “hit it to someone’s backhand.” These are reasonable defaults, but you may be sacrificing opportunities to control the point if you don’t develop a return strategy specific to your current opponents.

I consider at least three factors when determining where I want to return serve: (1) the strength of the opponents’ drives; (2) the weakness of their drops; and (3) their ability to disconnect and get big. Let me address each factor in turn.

I’m first assessing the strength of my opponents’ drives. If one of the players has a very strong drive, then I will generally aim to avoid it. If both players have good (or worse) drives, then I’m not going to worry too much about the fine differences between them. I’m only concerned about outstanding drives, where they force an error or really give us trouble if we don’t hit a strong return.

I’m then looking at the strength of their drops. Unlike the first factor, I’m focused here on the relative quality of my opponents’ shots rather than only worrying whether they have an excellent drop or not. Generally speaking, I’m looking to hit returns to the player who has a weaker drop.

Finally, I consider their ability to disconnect and poach (or get big). If one player is crashing the net and attacking fifth shots out of the air, while the other player is less aggressive and more defensive, it makes sense to return to the aggressive player to keep them back and make them earn their way to the line.

This isn’t an exclusive list but it is a good starting point for developing a return strategy. Let me know in the comments below how you’ve put this advice into practice or any questions you have about these considerations.