You’ve heard me mention the last few weeks that it’s been a struggle to find new ways to talk about Nadal. So let me reach back and repackage a few old observations of mine about what he does well, most of which haven’t appeared here. We spend a lot of time talking about the guy's grit and desire and cussedness and even his appearance.

Anyway, the point is that we don’t read a lot of specifics about what the No. 1 player in the world does tactically and technically to separate himself from the pack. So for those of you  who are dusting off their racquets and checking to see if the nets are up yet, here are two lessons from the best to start the playing season.

And as we all know, the two most important shots in tennis are the serve and the return, so letslook at what Rafa can teach us.

1. Serve

Early in his career, Nadal’s serve was a liability. He used a stiff, abbreviated motion that produced little pace or bite. He’s tinkered with his delivery in the years since and upped its velocity. More important, his limited ability to produce 130-m.p.h. bombs has forced him to develop two other serving strengths: accuracy and the element of surprise. We know that Nadal takes his time setting up to serve. Part of this may stem from the fact that he can’t step to the line and count on an ace. He relies on placement and variety, which need to be thought out.

The result is that Nadal hits to more targets with regularity than his opponents. Where most players either go wide, into the body, or down the T, Nadal aims for more specific spots. He may go down the T three straight times, but rather than mixing it up by going wide on the next one, he’ll mix it up by aiming 2 feet inside the T, at his opponent’s hip, and with a little extra pace. The same goes when he serves wide in the ad court. Nadal’s accuracy makes it difficult for his opponents to guess where the ball is going.

In last year’s French Open final, Nadal served virtually every ball to Federer’s backhand. In the Wimbledon final, he changed spots much more often. Nadal doesn’t use variety for its own sake; he’s happy spinning the ball into his opponent’s backhand every time, if that’s what’s working. One advantage to this tactic is that late in a match it allows him to ambush his opponent on a crucial point in the ad court by firing a flat ball down the T.

Unfortunately, I can only point out the tactic. You have to learn to hit those targets yourself.

Lessons: (1) Even without natural power on your serve, you can be just as effective by concentrating on accuracy and hitting very specific targets. (2) Don't be afraid to be predictable with it; make your opponent prove he can handle a certain serve before you decide to mix it up. Variety is never an end in itself.

2. Return

As with the serve, Nadal’s return doesn’t appear to be one of his strengths at first glance. He’s often forced to take his second hand off his backhand and slice back a high floater, which immediately puts him on the defensive. But again, Nadal makes up for that weakness with his return tactics.

Nowhere was this more apparent than in his second-round match at Wimbledon in 2008 against Ernests Gulbis. Nadal lost the first set 7-5 in large part because of Gulbis’ ability to consistently fire first serves in the 120-–130-m.p.h. range. At the start of the second set, Nadal took a couple of big steps backward, giving himself an extra millisecond to react on his return. He won the next three sets. Afterward, Gulbis said he had been thrown off by a change in Nadal’s tactics, but couldn’t figure out what the Spaniard was doing differently.

And unlike, say, James Blake, you’ll almost never see Nadal go for an outright winner on his return. He knows that, with few players following their serves to the net, he can be just as offensive, and much safer, hitting a high topspin forehand into his opponent’s backhand side and working his way into the point from there.

Lessons: (1) Always evaluate your return position—if nothing else, this will keep your mind working, and not worrying—and don’t be afraid to change it mid-match. (2) Never try for an outright winner on your return. Start by getting the ball back in play to your opponent's weaker side. The goal should be to neutralize the serve and work to create a higher-percentage shot before you pull the trigger.

Now get out there and practice this!