doubles strategy

[falks941]

ok for those of you who tried to help me with my singles strategy, thanks very much for your help, and hopefully my computer will let me get the vids up soon

anyways, my doubles partner and i are on a bit of losing streak now that we've started playing tournaments at a higher level. We're both 16 years old playing junior and senior tournaments. we're not expecting to win much right now, but we want to improve our strategy and take our game up to the next level.

just to outline our basic strengths and weaknesses; im right handed, and my strengths tend to be my movement and my groundstrokes (my backhand isnt a strength but it's a comfortable shot; my forehand is much stronger). My weaknesses are mainly my backhand volleys, overheads and my serve.

my partner is left handed, and his strengths are his volleys, and his forehand. his serve is OK, it's not very big, but it's consistent and he swings it with lefty spin really well (first serve's around 80mph, second serve about 70-75mph). his weaknesses are his movement, and his lack of power on his groundstrokes. he also struggles to hit a top spin backhand and tends to use the one handed slice 95% of the time on his right side.

we usually use a both-up strategy as much as possible, but we obviously change things around depending on who we're against. i just wondered if anyone could give us any general ideas for other strategies we can use based on our strengths and weaknesses (e.g. how we can cover each other effectively, where we should position ourselves on the court etc.). i just thought if we got some opinions, we could try some new things on the court.

[Sherlock 117]

Positioning is one of the most important aspects of doubles, especially when you and your partner are both at net.

Even when you only have one player up at net, that player should be looking to poach into the middle at any opportunity. One great opportunity to poach up the middle is after your partner has returned serve and the opponent (if he stayed back) is hitting a groundstroke. Your opponent has little time to think about this shot and will very often hit cross-court. You should be able to cut this shot off. Of course, your opponents may start adjusting to this and hit down-the-line, but at least you have him thinking about his shots and guessing where you are going, which is another huge aspect you want in doubles.

When you and your partner are both up, make sure you move together as a team. This is one of the biggest problems with people who aren't familiar with doubles. Let's say the ball is hit to your opponent's doubles alley right in front of you. You should be standing on or very near to the doubles sideline, but more importantly your partner should probably be standing on the center line, possibly even a little closer to you depending on the situation. You want to force your opponents to hit the sharp angle cross-court shot that travels in front of both of you.

In addition, in this situation, preferably the person in the middle of the court will be closer to the net (to cut off the angle if you can anticipate it), while the person on the sideline should be standing closer to the service line (to take the deep lobs).

[Q. Reese]

falks941,

Hi man. I never lost a doubles match as of yet. Normally, this is because I hug the net much and rely on my teammate's ground game.

It seems like your doubles' partner plays more of a defense game than you, but he is not as great on movement. So, you cannot take camp at net as much as I do.

I recommend that you tell your teammate to make use of his lefty serve. If he does as most lefty servers do very effectively, you pretty much will know where your opponent will go with the returns. I wished he could beaf up his serve a bit.

Also, for overheads, I do not know if you let the ball bounce first or swing at it while it is in the air. I like to let the ball bounce on the court first. To me, it is like taking another serve but without the constraints of the service lines.

Doubles is much about morale and team support. I think this is the biggest strategy ever for doubles. I have played with many teammates who skills were less than stellar.

Yet, I feel that we were able to win, because I ranked team morale over anything else. If they put the ball into the net often, I would commend him/her but offer a suggestion. If they followed it, that's great. If not, well I was still okay with it but adjusted my game (more defense). As their game developed, I would go on to more offensive play.

I hope this help. Again my backgroud in matches is:

Singles: 4-1, intramural for Kean University
Doubles: Unbeatable (Kean and other exhibition matches)