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Success in Doubles - Five Tips (Part One)
By: Mike Sprouse/TennisCT
It's a great time to focus on ways to improve your doubles game. For some, you have a partner that you play with often and whom you know quite well. It's key to play alongside someone whose patterns you know, and whose strengths and weaknesses you can complement. Even if you get paired up with someone you are less familiar with, however, there are some basic things to keep in mind that will always make you more successful on the doubles court.
Focus on making your first serve
Regardless of your level, it is important to make your first serve even if you hit it at 80-85% of your normal velocity to ensure it goes in. Having to hit a second serve in doubles exposes your partner at net more, and also provides the returning team a more offensive position to start the point. The more first serves you make, the more service games you will hold.
Sharpen your net play
The person at net should welcome almost any ball hit towards them. The reason for this is that the net player has more opportunities to produce an offensive shot (with either an overhead or volley), create angles, and win the point outright. Intermediate players often are more comfortable at the baseline, and so one area to practice is being up close to the net. You can do reflex volley drills to hone your skills to get used to having less time to react.
Create, when your partner is serving
Depending on the strength of your partner's serve, the net player has a great opportunity to affect the outcome of a point. Too often, beginners and intermediate players stand still waiting for a ball to be hit directly at them while their partner is serving. I recommend moving a little bit more. After your partner serves, and as the opponent begins the forward part of their return, either poach (move across the court while the ball is in the air to intersect a weak return) or fake a poach. Any movements the net player makes will give the returner something more to think about and potentially alter their shot.
Remember proper positioning when one-up, one-back
Doubles partners in this situation should focus on positioning. The person at the back of the court during a point should take their positioning cues from the person at net and always cover the area of the court that the net person can't. In other words, the two partners should be staggered (meaning, the net person is covering one-half of the court, and the person at the baseline should cover the other half). The person at the baseline should never be positioned directly in-line behind the net person.
Do not miss in the net with two players at the back
This sounds simple but happens way too often. When you and your partner are both at the baseline during a point, try never to miss in the net. Doing so basically gives away the point. The reason you should try and keep the ball above the net, even if you hit too forceful of a shot that might otherwise fly long, is that the opposing team might hit it. A point you otherwise would have lost by missing in the net might still be winnable should your opponents make a mistake.
We hope these tips will be helpful for you the next time you are playing doubles. Click here to check out five more tips in our “Doubles Strategy Part II” post!