Doubles with 1 righty and 1 lefty

[Bobby Jr]

I have been playing a fair bit of doubles recently and, as a left hander, I always wonder why most right handed players automatically say "you should play on the left side". I assume they are going by the thinking that forehands out on the wing is best.

But, I have had the most success in doubles playing with forehands down the middle. My thinking, in some ways is most shots in tennis fall in the middle 60-70% of the court. So makes sense to have the forehands there to nail it. For most players it is the stronger wing. If your opponents try to hit wide to avoid it then they're upping their own risk level in doing so (highest part of the net etc)

I also don't see much difference in the receiving trends either. When pulled wide on either wing to the backhand (deuce court for a left receiver, ad court for a righty receiver) the most reliable return option is usually to keep it low. And since most people have better slice backhands than they do forehands it's also generally quite reliable for returns too. Hitting a big forehand cc might be the power option but a slice backhand (short) is often a quite good option for avoiding the net-man. (especially if you're not a pro with amazing footwork or the server isn't particularly strong with their second serve placement. i.e. the vast majority of players).

Any doubles aficionados want to offer their pros/cons or thoughts on this?

 

[JW10S]

I'm a righty with a strong one handed backhand. When I play with another righty I often have to play the deuce side because I am better able to hit an effective inside-out backhand return. But whenever I play with a lefty I play the ad side. Even though I have a good backhand it's still easier to hit inside-out forehand and crosscourt backhand returns than the other way around. The alleys are only 4.5 ft wide, not big enough to justify always having the forehands to the oustide. I've won 5 professional doubles titles--1 w/ a righty partner where I played the deuce side and 4 w/ lefty partners where I played the ad side. BTW, the #1 team in the World is comprised of a right and a lefty and the lefty plays the deuce court.

 

[Bobby Jr]

Additional note. McEnroe and Fleming generally played with McEnroe on the deuce court. Not sure if that was a lefty thing or simply that he was a stronger player overall.

The Bryan brothers also do this and, from memory so did Rick Leach/Jim Pugh back in the day.

 

[JW10S]

^^^McEnroe played the ad side...

 

[goran_ace]

These days I play primarily deuce side (right-handed) but in high school I played ad and my left-handed partner played deuce for two main reasons. The first is like how you mentioned - we wanted to be dominant in the middle and force the other team into trying to beat us on the outside. The second reason was because we both hit inside-out really well on returns of serve.

 

[Bobby Jr]

^^^McEnroe played the ad side...

Not exclusively. They swapped it around. On tons of matches he played deuce.

Maybe they did it based on their perception of the opponent's serves.

 

[Limpinhitter]

I think strengths should be in the middle. Typically, that's FH's, but, not always. I usually play on the "ad" side to keep my smash in the middle.

 

[LeeD]

Lefty here.
Conventional wisdom is to serve up the middle.
I usually play duece because that's to my forehand. Serves out wide to my backhand I can lob DTL over netman's backhand side, or slice sharp CC short returns.....but I will give up weak returns on serves into my body.
If I play ad, middle returns to my backhand, but netperson would need to poach backhand, making my returns more easy.
Comes down to....who is more consistent with a successful return.

 

[Bobby Jr]

..The first is like how you mentioned - we wanted to be dominant in the middle and force the other team into trying to beat us on the outside. The second reason was because we both hit inside-out really well on returns of serve.

Good way of putting it. What would most people be more competent at, hitting inside out backhand or inside-out forehand returns?

Pretty sure most people would say forehand... so it makes some sense to have the lefty in the deuce court considering most servers won be able to keep their serves away from both players' forehands all the time.

 

[Clay lover]

In ping pong they do strengths in the middle too for a Lefty/Righty combo. For unleashing forehands as well as easy foot work adjustment so you would not bump into each other (forehand momentum carries you away from your partner instead of into). But again, they take turns hitting in ping pong.

 

[Bobby Jr]

In ping pong they..

I just imagined the tables having little clip-on tram lines for when they play doubles. :lol::lol:

 

[Clay lover]

haha na...as they alternate each shot its basically singles where two players take turns to play.

So the table need not be enlarged.

 

[dizzlmcwizzl]

On my Christmas list I always ask for a left handed doubles partner, but all I get is coal.

However, I would absolutely prefer to hit inside out forehands than inside out backhands ... so as a righty with a competent LH partner I would prefer to have FH in the middle.

 

[LeeD]

As said, it's not only YOU and your partner, it's the skill of the poacher too.
Most players poach stronger on their forehand volley, so a weak return to the backhand poach side is still effective.
To a forehand poach side, you gotta hit a good return at any league.

 

[Fuji]

I like to play Ad side as a righty, gives me a bit more room to work and my volleys wont get caught on my backhand a lot of the time.

-Fuji

 

[gameboy]

It is because 60% to 70% of the shots are down the middle that you want to play lefty ad, righty deuce.

You have a bit more reach on your forehand side, even with the one handed backhand. Which means you can position yourself more towards the middle and still cover the same ground. And since most balls are coming in the middle anyway, you don't have to move as much and you are more effecient.

 

[Bobby Jr]

It is because 60% to 70% of the shots are down the middle that you want to play lefty ad, righty deuce.

You have a bit more reach on your forehand side, even with the one handed backhand. Which means you can position yourself more towards the middle and still cover the same ground. And since most balls are coming in the middle anyway, you don't have to move as much and you are more effecient.

?? Wouldn't you want your biggest weapons where 60-70% of the balls will be coming? For most players that would mean their forehand. Either rushed or with plenty of time I'd rather be hitting a forehand at two people at the net or at an open space to make an approach.

If your opponents can hit consistently into the outside 15% on each side of the court then they're doing well or your team is simply out-gunned.

 

[fuzz nation]

?? Wouldn't you want your biggest weapons where 60-70% of the balls will be coming? For most players that would mean their forehand. Either rushed or with plenty of time I'd rather be hitting a forehand at two people at the net or at an open space to make an approach.

If your opponents can hit consistently into the outside 15% on each side of the court then they're doing well or your team is simply out-gunned.

Both arguments have plenty going for them, which I guess is a part of why there's no right or wrong answer to this issue. I'm probably a little more in line with Bobby Jr's thinking here, but I've had success with both alignments in doubles. Positioning is determined by much more than by merely where the forehands and backhands happen.

Also keep in mind that the Bryans have used both formations for long stretches of their career together. Never heard what it was that pushed them to change to a "forehands to the middle" setup, but I'm pretty sure that they initially used "backhands to the middle" for some years early on. I wouldn't be surprised if it was an issue of where they wanted the stronger returner.

 

[Pacific lefty]

I played 4.0 tournaments last summer as a lefty with my partner whose backhand is very strong. We played really well with me playing on the right hand side and always followed that pattern.

 

[kevten]

I am a lefty, started off in singles, but play mostly doubles now. I used to always play Ad side in doubles and still return better from that side (both forehand and backhand). Lately, a lot of the righties want to play the Ad side so I have been learning how to return better from the deuce side. I still have trouble with a good rightie slice out wide--hard to consistently keep it away from the netman unless I lob DTL.

The advantages I see from forehands in the middle are:
- better coverage of the middle when both are at net
- easy to poach with forehand in the middle
- easier to hit overheads

The serve is the most important shot, followed by the return. As a team, you need to maximize those two shots.

So I think if you can both return equally well from either side, forehand in the middle is better. If not, you should reverse it.