Forehand Takes The Middle: RIP

[chatt_town]

I think I'm a pretty "accomplished" doubles player and many of the partners that I've had that were higher levels say fttM. I've won a pretty good bit at mixed and men's with a host of different partners at 4.0 and 4.5. I'll go back and check out Larrysummer's comment though because I'm honestly opened to always learning something new. It's not like I've never taken a ball with my backhand through the middle but what I have done is tried to make sure it's a ball I can put away or at the very least put them on defense. I think reaching again just puts you in such bad trouble.

Originally Posted by Off The Wall

As you become more accomplished at doubles, you'll find the same problems as the OP. The solution will be as Larrysummers described.

[Darkhors]

Originally Posted by KFwinds

Are you a lefty? I am, and I can tell you that it's far easier to chip and charge a backhand return inside-out from the ad court (it's basically a straight-ahead shot) than it is to have to always reach wide for it in the deuce court. At the level I play (4.0) I will see serves out wide to my backhand all day if I return from the deuce court, creating easy pickings for my opponents at net. What you're saying is 100% backward from my experience. The only way this works is if your backhand stroke is as strong or better than your forehand, and you are able to set up and drive all of your backhand returns against big servers.

Like Cindy, I don't mind hitting a backhand volley; it's actually as strong or stronger than my forehand volley (common with lefties). Because I return much better from the ad side, I will always play that way when playing with a right-handed player.

I'm a lefty and I can say that my backhand is my bread and butter shot. Mainly because I'm right handed in most everything else I do, but that being said, I would MUCH rather play the deuce side and have to hit backhands crosscourt than try to hit them inside out on the AD side. I agree that chipping it back isn't super difficult, but when you're playing 4.5-5.0 like I am, you generally can't chip a return back fast enough so the net player is all over it.

Plus, it does give you forehands up the middle for volleys and groundstrokes, but we don't have a "rule" about who takes them. It's just easier to drive the ball down the middle of their court when both of you have forehands to work with. In doubles, you're going to see more serves down the T so that the returners are forced to play to the middle. This is why I like the deuce side.

Lastly, I also prefer to be able to hit my forehand returns inside out because once I establish that pattern, I can start to mix it up with DTL shots to keep them honest.

DH

[andfor]

Originally Posted by larry10s

the one closer to the net has more angle and gets first dibs
end of story

when its a righty/ lefty combo i like forehands in the middle

I have not read any of the posts after this. Great advice from Larry and is also preached by many of the best doubles coaches. In two up at net doubles, should be end of story. One up one back, maybe there are exceptions, since I don't play that way and was never coached in one up one back I'm open to hear from the experts. If it's been addressed sorry for being lazy, and please point me to the posts.

[LuckyR]

FTTM is a beginner strategy that has no place in advanced doubles. Not because there is anything inherantly wrong with it, per se, but because of reasons of optimal court coverage and the pace of the shots, it is the unusual situation where there is a shot where: 1) both players have a good play on the ball, 2) the players are equally close to the net (since the player who is closer to the net likely should play the ball if they have a good play on the ball). It just doesn't come up (except for lobs, when it is a perfectly fine strategy).

Naturally many teams have a player who is "known" for being better at the net and their partner defers to them automatically and often this player will play on the ad side so they are hitting FHs. But these teams usually play this style even when the better volleyer is on the deuce side (and hitting BHs).

[chatt_town]

I agree with forehands in the middle. I generally have a field day with lefties on the ad and righties on the deuce. It takes all the guessing out. Just drive everything through the middle and make them beat you with their backhands. I even through lobs up through the middle. What I haven't ever figured out is lefties obsession with the ad side of the court. What's up with that?

Originally Posted by andfor

I have not read any of the posts after this. Great advice from Larry and is also preached by many of the best doubles coaches. In two up at net doubles, should be end of story. One up one back, maybe there are exceptions, since I don't play that way and was never coached in one up one back I'm open to hear from the experts. If it's been addressed sorry for being lazy, and please point me to the posts.

[KFwinds]

Originally Posted by Darkhors

I'm a lefty and I can say that my backhand is my bread and butter shot. Mainly because I'm right handed in most everything else I do, but that being said, I would MUCH rather play the deuce side and have to hit backhands crosscourt than try to hit them inside out on the AD side. I agree that chipping it back isn't super difficult, but when you're playing 4.5-5.0 like I am, you generally can't chip a return back fast enough so the net player is all over it.

Plus, it does give you forehands up the middle for volleys and groundstrokes, but we don't have a "rule" about who takes them. It's just easier to drive the ball down the middle of their court when both of you have forehands to work with. In doubles, you're going to see more serves down the T so that the returners are forced to play to the middle. This is why I like the deuce side.

Lastly, I also prefer to be able to hit my forehand returns inside out because once I establish that pattern, I can start to mix it up with DTL shots to keep them honest.

DH

That's great if that works for you, but I think you are an exception, especially if you have a strong backhand return and have the ability to consistently hit inside-out forehands. It also sounds like you probably see much better servers and poachers than I do at my level.

Against most of the competition I face, there really isn't anyone that can serve consistently up the T. If they go there, I just chip and charge. If the net player even flinches, I'll redirect down the line. Works very well for us lowly 4.0's...

[Darkhors]

Originally Posted by KFwinds

That's great if that works for you, but I think you are an exception, especially if you have a strong backhand return and have the ability to consistently hit inside-out forehands. It also sounds like you probably see much better servers and poachers than I do at my level.

Against most of the competition I face, there really isn't anyone that can serve consistently up the T. If they go there, I just chip and charge. If the net player even flinches, I'll redirect down the line. Works very well for us lowly 4.0's...

If most of the serves you're facing are out wide, then I can understand that being on the left is good for you. But I think as you move up from 4.0 to 4.5, you're going to find that the players serves are much better and vary much more throughout the box. You pretty much have to be able to move your serve around at the 4.5 level other wise returners are going to just dial in your serve and punish it.

Originally Posted by Chatt_Town

What I haven't ever figured out is lefties obsession with the ad side of the court. What's up with that?

Generally the obsession with the Ad side is more on serving because of the spin out wide. If I'm playing against someone that's a lefty and has a decent serve, I may play the AD side if my partner is a righty, just to negate the serve with my forehand. However, for returning it's also liked because you can run around the backhand on the serve to hit the forehand cross court.

DH

[KFwinds]

DH,

Thanks for your input; you've got me interested in learning to play the deuce side as a lefty. With the type of serving I face I've always been most comfortable returning from the ad side, but I can really see how it might not work as well against servers who can hit up the T consistently and against aggressive poachers with great anticipation at net. It's not that I don't see some decent serving at 4.0, but the players that can hit serves with pace usually don't have fantastic placement or there is good placement but average pace. I'll also admit that I've been playing a lot of 7.0 and 8.0 mixed dubs lately where there is some 3.0 and 3.5 serving going on...

I have noticed that the Bryan Bros play their forehands to the middle; watched a bunch of vids on Youtube last night after I posted, and I see how that works against strong players. I will definitely have to work on my backhand return to make this work for me, but it seems as if it might be worthwhile in the long run.

As for forehand/backhand volleys in the middle, it still doesn't make much difference to me and I agree with others that have stated that the person with the best play on the ball should take the shot - usually the player closest to the net, as it gives the opponent less time to react depending on their positioning. So yeah, RIP to FTTM