Got slaughtered in 7.0 mixed

raiden031 · Jan 25, 2009

Had my first 7.0 mixed match this year and got slaughtered. I felt helpless. We were a 4.0/3.0 combination against two solid 3.5s. Both of us were not exactly on the strong side of our levels. I realize that I just cannot carry my partner(s) in doubles matches. I only seem to do well in doubles when my partner can carry their own weight.

It seems like a lose-lose. If I am too conservative, my opponents can direct more shots to my partner than if I pressure them with big shots. If I am too aggressive, I hit more errors myself. If I try to put myself in the match more, then I have to hang in the center to pick off shots and they start passing me down the line. If I guard the alley, they easily hit every shot cross-court away from me. If I S&V, then they see two people at the net and choose the weaker net person. If I stay back, then I get a few more returns hit to me, but can't be as offensive on the next shot.

What is the trick to the 4.0/3.0 combination?

rainman007 · Jan 25, 2009

from my observations and experiences mixed ratings work better if the 3.0 is the male and the 4.0 is the female.. In my opinion you should try to find a ringer 3.0 female or play 8.0 instead of 7.0
its not very much fun tennis if you feel like you need to do everything all the time.

raiden031 · Jan 25, 2009

rainman007 said:
from my observations and experiences mixed ratings work better if the 3.0 is the male and the 4.0 is the female.. In my opinion you should try to find a ringer 3.0 female or play 8.0 instead of 7.0
its not very much fun tennis if you feel like you need to do everything all the time.

I'm playing both levels at least. Unfortunately I didn't hand pick my 3.0 partner and instead just took who I was assigned with. I should've found one myself that was ready for 3.5, but didn't think about it at the time because I didn't think it would be this difficult to play well. I'm just trying to figure out if there is much I can do or if I'm just SOL.

LeeD · Jan 25, 2009

Always, when I play doubles, I get paired with the weakest of the foursome.
It's exactly as you say...no matter what, you seem to be on the losing end.
So all you can controll is YOUR shots. Make them aggressive, strong, solid, and hope your partner can at least block a few deep up the middle.
Keep moving, create doubt, but paired with the WORST of the foursome, it's going to be a losing proposition unless you can figure out how to play with this weaker player. Hopefully, they have ONE strength that you two can exploit. If not, you lose.

Drona · Jan 25, 2009

raiden031 said:
Had my first 7.0 mixed match this year and got slaughtered. I felt helpless. We were a 4.0/3.0 combination against two solid 3.5s. Both of us were not exactly on the strong side of our levels. I realize that I just cannot carry my partner(s) in doubles matches. I only seem to do well in doubles when my partner can carry their own weight.

It seems like a lose-lose. If I am too conservative, my opponents can direct more shots to my partner than if I pressure them with big shots. If I am too aggressive, I hit more errors myself. If I try to put myself in the match more, then I have to hang in the center to pick off shots and they start passing me down the line. If I guard the alley, they easily hit every shot cross-court away from me. If I S&V, then they see two people at the net and choose the weaker net person. If I stay back, then I get a few more returns hit to me, but can't be as offensive on the next shot.

What is the trick to the 4.0/3.0 combination?

I think you'd probably enjoy 8.0 doubles a lot more. That being said, you probably need to talk w/ your partner and vary what you do. Don't always poach, but fake sometimes to get in their head. You're going to have to accept that your partner will make more errors, but that's why she's a 3.0 right!

Finally, there's a good fit/relationship involved in doubles?. Do you play well at net? Are you more consistent w/ good placement or a baseliner w/ powerful shots? I've played w/ 3.0s who help me a lot by poaching off my serve. On the other hand, I've had some tough times w/ 4.0 partners who keep letting balls down the middle go...

Nellie · Jan 25, 2009

So lets make this more generic. When you were playing, did you feel like the best player of the four, with your partner being the weakest?

In that case, I would try to simplify your partner's life by giving her a specific zone to cover, with you covering the middle (essentially having you cover 2/3s and her responsible with the other third). So if she has decent ground strokes, have her play back with the goal of hitting lobs/ deep shots with the purpose of you chances to attack a short ball. If she is stronger up, have her play at the net with you covering shots over head.
As the stronger player, supposedly, you need to patrol around the middle and assert yourself as much as possible with overheads.

Also, you many need to plan the match a little more. You should be able to win your service games and control your returns of the serve (that means you have to play pretty safely on those points). That leaves your partner's service games and her returns. On those points, I figure if you do nothing and the rally is strictly between your partner and the opponents, you will likely end up losing a lot more points than you win. So you need to be more agressive at these points in the match. If you poach a lot, the other team will start going for extreme angles on the returns, reducing their odds.

Also, it sounded like you spent most of the match on the defensive. Don't forget to bite back a little as well. If the other team has a weaker link, keep going their and make them think about their court positioning and strategy.

Topaz · Jan 25, 2009

Raiden, welcome to the club! I have one 7.0 mixed win under my belt, with at least 10 matches played?

Played one just the other night, and lost 5-7, 6-7 (that hurt).

Personally, in my area, I have found *much* more creative 'sandbagging' in mixed than in the other leagues. In our fall mixed season, 6 of the people I played against (and were beaten by) were moved up a level at the end of the year. *blank face* My one win came against a pretty weak pairing and I had a strong partner.

From my perspective (the female partner), if my guy is not doing his job at net, we won't win. He needs to put the ball away when he has the chance and be very active up there. He also needs to *not* be of the 'I must hit the crap out of everything' mentality.

Now, I also know that I have my things I need to accomplish, and I pretty much chalk up our loss the other night to me, except for the fact that my male partner was not doing *anything* at net, and our male opponent was super aggressive at net.

So, not sure if that helps you or not. Just remember that you are a *team*, and hopefully you will stick with the same mixed team long enough so that you can find a female partner that you match up well with. And, again, just because you are a 4.0, remember you are a *new* 4.0, and you probably didn't get the same time and experience at 3.5 that the opponents you are playing against did...3.5 is huge, just like 3.0. I am in NO way saying that you didn't deserve the double bump, however, there is going to be a bit of a gap in your resume, so to speak...at least for a bit.

Personally, I think a strong 3.5/3.5 pairing is generally better off than the 4.0/3.0 combo, provided the 3.0 is an actual 3.0 and not a sandbagger.

Topaz · Jan 25, 2009

Nellie said:
Also, it sounded like you spent most of the match on the defensive. Don't forget to bite back a little as well. If the other team has a weaker link, keep going their and make them think about their court positioning and strategy.

That almost perfectly describes my mixed match the other night...always on the defense, and I know I always felt rushed, and as a result, hit way too many errors. I'm really starting to wonder if I should just bypass mixed to work on other things...winning at mixed just seems to elude me somehow!

raiden031 · Jan 25, 2009

Drona said:
Do you play well at net? Are you more consistent w/ good placement or a baseliner w/ powerful shots?

I play good at the net when my partner is hitting good serves and solid shots. When my opponents' shots are better than my partner's, then I tend to play crappy at the net.

I am a good baseliner, but placement is a little lacking in doubles.

So lets make this more generic. When you were playing, did you feel like the best player of the four, with your partner being the weakest?

Well I've played with the guy opponent many times. I can take him out in singles and in men's doubles no problem. The female opponent seemed pretty good for a 3.5 woman. Both of them clearly played well against us. My partner was probably a lower 3.0, so yeah definitely we were the strongest/weakest out there.

We won 3 games total, all of which were my service games. I have trouble designating her to a third of the court because I get every shot I can get to already and its hard to cover that much ground especially when at the net. And the opponents were keeping the ball way on her side. I would have to camp out in the middle and then they have an easy down-the-line opening on my side.

I do like your idea about being more aggressive on my partner's service games and her return points. I'll definitely be doing this more next match.

kashgotmoney · Jan 25, 2009

just get a 6.0 player and a 1.0 player lol

raiden031 · Jan 25, 2009

Topaz said:
So, not sure if that helps you or not. Just remember that you are a *team*, and hopefully you will stick with the same mixed team long enough so that you can find a female partner that you match up well with. And, again, just because you are a 4.0, remember you are a *new* 4.0, and you probably didn't get the same time and experience at 3.5 that the opponents you are playing against did...3.5 is huge, just like 3.0. I am in NO way saying that you didn't deserve the double bump, however, there is going to be a bit of a gap in your resume, so to speak...at least for a bit.

Personally, I think a strong 3.5/3.5 pairing is generally better off than the 4.0/3.0 combo, provided the 3.0 is an actual 3.0 and not a sandbagger.

I would say I have a lot of experience against 3.5 men in doubles, most of which was outside of actual usta competition though. I think its a bit debatable whether I'm even a 4.0 doubles player or still 3.5. I think my double bump was due to singles play and that's definitely where I shine most.

Whats funny is that I think my 3.0 partner had more putaways at the net than I did! I hit alot of errors at the net because I was poaching shots I could barely reach and hitting the tip of my racquet and stuff. I can't seem to get it together unless I can trust that my partner is going to hit a solid shot.

Maybe its not meant to be because of our being on the lower end of the levels, but it bothers me that I see two opposing players that I know I could beat in singles or in doubles (with an equal partner), but unable to do so in this particular mixed setup.

LeeD · Jan 25, 2009

Reality...
I can beat any one of the doubles players I play with easy 2 and 2.
But paired with the worse, against two even doubles players with no glaring weakness's, we usually lose 3.
Doubles is not singles. Singles is not doubles. Different.
When you poach, always hit it hard DOWN THE MIDDLE, deeper than the service line.

rainman007 · Jan 25, 2009

raiden,
i have a lot of experience getting bumped up a little to early. I'm not saying you shouldn't have gotten a double bump (ive never seen you play) but you did win nationals so you probably should have. However if you have a losing season the system should probably bump you back down to 3.5 which it probably wont..i agree with one of your other posts the system is pushing the majority of players into the 3.5/4.0 area so you probably wont be bumped back down.

i have played 6.0 with a 2.5 where i was the strongest player on the court with the weakest player. i got bumped up about 2 years 2 early i try as hard as i can every match and probably ran into some sandbaggers but i don't believe in letting any points go no matter what.. anyhow from my experience i would probably bet a strong 4.0 (you thought you were a low 4.0) could not win with a weak 3.0 on a 7.0 level.. No matter what you do your partner will always get attacked.. People will probably disagree but unless your partner improves you can try everything in the end but its not going to help.. If you are clearly better than the 3.5 men i would suggest finding a good 4.0 woman and playing 8.0 or a better 3.0 woman for the 7.0
but all in all it is just for fun so if she is someone you know just try to have fun..

Cruzer · Jan 25, 2009

raiden031 said:
Had my first 7.0 mixed match this year and got slaughtered. I felt helpless. We were a 4.0/3.0 combination against two solid 3.5s. Both of us were not exactly on the strong side of our levels. I realize that I just cannot carry my partner(s) in doubles matches. I only seem to do well in doubles when my partner can carry their own weight.

It seems like a lose-lose. If I am too conservative, my opponents can direct more shots to my partner than if I pressure them with big shots. If I am too aggressive, I hit more errors myself. If I try to put myself in the match more, then I have to hang in the center to pick off shots and they start passing me down the line. If I guard the alley, they easily hit every shot cross-court away from me. If I S&V, then they see two people at the net and choose the weaker net person. If I stay back, then I get a few more returns hit to me, but can't be as offensive on the next shot.

What is the trick to the 4.0/3.0 combination?

I have never been a fan of the 4.0 man & 3.0 woman combination in mixed. The only time I see it work is when the 4.0 man tells his 3.0 partner to just stand in one spot generally at the net and only hit balls that come right to her. He takes everything else. If you have a 3.0 woman that is a good volleyer and a 4.0 man that likes to run down a lot of shots then you can pull off the 4.0/3.0 combination. I'll take two solid 3.5 players anytime in a 7.0 mixed match over the 4.0 man and 3.0 woman. You should play 8.0 mixed. You would probably enjoy that a lot more.

ssjkyle31 · Jan 25, 2009

Raiden there always the next match. You probable just need to practice with your partner more. GL

kylebarendrick · Jan 26, 2009

From what you said, your pairing should expect to lose against good competition. If you pair a low 4.0 with a low 3.0, then you are a weak 7.0 team. Two good 3.5s should be able to compete with you and overwhlem your partner.

The successful 4.0 (man) and 3.0 (woman) pairings I've seen involve a woman that pushes - or at least she can return almost anything that comes to her. The man then takes everything he can get a racket on. Your opponents will be looking to pick on your partner. You have to figure out how to protect her - either by pressuring with your shots or simply by being all over the court.

SlapShot · Jan 26, 2009

I've run into the exact same problem at 8.0 mixed - I've been paired with weak 3.5 to strong 4.0 women, and find that I play much better and have a much higher winning % when paired with someone who is at least a weak 4.0.

I'm new to 7.0 this year, and I am paired with a good 3.5 woman. We've won both of our matches together, and we were on the giving end of the slaughtering in our last match (6-0, 6-1).

Topaz said:
And, again, just because you are a 4.0, remember you are a *new* 4.0, and you probably didn't get the same time and experience at 3.5 that the opponents you are playing against did...3.5 is huge, just like 3.0. I am in NO way saying that you didn't deserve the double bump, however, there is going to be a bit of a gap in your resume, so to speak...at least for a bit.

I think that this is right on the mark.

Personally, my first season at 3.5 was abysmal, not because I couldn't hang with the players, but because I wasn't used to the competition level. My next season went a little better, and the experience made everything come easier. Same with my first 4.0 season. Now I'm winning 60%+ of my 4.0 matches.

It takes time to really get to a level of play, be it a single bump, a double bump, or just playing up.

Topaz · Jan 26, 2009

^^^Yup, last year was my first at 3.5, and I'm still scarred!

raiden031 · Jan 26, 2009

SlapShot said:
I think that this is right on the mark.

What frustrates me the most about this loss is that I can't tell whether I played good or bad short of counting every mistake I made, whether it be simply missing a poach opportunity or hitting an actual UE. When with a partner near your level, you can often tell who plays good or bad because its pretty obvious since nobody is trying to *protect* the other. But in this scenario I just felt lost...like I didn't know what to do to win. Should I go up, should I stay back, should I poach, should I stay, etc.

LeeD · Jan 26, 2009

Basically, you lost because you didn't know what to do.
You need to play lots of matches, tournaments, and get experience before you worry too much about the actual results.
I'll bet the #1 doubles team in the world have lost more doubles matches than all the sets you have played in your life.
Don't beat yourself up so much. You are just STARTING the path of tournament tennis. Mixed specifically.
You should not miss volleys, ever. You should pound it low up the middle when in doubt and cover your side of the middle of the court.
You should never miss overheads...once again pound it low up the middle but deeper than service line.
You should never hit groundies to netperson, unless you want to.
Take your time, you WILL get good in doubles.

max8176 · Jan 27, 2009

I played my first 7.0 mixed match this season this past weekend. My partner and I are also 4.0/3.0 combo as I am the 4.0 and she is the 3.0. We won 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 coming back down 3-0 in the last set. It was definitely a close one because our team need our match to win. We played against two decent 3.5 players but we should have beaten them more comfortably.

Yeah, playing with few 3.0 women in 7.0 mixed previously, it's definitely difficult to play with a 3.0 lady as your opponents will pick on her most of the time. I think the balance is to play with someone that you have chemistry with even she might not be the strongest 3.0. I have played with a 3.0 lady that is not very strong but I think we have good chemistry with and we did well at Nationals few years ago.

FloridaAG · Jan 27, 2009

Topaz said:
Raiden, welcome to the club! I have one 7.0 mixed win under my belt, with at least 10 matches played?

Played one just the other night, and lost 5-7, 6-7 (that hurt).

Personally, in my area, I have found *much* more creative 'sandbagging' in mixed than in the other leagues. In our fall mixed season, 6 of the people I played against (and were beaten by) were moved up a level at the end of the year. *blank face* My one win came against a pretty weak pairing and I had a strong partner.

From my perspective (the female partner), if my guy is not doing his job at net, we won't win. He needs to put the ball away when he has the chance and be very active up there. He also needs to *not* be of the 'I must hit the crap out of everything' mentality.

Now, I also know that I have my things I need to accomplish, and I pretty much chalk up our loss the other night to me, except for the fact that my male partner was not doing *anything* at net, and our male opponent was super aggressive at net.

So, not sure if that helps you or not. Just remember that you are a *team*, and hopefully you will stick with the same mixed team long enough so that you can find a female partner that you match up well with. And, again, just because you are a 4.0, remember you are a *new* 4.0, and you probably didn't get the same time and experience at 3.5 that the opponents you are playing against did...3.5 is huge, just like 3.0. I am in NO way saying that you didn't deserve the double bump, however, there is going to be a bit of a gap in your resume, so to speak...at least for a bit.

Personally, I think a strong 3.5/3.5 pairing is generally better off than the 4.0/3.0 combo, provided the 3.0 is an actual 3.0 and not a sandbagger.

Topaz has pretty much summed up 7.0 mixed in my opinion. I play 7.0 and 7.5 in tourneys mixed with my wife. Topaz has it right both as to sandbagging - insane amounts in the mixed it seems to me and what practically happens often. It has taken time, but we have developed as a team and have gotten a lot better. I had only played singles for a long time (since my High School tennis team days) so it had taken a while for me to adjust to doubles. Basically it will take time to adjust.

Drona · Jan 27, 2009

raiden031 said:
What frustrates me the most about this loss is that I can't tell whether I played good or bad short of counting every mistake I made, whether it be simply missing a poach opportunity or hitting an actual UE. When with a partner near your level, you can often tell who plays good or bad because its pretty obvious since nobody is trying to *protect* the other. But in this scenario I just felt lost...like I didn't know what to do to win. Should I go up, should I stay back, should I poach, should I stay, etc.

Can your partner at least direct a serve to the weaker wing? Since you're comfortable at net, you ought to be up there and commit to poaching a lot more (60-75% of the time). If you move before they strike the ball, a lot of times you'll force an error, if they hit it DTL, then you have to hope your partner will cover you(I assume she's not serve and volleying) and hit a decent lob.

You'll also need to tell your partner when you're going to poach so she can also move to cover the DTL shot. A really good cross court angle or a bullet DTL will beat you, but the way I'd look at it is if you don't poach, they'll hit the ball to her till they get a nice putaway that they'll smash at you. Now you do want to fake a couple of times and it's nice when they hit the ball right to you.

Finally in those situations where they do get the ball to your partner, you should be moving back to behind the service line so you can defend better, and then move back up if you see she hits a shot that won't be smashed and look to poach.

If she can't place the serve to their weaker wing, well it's really tough. You may ask her to try serving underhanded like a groundstroke. If she wants to serve and volley, and her volley's truly at a 3.0 level, have her stay back. If she's hitting groundstrokes at a 3.0 level, tell her to never try to hit a winner, preferably she should be placing the ball away from the netman, and hit lobs rather than passing shots if both of them are at the net. This is all assuming it's not a social/practice type of match and you want to win.

raiden031 · Jan 27, 2009

Anyone know of any good references for playing mixed doubles? It seems like there is nothing out there. Conventional doubles strategies would say you shouldn't be poaching when the returner is dictating play (wide, low shots), but that seems to be the opposite here that people are suggesting. I mean seriously the 3.5 woman on the other side was hitting perfect returns from the ad side every time that I could barely even reach. I would have to play I-formation to get to those shots.

spot · Jan 27, 2009

first of all if the woman on the ad court is hitting perfect returns on every shot that you couldn't reach then GO AUSTRALIAN on that side. The point if the standard setup is to have the netperson there to put away any weak returns. If there aren't any weak returns then you should go australian to take away the high percentage crosscourt return. It makes the opponent hit over the higher part of the net to a shorter court. It lets you poach on your forehand side and the ball goes back to your opponent's forehand. Plus it takes away any Angle to your partner.

MIxed is all about making things easier on your partner and putting her in position to do the best. That means POUND the backhands of your opponents and let your partner play in her comfort zone

SlapShot · Jan 27, 2009

raiden031 said:
Anyone know of any good references for playing mixed doubles? It seems like there is nothing out there. Conventional doubles strategies would say you shouldn't be poaching when the returner is dictating play (wide, low shots), but that seems to be the opposite here that people are suggesting. I mean seriously the 3.5 woman on the other side was hitting perfect returns from the ad side every time that I could barely even reach. I would have to play I-formation to get to those shots.

Throw in some Aussie formation.

raiden031 · Jan 27, 2009

spot said:
first of all if the woman on the ad court is hitting perfect returns on every shot that you couldn't reach then GO AUSTRALIAN on that side. The point if the standard setup is to have the netperson there to put away any weak returns. If there aren't any weak returns then you should go australian to take away the high percentage crosscourt return. It makes the opponent hit over the higher part of the net to a shorter court. It lets you poach on your forehand side and the ball goes back to your opponent's forehand. Plus it takes away any Angle to your partner.

MIxed is all about making things easier on your partner and putting her in position to do the best. That means POUND the backhands of your opponents and let your partner play in her comfort zone

Yeah but I don't think my partner will be successful covering the DTL on my side.

spot · Jan 27, 2009

In australian there is no angle to cover. Its far easier to cover a shot hit back down the line than a crosscourt angle. I have never understood why people think that "court coverage" is a reason not to do Australian. They have to hit right back to the server.

raiden031 · Jan 27, 2009

spot said:
In australian there is no angle to cover. Its far easier to cover a shot hit back down the line than a crosscourt angle. I have never understood why people think that "court coverage" is a reason not to do Australian. They have to hit right back to the server.

i would do australian. But most people use it to throw off their opponents, not as a primary strategy. I think doing formations liike this would require competency among partners. I've been against a few opponents who tried this and they only served to beat themselves because they didn't know how to play the formation. Thats why I'm reluctant to use aussie as a strategy to help me win in 7.0 mixed.

spot · Jan 27, 2009

Australian on the ad side shoudl be the default formation for women's second serves at your level. The only reason its not is because of pigheadedness and tradition.

The normal formation you are up there at the net in order to put away any weak returns. You are allowing them to hit the highest percentage return (crosscourt) in order to take that position. But if your partner isn't generating you weak returns then you aren't an asset in the normal formation. Instead you should take away the crosscourt return. WHich takes away the angle from your opponents. It makes them hit over the higher part of the net and they have less court to work with. You get to poach on your forehand side and the ball normally will go to your partner's forehand. Seriously- there is no valid reason for you to be in the normal formation the way you describe the situation

Whatever return you are worried about your partner returning, the corresponding shot is much worse when they have the entire crosscourt side to cover on their backhand. If people would just start doing this on their second serves as the default way of playing then it wouldn't feel weird anymore. Because its absolutely clear the percentages are in your favor that way.

Racer41c · Jan 27, 2009

Cruzer said:
I have never been a fan of the 4.0 man & 3.0 woman combination in mixed. The only time I see it work is when the 4.0 man tells his 3.0 partner to just stand in one spot generally at the net and only hit balls that come right to her. He takes everything else. If you have a 3.0 woman that is a good volleyer and a 4.0 man that likes to run down a lot of shots then you can pull off the 4.0/3.0 combination. I'll take two solid 3.5 players anytime in a 7.0 mixed match over the 4.0 man and 3.0 woman. You should play 8.0 mixed. You would probably enjoy that a lot more.

That's a good point Cruzer. Some of the 4.0 guys I play with can pretty much take over the court playing 8.0 mixed let along 7.0. Maybe the rule should be all 3.5's when it's mixed?

I played 8.0 last year with my 4.5 gf. We stunk because we played against mostly 4.5 guys. I was hoping for some payback this year, but the team didn't form, oh well.

netman · Jan 27, 2009

Doubles is all about maximizing strengths and minimizing weaknesses. That is a painful lesson we all learn and once we learn it, things get a lot easier. It is a chess match played in real time at the amateur level because partners change frequently and we rarely see the same opponents twice. So most matches are all about a team's ability to adjust their tactics in real time to counter their opponents. Seems blinding obvious but I've lost count of the number of times I watched an opposing team do the same failing thing over and over and blame everything but their failure to adapt.

Example. Played recently with a lady who has wicked groundstrokes but simply can not move well. I come in on everything. First set they pick up on this and lob over her head every time. At 1-4 I talk with her and she tells me point blank she can not get the lobs. So I tell her to retreat to the baseline when I am serving and to stay there when she is serving. On top of this I start to roam the court, never starting in the same place twice, and constantly mixing up where I go on their initial shot. We have successfully countered our opponents strategy, they get knocked out of their comfort zone and while we lose the first set 4-6, we win the second 7-6. Down 1-4 in the 3rd, we mix it up, moving my partner up and back, never giving them the same target zone. Again they are rattled and we fight back to a tiebreaker than we lose 7-5 on a net cord. If we had not constantly adapted, we would have lost 1-6, 1-6.

Troy Aikman once said the difference between college and pro football was that college was played below the neck and pro above the neck. I think the same things applies to doubles and mixed in particular. Doubles among equals is more about your brain than your stokes.

-k-

rich s · Jan 27, 2009

raiden031 said:
I'm playing both levels at least. Unfortunately I didn't hand pick my 3.0 partner and instead just took who I was assigned with. I should've found one myself that was ready for 3.5, but didn't think about it at the time because I didn't think it would be this difficult to play well. I'm just trying to figure out if there is much I can do or if I'm just SOL.

IMO you're SOL. If I'm playing you in doubles and I see you play like a 4.0 and your partner plays like a 3.0........I'm not hitting another ball in your direction unless I have to serve to you.....

Court Valkyrie · Jan 29, 2009

raiden031 said:
Had my first 7.0 mixed match this year and got slaughtered. I felt helpless. We were a 4.0/3.0 combination against two solid 3.5s. Both of us were not exactly on the strong side of our levels. I realize that I just cannot carry my partner(s) in doubles matches. I only seem to do well in doubles when my partner can carry their own weight.

It seems like a lose-lose. If I am too conservative, my opponents can direct more shots to my partner than if I pressure them with big shots. If I am too aggressive, I hit more errors myself. If I try to put myself in the match more, then I have to hang in the center to pick off shots and they start passing me down the line. If I guard the alley, they easily hit every shot cross-court away from me. If I S&V, then they see two people at the net and choose the weaker net person. If I stay back, then I get a few more returns hit to me, but can't be as offensive on the next shot.

What is the trick to the 4.0/3.0 combination?

Stop playing doubles...it sounds like it's your partner(s) are terrible and you are a tennis god. It is obviously not YOUR fault. Just have fun my friend. I broke so many racquets when I wanted and thought I could win every match. Now it's just fun to get out of the house and meet new people.

Got slaughtered in 7.0 mixed

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