1 for 12 on Match Points!!!

[Dartagnan64]

Played in the first round of our club championships. Mixed B doubles (so roughly 3.5-low 4.0 levels). Our opponents interestingly were an open level male and his C level wife (and a very low level C player). So strategy was obvious. Go at the woman relentlessly. And that worked. We win the first set 6-1 and are up 5-1 in the second.

So serving for the match my wife gets a case of nerves so bad, she can't get a single first serve in and the second serves become an adventure. I slow her down, get her to breathe. No good. Still netting every first serve. But still we are able to win the points serving to the deuce side woman, but the man is teeing off on these weak second serves. So we get about 4 deuce -> ad in scenarios for the match we can't convert. Then my wife DF's twice to lose her service game.

It's 5-2 and the open level male easily holds his serve. It's 5-3 and my serve. Again, sensing blood, the male takes all my serves and goes right at my wife to easily win points. I easily get winners off the opposing woman by serving medium speed to her BH. So once again its a deuce game. And we go deuce -> ad in 5 consecutive times for the match. 5 times the open player manages to stave off a loss. Then his wife gets a serve back deep, so I hit it back CC to her and she puts up a sitter to my wife who nets it. Ad out! Yikes.
I decide after going slice serve to the T it's time for a flat serve out wide. Hit a nice serve and the guy frames his BH to get us back to deuce.

2 more Ad in match point opportunities that the guy wins in a single return. Finally on the 12th match point. my wife gets one of his returns back to the woman who hits it wide and we finish 6-1 6-3. My arm was about to fall off.

Most unusual match I've played in a long time. Such disparity between players was unusual. But it's on to the second round.

 

[5sets]

Smash the woman!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G928A using Tapatalk

 

[WhiteOut]

wow congrats to you for hanging on...but moreso to your wife! her nerves had to be shot...i know mine would have been...

 

[OnTheLine]

Good job ... serving that many deuces starts becoming mentally tough.

 

[Dartagnan64]

Good job ... serving that many deuces starts becoming mentally tough.

Yes you start really playing mind games with yourself. I knew I absolutely had to win the point when I served to the woman and I knew I had to put some pressure on the man so he couldn't just rip a huge topspin shot at my wife. And at that point I was tiring and not getting the same spin I was earlier in the match where I easily held serve.

For a relatively safe win, I felt exhausted and drained after.

 

[sureshs]

Feel sorry for Open level players playing mixed doubles with their C level spouses. I wonder what they get out of it. Actually had a discussion with someone at the club about a 4.5 ex college player who plays with his wife with atrocious technique and grips. He said it is probably due to love. But I really wonder if tolerating a doubles partner who you would normally never even hit with is really offset by love. The same day an ex D1 college woman was giving lessons to her boyfriend, saying things like "Baby close your racket face more." It was absolute torture just watching it.

Tennis is tennis. Why bring life into it?

 

[Dartagnan64]

I guess the 4.5 male can view it as a challenge. Can I win points with a single stroke?

Certainly I wasn’t giving him any extra chances if I got a racket on the ball.

I’m not sure how much fun it was for them but we certainly all laughed a lot. The low level lady was a really nice person and a joy to play with even though she struggled. Hopefully that was enough for her spouse.

 

[WhiteOut]

Most married couples I know don't really play mixed dubs together unless they have to, even the similarly-skilled ones. My wife and I seem to be one of the exceptions...we play 8.0 together about half the time (she's 4.5/I'm 3.5)...and I play with one of our 4.5 female friends about the other half. When we do play together, I find we are not as emotionally controlled when we play together as we are when we play with other partners. I surmise this is probably b/c we feel like we can be on 'not best behavior' with each other when we get into a tough spell of bad shots, double faults, etc... whereas with another partner I feel like I have to stay totally positive, and therefore less likely to enter an emotional/mental death-spiral...

Also, while my wife is the more technically-sound, fundamentally-trained player, her whole life she's primarily a singles player, and therefore does not necessarily employ doubles tactics as assertively or naturally as others who play dubs regularly. In contrast, my technical ability is less sound than hers, but as a lifelong multi-sport athlete, I understand tactics, angles, positioning and footwork very naturally....so when I make a simple observation like 'he's doing that, so we should try this"...well you can imagine how that goes over...

luckily she's been in a dubs clinic for about 6 months now with a handful of her 4.5 ladies, so we're paying weekly for her to learn everything I've been giving her for free!

Nevertheless, we play pretty well together and *usually* have a good time! And when I do or say something stupid on match day, all I have to tell her is to pretend that ball is my head, and somehow that seems to help her forehand winner percentage!

 

[Dartagnan64]

I have no problem playing with my wife in doubles. She’s open to me making suggestions and I’m open to her ignoring them. Works out well.
We just generally have this dictum. I try to take it less seriously and she tries to take it more seriously and hopefully we meet in the middle.
I offered once to take on another woman as a partner and she threatened divorce so she must be ok with me as a partner warts and all.

 

[kylebarendrick]

Most married couples I know don't really play mixed dubs together unless they have to, even the similarly-skilled ones. My wife and I seem to be one of the exceptions...we play 8.0 together about half the time (she's 4.5/I'm 3.5)...and I play with one of our 4.5 female friends about the other half. When we do play together, I find we are not as emotionally controlled when we play together as we are when we play with other partners. I surmise this is probably b/c we feel like we can be on 'not best behavior' with each other when we get into a tough spell of bad shots, double faults, etc... whereas with another partner I feel like I have to stay totally positive, and therefore less likely to enter an emotional/mental death-spiral...

Also, while my wife is the more technically-sound, fundamentally-trained player, her whole life she's primarily a singles player, and therefore does not necessarily employ doubles tactics as assertively or naturally as others who play dubs regularly. In contrast, my technical ability is less sound than hers, but as a lifelong multi-sport athlete, I understand tactics, angles, positioning and footwork very naturally....so when I make a simple observation like 'he's doing that, so we should try this"...well you can imagine how that goes over...

I could have written this myself. I think familiarity is one of the biggest causes of issues with married couples on the tennis court. You will say something to your spouse that you would never say to another partner, and even worse, you don't even have to say it. My wife just has to look at me sometimes and I know what she's thinking.

 

[SGM1980]

My husband and i are our favorite partners, but i do recognize that it's a rare thing!

He's a 4.5 and I'm a 3.5 and i didn't start playing until we moved to North Carolina 6 years ago, while he played as a junior and then took 13 years off because the competing had burned him out and made him hate tennis.

For some reason it all just really works for us together. He's amazingly supportive and has been watching my matches since i played combo as a 2.5. i don't know how he survived! Now we can predict each other on the court so well that it adds to our competitiveness.

I play USTA on other teams and other seasons, but he plays only socially outside of mixed with me.

 

[sureshs]

One guy here has an agreement with his non-tennis wife that he will not play mixed.

He says that one thing leads to another

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[jm1980]

This doesn't add up. Open level male with a partner who can simply put their serve in play would never lose a set 1-6 to a 3.5/4.0 team. And how did you even break the guy?

I've seen a 5.5 male with his 3.5 wife take on a 5.0/5.0 team in open mixed and get the match to a close match TB. And this was on a tournament that pays money, so everyone was actually playing to win

He was either very, very off or you guys are 4.5+

 

[dgold44]

Played in the first round of our club championships. Mixed B doubles (so roughly 3.5-low 4.0 levels). Our opponents interestingly were an open level male and his C level wife (and a very low level C player). So strategy was obvious. Go at the woman relentlessly. And that worked. We win the first set 6-1 and are up 5-1 in the second.

So serving for the match my wife gets a case of nerves so bad, she can't get a single first serve in and the second serves become an adventure. I slow her down, get her to breathe. No good. Still netting every first serve. But still we are able to win the points serving to the deuce side woman, but the man is teeing off on these weak second serves. So we get about 4 deuce -> ad in scenarios for the match we can't convert. Then my wife DF's twice to lose her service game.

It's 5-2 and the open level male easily holds his serve. It's 5-3 and my serve. Again, sensing blood, the male takes all my serves and goes right at my wife to easily win points. I easily get winners off the opposing woman by serving medium speed to her BH. So once again its a deuce game. And we go deuce -> ad in 5 consecutive times for the match. 5 times the open player manages to stave off a loss. Then his wife gets a serve back deep, so I hit it back CC to her and she puts up a sitter to my wife who nets it. Ad out! Yikes.
I decide after going slice serve to the T it's time for a flat serve out wide. Hit a nice serve and the guy frames his BH to get us back to deuce.

2 more Ad in match point opportunities that the guy wins in a single return. Finally on the 12th match point. my wife gets one of his returns back to the woman who hits it wide and we finish 6-1 6-3. My arm was about to fall off.

Most unusual match I've played in a long time. Such disparity between players was unusual. But it's on to the second round.

Who is your next round opp !!!

 

[Dartagnan64]

This doesn't add up. Open level male with a partner who can simply put their serve in play would never lose a set 1-6 to a 3.5/4.0 team. And how did you even break the guy?

I've seen a 5.5 male with his 3.5 wife take on a 5.0/5.0 team in open mixed and get the match to a close match TB. And this was on a tournament that pays money, so everyone was actually playing to win

He was either very, very off or you guys are 4.5+

We broke him once on his first serve before he warmed up. All by hitting returns at his partner. If she was a 3.5 wife we would have lost. But she was 2.5. He also had a bit of a calf injury and was coming back from that, so mobility was an issue.

Once he started hitting his serves we never got close to breaking him again. Although I did get quite a few in play.

And I’d have to say, open level at our club starts at 4.5. And this guy would be in that range especially with his sore calf. Our best players are 5.5 but we only have a handful of those guys. Most of our top players are 4.5-5.0. This year we didn’t bother with an A class and threw everyone 4.5 and above into open just to have a decent draw. Most people at the club are actually B level players so those are the biggest draws. We have 26 teams in mixed B, the biggest draw at the club.

 

[OrangePower]

Match point is one of those situations where I'm happy to be 1 for x, no matter what x is

 

[Dartagnan64]

Round 2 Club Championships Mixed B Doubles.

This time it was a closer pairing as far as skill levels but the opposing female player was the weakest link on the court. But you couldn't just massage balls her way. Had to be more aggressive or she would make you pay with a deft lob volley.

Anyway, we were 1-1 on match points this time.

Opposition male was serving. I was winning my points but my partner airmailed a couple returns so it was 30-30. Then he DF'd to my partner and it was 30-40. He tried to hit out wide but I hit a crisp BH return wide which he netted and it was over. Much less draining this time.

On to round 3. Looking at the draw the pairs are much tougher with solid female players in the high 3.5 to low 4.0 range coming up. Will have our work cut out for us.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

Mixed doubles truly sounds like the most idiotic thing ever.
Why men waste their precious practice and match time with this nonsense is beyond me.

 

[Dartagnan64]

Mixed doubles truly sounds like the most idiotic thing ever.
Why men waste their precious practice and match time with this nonsense is beyond me.

Spoken like someone that’s never been in a long term relationship. The more you can do with your spouse the better IMO.

I probably have more fun in social mixed doubles than any of my men’s league matches. And fun is what it’s all about.

 

[Dartagnan64]

This doesn't add up. Open level male with a partner who can simply put their serve in play would never lose a set 1-6 to a 3.5/4.0 team. And how did you even break the guy?

Interestingly the open level male won his first open men’s singles match 6-1 6-1. So a pretty decent player.

 

[SGM1980]

Mixed doubles truly sounds like the most idiotic thing ever.
Why men waste their precious practice and match time with this nonsense is beyond me.

Mixed certainly is idiotic. Why on earth do mentally strong consistent tennis playing women want to play with whiny childish men who yell and sulk and hit the back tarp and smack the net when they make an error?

Why women waste their precious time is beyond me.

Especially when the majority of the men on this board seen to treat mixed doubles like some sort of disgusting pick up scene.

No idea why we put up with you fools.

 

[jm1980]

Especially when the majority of the men on this board seen to treat mixed doubles like some sort of disgusting pick up scene.

Are men really the only ones who do this?

 

[SGM1980]

Are men really the only ones who do this?

100 percent certainty on this board, thats for sure.

Maybe if some of you gentlemen treated wonen with a modicum of respect on the tennis court it would be easier to find dates. You could practice how you should treat women in the real world.

 

[OnTheLine]

100 percent certainty on this board, thats for sure.

Maybe if some of you gentlemen treated wonen with a modicum of respect on the tennis court it would be easier to find dates. You could practice how you should treat women in the real world.

Well .... I find that men treat women with respect in real life on the courts (with rare exception)

How men treat women on TTW ... wow, can be pretty brutal.

 

[SGM1980]

Well .... I find that men treat women with respect in real life on the courts (with rare exception)

How men treat women on TTW ... wow, can be pretty brutal.

Very true. How men I've met in person behave is is MUCH better than the behavior that seems to be encouraged and idolized on this board.

Some exceptions, of course. A few of the men on this board seem like reasonable people.

 

[OnTheLine]

Very true. How men I've met in person behave is is MUCH better than the behavior that seems to be encouraged and idolized on this board.

Some exceptions, of course. A few of the men on this board seem like reasonable people.

I would expand that, the majority on the board are respectful, just a handful of rotten apples.

 

[OrangePower]

No doubt there are some misogynists on this board.

But just because someone dislikes Mixed does not make them a misogynist. I don't play mixed because you often end up with the players on court having significant skill differences, and I don't like the style of play that results. I'd feel the same way about same-sex combo if it allowed such a large skills gap between players.

We play for fun, play whatever you enjoy playing, it does not have to be the same for everyone.

 

[SGM1980]

No doubt there are some misogynists on this board.

But just because someone dislikes Mixed does not make them a misogynist. I don't play mixed because you often end up with the players on court having significant skill differences, and I don't like the style of play that results. I'd feel the same way about same-sex combo if it allowed such a large skills gap between players.

We play for fun, play whatever you enjoy playing, it does not have to be the same for everyone.

Agreed. But the vitriol, sexism, and comments made about women players in mixed (and not in mixed) far outweighs anything I've ever seen about combo teams.

And the comment that I quoted was one of these specifying that men - just men - are wasting their preciously valuable time by playing with women.

Please don't minimize the institutionalized sexism seen on this board just because you're not the intended target.

 

[sureshs]

I sometimes play mixed doubles and also singles with women. There are some important lessons that can be learnt:

• Especially in singles, women can hit good cross-court 2 handed backhands, while many men in my age group only have 1 handed backhands and cannot hit powerful CC shots with it. It is a good training for eventual play against juniors.
• Some short club women have developed a pancake serve which floats just above the net and lands short and low, making for a very irritating return. It is good to sharpen your running and pickup skills against such serves.
• In slightly more competitive social mixed doubles, say at some "event," the partners make elaborate plans, more so if they know each other from before. There is a lot of whispered conversations, back-stabbing compliments, bad line calls, and and an overall mind-game attitude, disguised with camaraderie. Once in a while, it is good to face this so as to learn to keep your own emotions in check. There are also similar moves from your own partner, and walking the fine line between being cooperative and not agreeing to participate in this BS is a good learning exercise. I have found that women can very rapidly zoom in on the deficiencies of their opponents and exploit them, shrewdly playing accurate and efficient control shots, while the men keep stubbornly over-hitting and getting progressively more frustrated. It is fascinating to watch, and humbling to experience on your own. The same overhit shots in men's doubles results in laughter and remarks about "almost there," while in mixed doubles it results in very visible signs of triumph in the opponents.

 

[OrangePower]

Agreed. But the vitriol, sexism, and comments made about women players in mixed (and not in mixed) far outweighs anything I've ever seen about combo teams.

And the comment that I quoted was one of these specifying that men - just men - are wasting their preciously valuable time by playing with women.

Please don't minimize the institutionalized sexism seen on this board just because you're not the intended target.

Fair enough and you are right.

 

[sureshs]

Spoken like someone that’s never been in a long term relationship. The more you can do with your spouse the better IMO.

I probably have more fun in social mixed doubles than any of my men’s league matches. And fun is what it’s all about.

If you had to play only one or the other, which one would you pick?

 

[jm1980]

Very true. How men I've met in person behave is is MUCH better than the behavior that seems to be encouraged and idolized on this board.

Some exceptions, of course. A few of the men on this board seem like reasonable people.

I think you’re being a bit harsh with this assessment. Unless I’m missing something, the only one who said something like that on this thread was TTPS. And if you’ve been around here long enough you know he is an “exceptional” individual

 

[SGM1980]

I think you’re being a bit harsh with this assessment. Unless I’m missing something, the only one who said something like that on this thread was TTPS. And if you’ve been around here long enough you know he is an “exceptional” individual

Believe me - I've been here long enough to see the general commentary on women. Now, I can't say how many *people* are commenting, but the percentage of sexist *comments* is the definite majority. Of any comment specifically mentioning women it is more likely to be sexist than not.

The number of threads and comments dedicated to women complaining about things, or worrying about only the color of their skirt, or chit chatting too much, or dragging down the very standard of the sport are exceptional. Not to mention the outright disgusting comments about playing with women only being worth it if they're hot and wearing short enough skirts.

There are very few tennis message boards with any significant traffic. I don't think it's too much to ask for the men on this board to treat women with a little respect. We have no where else to go to talk about tennis. Please don't make it uncomfortable for us to participate in discussions here.

 

[Dartagnan64]

If you had to play only one or the other, which one would you pick?

Hands down I'd play social mixed with my wife and give up men's league. I've made many new great friends in that setting and friends are more important than trying to find out where I fit in a tennis world.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

.

Spoken like someone that’s never been in a long term relationship. The more you can do with your spouse the better IMO.

.

Whatever floats your boat. If you like fake tennis, to for it... But I am entitled to eschew some cheap watered down BS version of the game where there are etiquette rules about who you can hit to...

I come home from tennis to a nice home cooked meal. Whatever floats your [emoji569]...

 

[Dartagnan64]

But just because someone dislikes Mixed does not make them a misogynist. I don't play mixed because you often end up with the players on court having significant skill differences, and I don't like the style of play that results. I'd feel the same way about same-sex combo if it allowed such a large skills gap between players.

I've played a lot of mixed where the woman is the superior player. Sadly, USTA mixed seems to encourage a setup favoring imbalance by using NTRP rather than UTR to setup teams. But in our social world of mixed I can find couples where the woman isn't some 2.5 frail snowflake. The women I play with are as strong or stronger players than a lot of the 3.0 men I've played against.

But this is in the 3.5 world. I think if you start to enter the 4.5 stratosphere as a male player it's a lot harder to find balance because the number of solid 4.5-5.0 women is pretty small. much easier to find 3.5-4.0 women to get a good competitive mixed match going.

 

[Dartagnan64]

I prefer to have the wife at home cooking my post tennis meal. Whatever floats your boat.

Good luck with that lol.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

Good luck with that lol.

I'm about to eat leftovers for lunch.
Cauliflower based "Mac" and cheese ...yummmm

 

[OnTheLine]

@TimeToPlaySets ... you do know that editing your original to make it seem less misogynistic doesn't work, right?

Original: I prefer to have the wife at home cooking my post tennis meal.

Edited: I come home from tennis to a nice home cooked meal

This is probably the first time I have seen you make really blatantly sexist comments ... perhaps since your recent break from the board you have added un-needed vitriol?

Perhaps a T-blocker in that veggie based mac and cheese would be in order.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

Actually, I did not want to alienate those in same sex marriages.
Me? Yes, I prefer to have the wife at home cooking my post tennis meal.
Is there something misogynistic about a wife cooking a meal? Not in my house.
I'm also entitled to reject playing a game where certain players get special treatment.
Also, the ratings are a complete farce. I saw 4.5 ladies who hit like 2.5 male bunters.
Mixed dubs is Fake tennis. Not for me. Whatever floats your oats.

 

[OrangePower]

I've played a lot of mixed where the woman is the superior player. Sadly, USTA mixed seems to encourage a setup favoring imbalance by using NTRP rather than UTR to setup teams. But in our social world of mixed I can find couples where the woman isn't some 2.5 frail snowflake. The women I play with are as strong or stronger players than a lot of the 3.0 men I've played against.

But this is in the 3.5 world. I think if you start to enter the 4.5 stratosphere as a male player it's a lot harder to find balance because the number of solid 4.5-5.0 women is pretty small. much easier to find 3.5-4.0 women to get a good competitive mixed match going.

Yeah I think you're right. I do enjoy mixed when the ladies are roughly the same strength as the men. I (4.5) occasionally play with a good 4.5 female friend against a 4.5 buddy and his 5.0 wife, and it's both good tennis and socially fun.

But most of the mixed around here is centered around USTA (either matches or team practice), and 8.0 mixed has a lot of 4.5M + 3.5F combos which I don't find fun. 9.0 mixed is a bit better since there some 4.5M + 4.5F pairs which is not bad, but you still run into a fair amount of 5.0M + 4.0F which is pretty imbalanced. There are no 10.0 mixed leagues in my area.

If USTA ever does a 9.5 mixed league where the pairings are 4.5M + 5.0F I would play that for sure, but unfortunately I don't think there are the numbers to make that viable.

 

[SGM1980]

Yeah I think you're right. I do enjoy mixed when the ladies are roughly the same strength as the men. I (4.5) occasionally play with a good 4.5 female friend against a 4.5 buddy and his 5.0 wife, and it's both good tennis and socially fun.

But most of the mixed around here is centered around USTA (either matches or team practice), and 8.0 mixed has a lot of 4.5M + 3.5F combos which I don't find fun. 9.0 mixed is a bit better since there some 4.5M + 4.5F pairs which is not bad, but you still run into a fair amount of 5.0M + 4.0F which is pretty imbalanced. There are no 10.0 mixed leagues in my area.

If USTA ever does a 9.5 mixed league where the pairings are 4.5M + 5.0F I would play that for sure, but unfortunately I don't think there are the numbers to make that viable.

I find this curious, because hasn't @schmke said several times that the 4.5/3.5 pairs have better records? As half of a 4.5/3.5 pair I know that we're the strongest pair on our team. The team in our league that had the most success last year and is expected to win this year is ALL 4.5/3.5 pairs.

 

[jm1980]

Believe me - I've been here long enough to see the general commentary on women. Now, I can't say how many *people* are commenting, but the percentage of sexist *comments* is the definite majority. Of any comment specifically mentioning women it is more likely to be sexist than not.

The number of threads and comments dedicated to women complaining about things, or worrying about only the color of their skirt, or chit chatting too much, or dragging down the very standard of the sport are exceptional. Not to mention the outright disgusting comments about playing with women only being worth it if they're hot and wearing short enough skirts.

There are very few tennis message boards with any significant traffic. I don't think it's too much to ask for the men on this board to treat women with a little respect. We have no where else to go to talk about tennis. Please don't make it uncomfortable for us to participate in discussions here.

I'm sorry you had to read that stuff. There are a lot of men on these boards though. I'd be willing to wager if the gender ratio were more balanced we'd see a lower proportion of these comments... Or maybe even some women commenting on how mixed is only worth it if the men are hot

 

[Dartagnan64]

I find this curious, because hasn't @schmke said several times that the 4.5/3.5 pairs have better records? As half of a 4.5/3.5 pair I know that we're the strongest pair on our team. The team in our league that had the most success last year and is expected to win this year is ALL 4.5/3.5 pairs.

I think O-Power is commenting on fun factor not winning percentages. Whenever there is imbalance it degenerates into strong preying on weak. That leads to people finding ways to hide their weaker partner. It becomes singles on a doubles court with an alley camper. And it’s not just a mixed problem. I’ve watched mismatched women’s teams that do the same thing. Let the stronger player rule the court and the weaker player plays shrinking violet in the corner. Some folks don’t enjoy that and I don’t blame them.

To me doubles is best played with 4 same NTRP players, whether mixed, men’s or ladies.
That way it’s less about bullying and more about strategy and finding gaps.

 

[schmke]

I think O-Power is commenting on fun factor not winning percentages. Whenever there is imbalance it degenerates into strong preying on weak. That leads to people finding ways to hide their weaker partner. It becomes singles on a doubles court with an alley camper. And it’s not just a mixed problem. I’ve watched mismatched women’s teams that do the same thing. Let the stronger player rule the court and the weaker player plays shrinking violet in the corner. Some folks don’t enjoy that and I don’t blame them.

To me doubles is best played with 4 same NTRP players, whether mixed, men’s or ladies.
That way it’s less about bullying and more about strategy and finding gaps.

This.

Successful 4.5M / 3.5F teams don't play traditional doubles, instead they focus on putting the weaker player in the position for them to do only what they are able to do well. The result is a style of tennis that is certainly different and to some, not enjoyable and so they don't like Mixed when played that way. But when done right, this can be more successful than more balanced pairs, at least the data seems to show that.

 

[OrangePower]

I find this curious, because hasn't @schmke said several times that the 4.5/3.5 pairs have better records? As half of a 4.5/3.5 pair I know that we're the strongest pair on our team. The team in our league that had the most success last year and is expected to win this year is ALL 4.5/3.5 pairs.

Exactly what @Dartagnan64 and @schmke said.
4.5/3.5 pairs are most successful, and so they make up the majority of teams at 8.0 mixed. I just don't enjoy it because it means changing my shot selection from what is usually 'best practice' for the situation to instead intentionally target the weaker player even when it's not the 'right' shot. It leaves me feeling like the best strategy is actually bad tennis and while I have nothing against anyone who enjoys this it's just not fun for me.

 

[r2473]

Especially when the majority of the men on this board seen to treat mixed doubles like some sort of disgusting pick up scene.

Wait, does this actually work?

 

[SGM1980]

Wait, does this actually work?

No.

 

[r2473]

No.

You have a nice return game

 

[Dartagnan64]

Club Championship Mixed B Round 3:
Played the 2 seed team and lost 3 & 3. They just out-consistented us. No weapons but solid positioning, safe reliable shots, good lob game. Our best shots were better than their best shots but our mistakes were more frequent and devastating than theirs.

One thing I did notice is how much my vision doesn't like early evening lighting. I had several FH's and BH volleys that I thought I had lined up and just totally whiffed or framed. I've had that issue since outdoor season began, any evening match in sunshine just plays with my eyesight. Indoors, cloudy weather, morning and afternoon daylight, I'm fine. Evening is just a disaster. Man, I hate getting older. Maybe I need more carrots.

I think the biggest takeaway from this loss was we need to get better in the lob game. Need to work on our own lobs and really get better at overheads to punish the lobbers. At best last night we neutralized their lob game but never really made them pay.

And that's probably our biggest issue. We can go toe to toe with most teams that play the ball horizontally. But once it turns into vertical tennis we are at a disadvantage. It's just not in our DNA to hit balls up and over. We prefer hitting crisply to open spaces and playing a more attacking game. But the more skills you have the better.