Attn: LeeD and other frequent doubles players

[andrehanderson]

Here is some short video from today's doubles match. I'm in the manly bright orange shirt.

Can you take a look at my court positioning and give me some advice? I am finding myself out of position a lot and I'm not sure how I should be thinking about it when I'm on the court.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NShdwf0f2cA

 

[movdqa]

There was a point where you served and the receiver hit a short lob to your partner and you stayed in no-man's-land expecting your partner to put the ball away (which he did). I think that it would have been better to move in, at least to the service line, in case they got back another weak shot.

Near the end, the athletic guy liked to serve and come in - there was a point where he hit a relatively short volley. It appears that you were too far back to reach it even though it was still up several feet beyond the service line. Perhaps standing a little closer to the service line so that you could move forwards or backwards would have enabled you to get to the ball. I think that he tended to hit slice balls coming to the net or volleying and his balls tended to not be hit deeply so you had some margin for hugging the baseline if not standing in a step.

Looks like you had a fun time out there.

 

[AtomicForehand]

You made a couple of really nice shots!

I would say that your positioning in general is not very problematic, although a couple of times you seemed too far back when you were up at net, including one time when you were behind the service line in no-man's land. You are just going to be target practice for the opposing team there, unable to hit either a decent volley or a groundstroke from that position, while they can put balls at your feet all day long, or pass you down the alley, when you're standing that far back.

My advice would be to always ASSUME the next ball is coming to you, no matter where you are on the court, and move your feet to get ready to meet it. You looked glued to the ground a few times there, and if you had been expecting the ball to come to you, you might have anticipated a bit better and moved up to get some of those short balls.

One time your partner took your ball, and left his side of the court wide open, and you guys lost the point as a result. So maybe you could have yelled "Mine!" to him so he would have covered his own side? If you're going to move in on your partner's side of the court like he did, you'd better put that ball away for a winner! His court positioning troubled me more than yours.

 

[movdqa]

One time your partner took your ball, and left his side of the court wide open, and you guys lost the point as a result. So maybe you could have yelled "Mine!" to him so he would have covered his own side? If you're going to move in on your partner's side of the court like he did, you'd better put that ball away for a winner! His court positioning troubled me more than yours.

In general, the person that can reach the shot gets to take the shot. If that person then moves into the other side, then the partner should move to cover the other side.

 

[AtomicForehand]

In general, the person that can reach the shot gets to take the shot. If that person then moves into the other side, then the partner should move to cover the other side.

Agreed, but I don't think that is what happened here. OP should have taken that ball. Or his partner should have put it away. His partner was the one out of position.

 

[movdqa]

Agreed, but I don't think that is what happened here. OP should have taken that ball. Or his partner should have put it away. His partner was the one out of position.

If the other person has a play and decides to take it, then it's his shot.

Yes, his partner should have put it away.

But that doesn't always happen though; so you cover behind him.

Partners aren't perfect and so you do the statistically best thing that you can to compensate.

Worst case is when your partners stands in the middle of the court after hitting the ball.

 

[andrehanderson]

Thanks so much for the feedback, guys.

The funny thing is that doubles was my forte in high school, but after the 20 year layoff and then coming back to play almost exclusively singles, I find myself a bit lost out there.

 

[movdqa]

You might try getting a book on doubles to refresh you memory.

 

[Chotobaka]

Looks like a fun match. Where in Brasil are you playing?

 

[andrehanderson]

Movdqa, is there one you'd recommend?

Chotobaka, I'm in Brasilia (originally from LA). Are you in Brazil?

 

[movdqa]

The last doubles book I read was published in the 1970s and I'm pretty sure that it's out of print. There's a recent thread in this forum discussing Serve and Volley that had a recommendation or two about doubles books. The one that I read was in the library when I was a teenager and I read it there. It gave me the foundations on doubles play that I needed. I'm sure that there are many books that do the job today but I haven't looked at them.

 

[LeeD]

You look pretty darn good to me.
We should be able to play some great doubles, if your crowd joins my crowd.

 

[Chotobaka]

Movdqa, is there one you'd recommend?

Chotobaka, I'm in Brasilia (originally from LA). Are you in Brazil?

No, not at the moment. I spend a little time in Brazil each year. Sao Paolo once a year for strictly business (and hot mortadella sandwiches ) and a couple of weeks elsewhere for pleasure. Last time I was checking out Fortaleza, which was nice for a short visit. My favorite place so far is Porto Alegre. My wife and I plan on spending part of the year in either Uruguay or Brazil when we retire so we travel around each year. Your courts in Brasilia have such a nice vibe -- I'd love to listen to those birds while playing tennis.

 

[Rui]

You made a couple of really

One time your partner took your ball, and left his side of the court wide open, and you guys lost the point as a result. So maybe you could have yelled "Mine!" to him so he would have covered his own side? If you're going to move in on your partner's side of the court like he did, you'd better put that ball away for a winner! His court positioning troubled me more than yours.

You (Andre) could have avoided the problem (probably) by following your great return to the net. Your partner probably would have then seen you and backed off. If not, you would have been in position to call him off. As it happened, he made a bad play. You could have mitigated the problem by taking off to cover his side as soon as you realized he was taking the (bad) shot.

You guys did a lot of watching and waiting to see what was going to happen. You need to know what would happen if they hit to you and act on it before they do. It's not that easy.

 

[andrehanderson]

Chotobaka, if you are ever able to make it to Brasilia, let me know! We can hit on some pretty cool courts! The court I play on most often--the one in the video--is the least maintained of the others I hit on down here, but it's still a fun little court. It's extremely fast, though.

 

[andrehanderson]

You (Andre) could have avoided the problem (probably) by following your great return to the net. Your partner probably would have then seen you and backed off. If not, you would have been in position to call him off. As it happened, he made a bad play. You could have mitigated the problem by taking off to cover his side as soon as you realized he was taking the (bad) shot.

You guys did a lot of watching and waiting to see what was going to happen. You need to know what would happen if they hit to you and act on it before they do. It's not that easy.

You're right. I do find myself playing spectator way too much.

 

[Chotobaka]

Chotobaka, if you are ever able to make it to Brasilia, let me know! We can hit on some pretty cool courts! The court I play on most often--the one in the video--is the least maintained of the others I hit on down here, but it's still a fun little court. It's extremely fast, though.

Thank you. I definitely will let you know when I plan on visiting there.