Doubles: Covering a Lob

[Cindysphinx]

Lots of questions arose during today's team practice. Here we go.

My partner is at net on the deuce court, I'm receiving serve on the ad court.
I play the return crosscourt and do not come in. Server plays a lob to my partner. My partner can't reach it and says switch. I run to the deuce court and am able to play the ball at the baseline. My question is where should my partner go? To the ad court net? To the ad court baseline? To the ad court service line?

Second question. My partner is at net, I'm at the baseline. My partner gets lobbed and I run to retrieve the ball behind her. My partner says nothing (yes, I know she should say switch if she's not going to play it as an overhead, but never mind that for now). I say, "SWITCH!!! SWITCH! SWITCH!!!!!!!!" the whole time I'm chasing this lob. My partner does not switch. The reason is because she believes it is distracting for her to be running across the net while I'm trying to play my shot, so she says she should switch *after* she hears me hit the ball. My feeling was that it was seriously distracting that I was calling a switch and was unsure whether I had been understood. Plus, her being directly in front of me in an I formation meant that I couldn't play the lob as a groundstroke straight back to the deep person and had to play it as a cross-court to the net person or a lob, thereby cutting off my best option. Who's right?

 

[Nuke]

1. Ad court net. If she's at the net, she should not retreat because you're going to hit a deep shot away from their net person, right?

2. Drill your partner in the back, and when she gives you that hurt puppy-dog look, tell her, "I told you to switch!"

 

[cghipp]

What Nuke said. You'll be the judge of what distracts you when you're hitting the ball, not her. Your partner should be in position before you even get to the ball; it's not like she's got far to go. Her reasoning is ridiculous. We will end up switching as your opponents return your shot, and they will have an open court to hit it into.

 

[Tennismastery]

1. Your net partner who was lobbed should switch and retreat to the service line in a defensive position but not to the baseline. Depending on the difficulty of the lob for the person running it down, the net partner who is switching may take a position behind the service line if the lob is especially tough or is going to result in the person running down the lob having to hit a weak shot. This is because of two main issues: a) you don't know if your partner is going to hit a weak shot off the lob, and b) you don't know if your opposing net player is going to poach.

If both opponents come to the net as they see their lob is over the head of the net player, then the net partner who is switching must assume a defensive position...I recommend backing up to the service line first, evaluate the quality of your partner's shot off the lob, and move accordingly: good low drive, stay there, weak lob or weak drive, back further up.

2. Good doubles while uses good communications, shouldn't need to call switch. It should be trained that when a lob first goes up over the head of one player, the other player first assumes that they won't be able to hit the overhead and starts to cover. If they see that the partner will hit the ball, she returns to her position. If the lob is so good that the net player can't get it, then she should switch (usually saying something like, 'can't' or 'switch') and move to the position I described in #1.

This movement is so often misunderstood by high school players and adults alike. Understand this simple thought: If you are at the net, and any ball goes back to a partner who is on the baseline, (lob or simply a crosscourt rally ball), then the net player should assume the worse case scenario. (which is either your partner sets up the opposing net player or the opposing net player is poaching of the shot from your deep partner.)

Hope this is of some help.

 

[Cindysphinx]

Tennismastery, my recollection of tennis instruction is that "switch" should be called by the net person who just got lobbed. In other words, the net person should always say something: "switch" or "mine." So already we're way off the mark with me (the baseliner) calling a switch. Oy.

If the net person says she has it, where does the other player position? I seem to recall from "The Art of Doubles" that if the net player needs to adjust backward a bit to take the overhead, the other player should close the net. True?

 

[Bagumbawalla]

Imagine that you are playing doubles the way you really should. You serve the ball and come in behind it to take the half-volley and move to the net. Instead of hitting a slice to your feet, the returner hits a lob over your partner's head. Now, who's ball is it? Right. Your partner should be alert for the possibility of a lob, and, the moment it looks like the ball is going up, should get back and prepare to hit an overhead.

Unless you have some special understanding, previously worked out, Each player should cover for the lobs on their own side of the court. Just because you lag back on the return, it should not change the rule of thumb. Your partner should assume you are heading for the net where you belong and cover her own lob.

Having said that, if there is any variation from that normal way of dealing with lobs, it is something you, and your partner should have discussed long ago.

The conversation would have gone something like this, "Since neither of us is capable of the normal serve and volley tactics, and we tend to hang back after serving, how should we handle this so we are not at such a disadvantage..." And that's what you need to do now. There is no right or wrong, here, just a lack of communication. Make a list (in your head) of possible situations that might arise and then work out something you both agree on. That's what partners do.

 

[Solat]

Unless you have some special understanding, previously worked out, Each player should cover for the lobs on their own side of the court. Just because you lag back on the return, it should not change the rule of thumb. Your partner should assume you are heading for the net where you belong and cover her own lob.

I disagree with this, i believe it is the partners responsability to cover the lob. This is due to the angle at which they can retrieve the ball and come from the side to hit it back, rather then trying to run directly behind the ball and turn and hit in back.

If a lob goes up (that is deep) both players need to back up anyway. Obviously it is a very subjective scenario and depends upon the individual. If the partner is tall and quick and can get back for overheads easily then this rule wont need apply. But whichever way is decided it needs to be adhered to and executed everytime because any pause or doubt will no doubt end up in a lost point

 

[cak]

The pro at the club I belong to teaches that the partner that is lobbed over switches and goes to the service line to cover the poach. The partner in the back yells switch, only because the person can see where the person in the front in, but obviously the net guy can't see their partner behind them. However, in the clear cut case where the ball is lobbed directly over your head, you should know to switch without anyone telling you. Our Head Pro is out on vacation, and his assistant stepped in last week. She told my partner in our clinic that she shouldn't move until after I hit, even though that means she cuts off my straight ahead shot and forces me to go cross court and hopefully over the head of the opposing net player. I disagree with that assessment, and want her to move as soon as possible so I don't nail her in the back. So the assistant pro agrees with your partner, but I agree with you.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

Solat,

Notice that CS says something like, "I play a cross court return, but don't come in and the opponent lobs over my partner's head."

In a normal, game of doubles, with proficient players, they want to get to the net ASAP, preferably after hitting the serve and comming in or hitting the return and following it in. If the players are playing like that, what you suggest won't work. Because...

If you return the ball and are on the way to the net and all of your momentum is moving forward when the opponent hits a lob over your partners head it is very difficult, if not impossible, to stop your momentum, run back, change sides and and hit an overhead off of what should be your partner's shot. Notice, that I said-- if you are playing normal serve and volley tennis where the idea is to get to the net after the serve and the return. When you play like that, you must each cover your own side as far as lobs are concerned. Really.

Of course, in this case, this team was not playing the way just described above.

Therefore I suggested:

If you are playing the type of tennis these two people were aparently playing, where they may come in to the net, and may not, they need to prepare some advance strategy that is contingent on the quirks of their particular abilities (and that strategy should involve what happens if you hang back instead of go to the net, and who takes the lobs) Since that style of play is basically weak in many respects (the net person does not know if her partner is coming in or lagging behind, for example) they will continue to have this kind of problem unless they get on the same wavelength. The time to prepare a contingency plan is before you get on the court, not in the middle of a point where it results in making false assumptions and the casting of blame.

 

[Cindysphinx]

In a perfect world, everyone charges the net all the time. But if I hit a poor service return -- say, framing a short ball to the deep person -- I won't follow that in. I also might stay back for a shot or two if I'm tired, or if that strategy seems not to be working for whatever reason. So there ought to be some established protocol for handling lobs in the one-up, one-back formation, no?

I was surprised to hear another pro saying the player should wait to switch. Today when my partner didn't switch immediately, you know what happened?

We lost the point because we were in an I formation, and the other team just whacked the ball into the undefended court.

The other reason we lost the point was because I was laughing so hard that my able partner was suddenly behaving someone who has lost her hearing.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

As, I think, you already know, with your partner's back to you and facing the opponents, taking the net sometimes, and hanging back sometimes, creates problems that are not covered "in the book". You must come up with those tactics on your own.

I play with the same doubles partner quite a bit (for about a year, now). We know each others game, but before each match we have some kind of discussion and touch base about strategy. If you have not done this with your partner-- you need to-- if you are not going to kill each other.

Though it is a poor practice, you are not alone in hanging back rather than charging in behind an "iffy" ball. Probably 80% of doubles players 4.0, or lower, do the same thing, play "iffy" tennis. And, really, they will be stuck there unless they do what it takes to break that behavior. I would suggest, that in your practice games, you come in immediately, after the serve or the return, weak or not, every time. The more you get used to doing that, the easier it will come.

Also, practicing lobs and smashes is not a bad idea. Say, have one player back, one at the net. Hit three or four volleys/groundstrokes, then lob over the net person's head. They will have to be watching for the signs and give-aways so they can get back ASAP.

Good luck,

B

I think you said that you are a 3.5. If you devoted yourself to perfecting the basic, individual skills through lots of drills and practice (rather than playing sets), you could probably be playing 4.0 in 4 or 5 months.

Good luck,

B

 

[LuckyR]

All of the above advice can be correct... for somebody. The correct play is determined by the skillset of the players. The question that I find most helpful is: what is your preferred tactic when you are at the net and your partner, who is at the baseline hits a lob? If your answer is: run back to the baseline, then the answer to #1 is: run back to the baseline. On the other hand, I almost always stay at the net, so for me I would either stay at net (especially if the server is staying back and I have confidence that my partner can handle the shot) or at worst, go to the service line and look to move up or poach depending on my partner's return.

As to #2, I often play against lob masters, who lob all the time. They are usually of an advanced age, shall we say, and I often don't switch when a moon ball goes over my head, because of that trajectory, my partner can easily retrieve it, hit his shot and cover his original side. For more offensive lobs, that I can't cover (which is uncommon) yes, switching simultaneously is the way to go and does not require a verbal call (although there is nothing wrong with a verbal call, IMO).

 

[psp2]

2. Drill your partner in the back, and when she gives you that hurt puppy-dog look, tell her, "I told you to switch!"

Awesome tip!!

 

[Solat]

B,

i still disagree, i understand the scenario, the main problem i could have is i only know how it feels to play at the level i play at. If i am serving and they block a return over my partner's head i will attempt to smash it. Now this may be due to the speed of the serve that by the time the lob goes up i am not so close to the net so i can laterally move to the ball, or it could be that my reach allows for me to do it.

But i will assume that someone who is a 3.5 is not moving so efficiently to the net so they would not be in too much a different position to myself. I think if you are looking to cover your own lobs then you tend not to lag away from the net so miss out on poaching effectively, i think you will win more points by poaching then you will lose via a return lob.