One serious question i do have is that Why do so few guys use the signals and signs ? even at advanced levels like 4.5 and even at intermediate 4.0 levels. I understand that we often have different partners but so what ??
There are several reasons why I think many players are reluctant to use signals.
1). They play at 4.0 or below and are just not used to it. Mostly, they play 1-back doubles and think that when they serve, they can hold their own from the baseline and win points without help from their net partner. At the level they play, their net guy botches more easy volleys than he hits for winners. They don’t think of holding serve as a group effort with their net partner, but solely their responsibility. Basically, they want to stay in their comfort zone and it stresses them to do something new.
2). They cannot serve to locations and don’t want to embarrass themselves in the eyes of their partners by demonstrating this. As someone mentioned above, asking a low level player to serve to locations causes them to double fault or reduces their first serve % tremendously. I find that even some low 4.5 players cannot serve to locations and get stressed by serve location signals. In this case, I have started using only poach/no poach signals without signaling serve location which seems to be acceptable for more players.
3). If you signal an intentional poach it requires explosive movement to the other side not only by the net partner, but also by the server to quickly move to cover the other side of the court. Many servers are not used to this quick movement and move too slow to cover the other side competently if the ball is returned DTL behind the poaching net player. If they S/V, they are not used to making a transition volley on the other side of the court for a DTL return because they have never practiced it. This is a big impediment for older 40+ 4.5 players who might find it difficult to make explosive movements or don’t want to do it when they are serving.
4). If I’m not familiar with my partner and we are playing new opponents whose strengths/weaknesses we don’t know yet, it is also possible that my partner does not read the other team quickly and makes serve location signals that I think are wise especially as they don’t know my serve location strengths/preferences - with a new partner, I’m more reluctant to stay ‘No’ to location signals they give me when I’m serving. I’m a lefty and my slice wide serve on ad is very effective in getting return errors or easy volleys for my net partner even without a signaled poach - so, I would want them to call it more than they would with a righty server and a brand new partner would not know this. So, one more reason to be careful about using serve location signals initially with a new partner as it might be counter-productive in the first couple of service games before we have a chance to see each other’s best and weakest serves.
When I have to play with a new partner for the first time, I first evaluate during the warmup if they look like a solid 4.5+ player or I won’t even suggest using signals. If they look good, I will bring it up before the start of the first point and see how they respond. If they respond with enthusiasm, then I know that they are used to it and we will try it - if they don’t sound enthusiastic, I’ll drop the topic. Even if we decide to use signals, I’ll ask if they want to do it for serve location also or only for poach/no poach and I’ve found that many players don’t want to use location signals.
If my partner and I are not using signals due to not knowing each other while our opponents are signaling both serve location and intentional poaches, I know that we are in serious trouble as we are playing an experienced doubles team and most of the time, the result of the match is a foregone conclusion.
