Doubles Strategies

[Shashwat]

What are some higher level doubles strategies other than
- Get your first serve in.
- Go to the net.
- Try to serve and volley.
- Be aggresive.

and all the regular ones, what are some other good strategies? I know it kind of depends on your opponents but are there any strategies that usually work no matter what, do you get where i'm going ?

Thanks!

 

[Bagumbawalla]

In addition to what you have.

Keep the ball low.

Hit to the middle or between the players unless you have a winning angle.

Make use of the lob.

Generally serve down the middle.

Learn to work as a team, create "plays".

Learn to volley/half volley well-- practice practice practice.

Practice your serve and return of serve-- a lot (make this your #1 drill.

Practice hitting lob and smashes.

Watch the ball, but at the same time keep track of where everyone is on the court-- and place your balls accordingly.

Buy some books on doubles sreategy and drills and practice those drills.

 

[TonyB]

Your primary duty is to seal off the middle of the court.

"Float" with the ball (cut off the angles), but stay near your partner.

When your partner is drawn out wide, cover the center and drop back a bit near the Tee.

Never play 1 up 1 back. Either both stay back or both get to the net.

In "higher level" doubles, you don't TRY to serve and volley, you DO serve and volley. There is no try. Once you relinquish the net to your opponents, your odds of winning the point drops to around 20% (if my memory is correct).

If your partner hits a strong return to the server's feet, aggressively poach to gain the advantage quickly.

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head. Doubles is mainly about adapting to specific situations. It's tough to try to outline a broad list of strategies that work in all situations.

 

[Rickson]

What are some higher level doubles strategies other than
- Get your first serve in.
- Go to the net.
- Try to serve and volley.
- Be aggresive.

and all the regular ones, what are some other good strategies? I know it kind of depends on your opponents but are there any strategies that usually work no matter what, do you get where i'm going ?

Thanks!

Don't underestimate the power of the lob. Lobs work great against 2 up opponents.

 

[Cindysphinx]

In addition to the above:

If your opponents are two-up, drive the ball with topspin if there is any space between them and the net. If they are hanging on the net, lob the backhand.

If you lob your opponents or create any situation where they are in a bad position (e.g. I formation), come in. Don't stand back admiring your shot. Come in to the service line and pressure them.

Don't return up the line unless you have a good reason. There is only one good reason: because the net player is harassing you. If he is giving you the crosscourt return, accept the gift.

If your partner is having trouble keeping the ball from the net man on the service return, play in no-man's land. When his return does get by the net man, close immediately.

All easier said than done . . .

 

[TonyB]

Here's a hint you won't get too often:

Hit your returns directly at the net man on occasion. Maybe even once per game. Not only does it keep them "honest", but it can have a psychological effect on his positioning, sometimes forcing him to back off from the net if he knows that he's fair game, or it can cause him to pause just a fraction of a second longer than he normally would for ALL of your subsequent returns, allowing you a greater margin for error in future games.

Sure, you risk losing the point outright if your return is weak. But you're not "supposed" to win your opponent's service games anyway. It's sometimes better to throw off your opponents and get into their heads than it is to win a point here and there. The payoff can sometimes be much more than those few points, as your opponents can get rattled/mad/scared/whatever as a result of your returns, particularly if you hit with some significant pace.

 

[Shashwat]

Thanks guys, great advice. I've been playing doubles (high school) and haven't really been seeing (more) positive results. I'll try to keep all this in mind and preach to my partner . Keep them coming though, so i can process more into my brain.

 

[Off The Wall]

Thumb

A good rule of thumb is to hit shots that make your opponents have to hit up (to clear the net). And when they do, move in.

 

[scotus]

If you are the netman, play the percentage and stand closer to the center. There's no point in defending the alley to death.

If the returner hits occasional winners down the line, that's fine. In my experience, even the really good returners do not win over 50% of points when they gun down the line. Good returners typically connect 1/3 of times, hits out or into the net another 1/3 of times, and I can get to it and win points the other 1/3 of times.

 

[JesseT]

What are some higher level doubles strategies other than
- Be aggresive.

I'd like to ask a slight variation on this point.

I get quite a few "punchy" balls that land in the service court. BH or FH, I could wail on these balls; but because of the speed, the opponents are up at the net.

I normally lob these to make them run, but it usually just results in another lob back to us.

Is it higher percentage to wail at the guys at the net? Asked another way, should the majority of your shots to 2-up be lobs or hard-low shots?

 

[ohplease]

Doubles is fundamentally a pretty simple game. You want to spike it, and keep the other guys from spiking on you.

All you really need to do is think one shot ahead. Earn your partner (or yourself), the chance to spike. By "spike" I mean just like in volleyball - pure offense. This can be volley, overhead, or even ground stroke - the point is not where you take the chance from, but that you've created it, and can then successfully execute upon it.

The other generally accepted rules of thumb are nice to know, but they're not gospel, and there are plenty of ways to counter teams stuck in more dogmatic styles of play.

 

[fuzz nation]

ohplease is onto a very good point. A strong doubles team earns those sitters that they can pounce on by keeping the ball low to their opponents when they are up at net or further back. It's easy to assume that aggressive play requires hitting bullets all the time, but those constant low balls will make opposing teams feel as if they're playing uphill. No need to hit over them when you can hit under them.

A good doubles team also knows how to poach. Whenever the player closer to the net has a bead on a ball and takes off across the middle to poach it, the partner should automatically know enough to switch sides and cover the vacated space.

 

[Cindysphinx]

I'd like to ask a slight variation on this point.

I get quite a few "punchy" balls that land in the service court. BH or FH, I could wail on these balls; but because of the speed, the opponents are up at the net.

I normally lob these to make them run, but it usually just results in another lob back to us.

Is it higher percentage to wail at the guys at the net? Asked another way, should the majority of your shots to 2-up be lobs or hard-low shots?

I think it depends.

If you're talking about a short ball that comes to you that is easy to handle, I think the safest play is to hit a groundstroke. At net person's feet, at the weaker volleyer, up the middle, passing shot. I think the problem with a lob is that you're already close to net, so you don't have much margin for error and could easily hit it long. Unless you have a wicked topspin lob, I think the groundstroke is the higher-percentage bet.

That said, my default position these days when two are at net is to lob, even if I am well inside the baseline. Oh, I am making myself crazy with this! Why not just drive the stoopid ball already? I don't know, but lobbing against two-up is winning me less than 50% of these points.

I think I could do better with a topspin groundstroke to the weaker or deeper opponent, but I lack a spine, apparently.

 

[LuckyR]

At the higher levels, repeated lobbing of the "2 up" formation is a poor bet. For one thing the "2 up" has a more offensive and more defensive player. The defensive "up" player is looking for lobs, so when your backswing signals "lob", they should start backing up (from their slightly rearward position), so they should be hitting overheads off of your lobs.

 

[Steady Eddy]

At the higher levels, repeated lobbing of the "2 up" formation is a poor bet. For one thing the "2 up" has a more offensive and more defensive player. The defensive "up" player is looking for lobs, so when your backswing signals "lob", they should start backing up (from their slightly rearward position), so they should be hitting overheads off of your lobs.

"At higher levels" is the key phrase here. Club players, (as opposed to players for a college team), don't move back, and stand there hoping that the lob will be short.

When I watch good players hit overheads, they make it look so easy to get to the ball. But when I play, it's hard to get there in time. I think that it doesn't even have that much to do with footspeed, but rather, with reading the racquet and getting a jump on the ball. Still, most players, like me, stand there for about 1.5 seconds watching the ball before moving, and by then it's too late.

 

[LuckyR]

"At higher levels" is the key phrase here. Club players, (as opposed to players for a college team), don't move back, and stand there hoping that the lob will be short.

When I watch good players hit overheads, they make it look so easy to get to the ball. But when I play, it's hard to get there in time. I think that it doesn't even have that much to do with footspeed, but rather, with reading the racquet and getting a jump on the ball. Still, most players, like me, stand there for about 1.5 seconds watching the ball before moving, and by then it's too late.

I don't disagree with your comment and I agree that that it is all about the anticipation and the read of the backswing, not footspeed.

 

[Rickson]

Play the line when the opportunities arise because the wider court will hurt your opponents on that play.

 

[Tennisman912]

First off I love doubles. Be warned this will be long but hopefully most will find it helpful. The best thing about doubles is you can be creative and don’t have to pound every ball like in singles. Doubles is all about being consistent and playing smart. Go back to basics. Depending on your level, the first rule is to get the return in play and past the net man. After that keeping the ball low is everything. The reason that is important is your ultimate goal is to make your opponents hit up. If they have to hit up you can be offensive; whether they give you an easy poach, a sitting FH you can pound or a lob. If you remember only one thing it should be that. When in doubt or are in trouble, roll a topspin shot to your opponents feet in the middle of the court. You only need to come up with something special 10 or 20% of the time. I will say that again. You only need a great shot 10% of the time. This is true up to at least 4.0 and usually 4.5. I try to do the least amount I have to win. Now I am not saying never lob because the lob is underused but this is the basics.

Now when I say consistent I mean you should be making your opponent have to hit a shot 80% + of the time at a minimum. Now we are not pros so perfection is not to be expected but you can never be too consistent. All the little things matter and add up to the big things. Some examples below.

When serving,
Your first priority is to serve a large percentage of your serves to your opponent’s WEAKER stroke. First or second serve (Practice until you can place both). This is usually the backhand. You might think this is common sense but in my experience very, very few do it consistently. Make life easy for yourself. It is ok to hit an 80% serve to get the first one in consistently IF you place it well. It is that simple. We do this to make our opponent beat us with their weaker stroke. I don’t usually see this consistently until 5.0 amazingly enough or for a game or two on occasion below that. You can mix it up the rest of the time. The next best place to serve is a kick or slice into the body. I almost never serve to an opponent’s forehand unless I am going for an ace or to mix it up occasionally.

Thinking ahead
This has two components. First, some people can watch their partner return and be ready for reflex volleys and be in position. I generally cannot and neither can most people. After you make the line call start watching you opponents. You will get way more reflex volleys back.
Second is anticipation. I am thinking a couple of shots ahead. Always. Why? Because when you know what is going to happen before an opponent hits their shot, you are in position to defend or be offensive as the case may be. This will come with court time and experience. No I am not clairvoyant but the more advanced players will know what I mean by this. Two examples so you know what I mean. DEFENSIVE. Your partner is returning and you are in the middle of the box a little in front of the service line. Your opponent hits a weak shot to the net man, you either watched it or saw the net man opposing you eyes get big. What do you do? What is the percentage play and what will they probably do. They are probably going to try to hit it between you and your partner so you need to shift over to cover the middle of the court and be ready. So you should be there waiting for them to hit it there. Now hopefully you can block it back low to the oncoming server. If you are ready and in position and don’t panic, you will be amazed what you can get back. OFFENSIVE. My partner returns a decent return to my opponent who is stretching hard to get it back (60-80% shot with topspin dipping to the feet of the oncoming server, what you should be aiming for almost always). A weak reply is almost guaranteed. Why? We are forcing our opponent to hit up from below the level of the net. So what should we do? I am poaching to get a easy volley above the level of the net that I can put away easily and win the point with almost no stress. This will work 80% + of the time. This was set up by a decent, solid return that was not over hit by my partner.
THIRD. As soon as I hit a shot, any shot and I know it will be weak (a short lob, a floated return, whatever) I am moving to the most likely place my opponents will hit it not much after contact. This happens automatically without conscious thought on my part. I am sure almost all the advanced players do the same. This is the thought process you want to get too. It will take time.

General poaching rules
In general, you or your partner should poach on any ball they can be offensive with or anything right at you that is staying in. By this I mean anything above the level of the net THAT they can hit IN FRONT of themselves. You should not be poaching on a ball you have to hit behind yourself or is on your shoe tops unless it is right at you. This is all you really need to know until you are advanced enough to know what to do on your own. Let me explain why this is. It never ceases to amaze me how many players have a hard time putting away a sitter above the net consistently who think they are going to hit a good shot moving laterally away from the net to a ball below the net behind them. This is a very, very low percentage shot. Even advanced players are not going to do this unless they know their partner cannot get to it, which is rare. I am not picking on weaker players because we have all been there. I think it is important to show the reasoning behind why I tell you what to do so you can learn what you should be thinking about and why. Then you can decide whether what I am saying is good for you or not.

I will save some basic court positioning for another post if people want to here more. I hope this helps. We are all improving so pay attention to the little things. I think you will like the results.

tennisman

 

[TenniseaWilliams]

Prepare

Doubles is such a quick game, I think preparation is key at intermediate levels. If you know what to expect, you can stay looser and think less, play better tennis.

At the net - cross court from the ball
This is your ball to hit. It is coming to you, know where you want to go with it. Stand in the middle of the court angles to make sure you can cover it. You should move slightly ahead of your partner, who should be at the net too, otherwise you are in bad shape and need to cover behind you as well as sharp angles in front. Strongly consider taking weak balls directly to your opponents, especially early in a match, tends to limit your opponents mobility later on.

At the net - same side as the ball
Protect the line by moving as wide as the ball is, a few feet in front of the service line. Be ready to take a nasty shot into your backhand, attack anything weak over the middle (unless low), and cover lobs if your partner is at the net.

At the baseline - cross court from the ball
Your ball to hit, decide how best you can get it back to the other baseline. If your partner is at the net, and the opposition is at the net on your side of the court, low and cross-court is the safest, followed perhaps by lob over their backhand shoulder.

At the baseline - same side as the ball
Position as wide as the ball, but expect to help protect the middle, especially if your partner is at net. Concentrate on were to hit to stay out of trouble if the ball comes your way, don't try and do too much from such a defensive position.

Stay low and focus on your opponents ball strike. Try to look loose and amused (especially if you aren't), it helps your partner and irritates opponents grim little heads!

 

[Nellie]

No one talks about the movement in doubles!

You have to move to fill space - essentially be in the middle of the area left by you partner - so if your partner is forced wide, you go to the middle, when your partner is deep, you move back a couple of steps.

Perhaps think of keeping a fixed distance from your partner (10 feet)

You need to choreograph you movement to minimize the opennings in your court.

 

[TonyB]

At the net - same side as the ball
Protect the line by moving as wide as the ball is, a few feet in front of the service line. Be ready to take a nasty shot into your backhand, attack anything weak over the middle (unless low), and cover lobs if your partner is at the net.

I have to disagree with this statement. The player OPPOSITE the side that the lob is coming from is typically responsible for retrieving the lob.

For one thing, he has more time to reach the ball, as it's coming from further away. And secondly, they have a better perspective on the ball, as they are standing at an angle to it rather than looking straight ahead at it. They can judge it better, can react faster, and can run sideways rather than straight backwards in order to retrieve it.

In my experience, the cross-court player always watches for the lob while the same-side player moves up for putaways and poaches. It's all about angles and taking away the high-percentage shots from your opponents, making things harder for them.

 

[Bungalo Bill]

What are some higher level doubles strategies other than
- Get your first serve in.
- Go to the net.
- Try to serve and volley.
- Be aggresive.

and all the regular ones, what are some other good strategies? I know it kind of depends on your opponents but are there any strategies that usually work no matter what, do you get where i'm going ?

Thanks!

When you can do those things regularly, it is time to focus on play calling and communication.

Learn the doubles formations and who has the middle ball better. Look for a partner that has the same goals as you do.

The formations you should learn are:

1. I-formation

2. Aussie

3. Two-back formation and how to be in position

4. Two-up and how and when to move together.

A great place to further your knowledge in doubles is

www.operationdoubles.com

I would also recommend getting the book THE ART OF DOUBLES.

 

[Shashwat]

Thanks guys, great info. I'll read all of it sometime this weekend when i have time. I recently moved up to singles so not playing doubles again till next fall season . But i am still going to read all this info.

Thanks again.

 

[TonyB]

Hmm, what do you mean by "moved UP to singles?"

I played 1st doubles all 4 years of high school. Not because I "wasn't good enough" to play singles, but because I CHOSE to play doubles. My partner and I cleaned up pretty much every match, including regionals.

I shouldn't say all 4 years. The last year my partner graduated and I played 1st singles instead. But only because I had to.

Unless you're playing money tournaments, singles holds no more esteem than doubles.

 

[A.Davidson]

Control the middle of the court.

This is essential at the higher levels, where many points are decided by smashes.

 

[TenniseaWilliams]

I have to disagree with this statement. The player OPPOSITE the side that the lob is coming from is typically responsible for retrieving the lob.

For one thing, he has more time to reach the ball, as it's coming from further away. And secondly, they have a better perspective on the ball, as they are standing at an angle to it rather than looking straight ahead at it. They can judge it better, can react faster, and can run sideways rather than straight backwards in order to retrieve it.

In my experience, the cross-court player always watches for the lob while the same-side player moves up for putaways and poaches. It's all about angles and taking away the high-percentage shots from your opponents, making things harder for them.

TonyB, thanks for the comment, is very interesting.

I would think the net player on the same side as the ball has an advantage standing slightly further back for reflex volleys. I hate being exactly even w/ partner. There is no advantage that I can see for poaching at that point except for surprise, and the cross court net position tighter to the net covers sharp angles better / IMO presents a tighter looking court to the opponent. Never considered that an angled view on a lob would help much, might have to try a few experiments next time I'm hitting for fun.

 

[bsandy]

Best advice I ever got . . . (You might have to think about this one.)

Hit the ball back to where is came from, unless you're going for a winner. This will keep you from being out of position in rallys.

. . . Bud

 

[Pro Staff Pete]

That's very logical Bud! But of course good to keep in mind.

 

[TonyB]

TonyB, thanks for the comment, is very interesting.

I would think the net player on the same side as the ball has an advantage standing slightly further back for reflex volleys. I hate being exactly even w/ partner. There is no advantage that I can see for poaching at that point except for surprise, and the cross court net position tighter to the net covers sharp angles better / IMO presents a tighter looking court to the opponent. Never considered that an angled view on a lob would help much, might have to try a few experiments next time I'm hitting for fun.

A couple of things:

1. Standing further back doesn't help for reflex volleys, really, unless you're looking at the barrel of a 90 MPH cannon forehand coming from your opponents. Most of the time at the sub-5.0 level you're not going to get blown off the court by a shot to your chest. And standing a couple of feet further back isn't going to make any difference. Fact is, the closer you are to the net, the better your chances of getting that reflex volley OVER the net. And you can afford a much larger margin for error on angles if you're closer to the net.

2. Standing "exactly even" with your partner is not something to avoid. You want to work as a pair, not as a split-pair, if you know what I mean. Watch the Bryans sometime. They're practically joined at the hip. You don't want to leave any angled openings between your partner and yourself when you're at the net.

3. Poaching is ALWAYS an advantage if you can get a good read on your opponent's shot. I'm not sure what you mean by "there is no advantage to poaching at that point." If you're doing your job at the net, you're always looking to cut off your opponents' shots, which means typically that you're stepping in front of your partner to do so on crosscourt shots.


I've been playing doubles almost exclusively for a while now and these are not things that I've just made up. They're observations that I've made from watching dozens of pro matches and spending hundreds of hours on the court.

 

[rasajadad]

Whatever you do, never miss into the net.

 

[1012007]

When your opponent is serving, stand near the "T" facing the other opponent at the net as that will be the first shot your going to receive, unless of course it goes back to the server and then you will have enough time to move into position

 

[Shashwat]

Hmm, what do you mean by "moved UP to singles?"

I played 1st doubles all 4 years of high school. Not because I "wasn't good enough" to play singles, but because I CHOSE to play doubles. My partner and I cleaned up pretty much every match, including regionals.

I shouldn't say all 4 years. The last year my partner graduated and I played 1st singles instead. But only because I had to.

Unless you're playing money tournaments, singles holds no more esteem than doubles.

Well I don't know how it is elsewhere, but at my school, the top 2 play singles and the rest play doubles. I didn't mean move up as in saying doubles is a lesser thing to do. I prefer singles over doubles because sometimes doubles gets really frustrating (especially if your volleys aren't working that day). Singles, you have more options and you aren't necessarily going to lose if you can't play net. I like playing doubles, but i guess i just prefer singles more.

 

[LuckyR]

When your opponent is serving, stand near the "T" facing the other opponent at the net as that will be the first shot your going to receive, unless of course it goes back to the server and then you will have enough time to move into position

The corollary to this is that you needn't bother if the other team doesn't poach, or if you have confidence your partner can get the ball past the netman (say on a second serve).

 

[Rafael_Nadal_6257]

I like singles because I like depending on myself...Its the whole reason I changed from playing soccer to playing tennis.

 

[TenniseaWilliams]

Hi Tony, I guess I didn't realize my tactics were so controversial. Perhaps I can explain better, or more likely am missing something I can use.

1. Standing further back doesn't help for reflex volleys, really, unless you're looking at the barrel of a 90 MPH cannon forehand coming from your opponents. Most of the time at the sub-5.0 level you're not going to get blown off the court by a shot to your chest. And standing a couple of feet further back isn't going to make any difference. Fact is, the closer you are to the net, the better your chances of getting that reflex volley OVER the net. And you can afford a much larger margin for error on angles if you're closer to the net.

Sorry, I'm old. An extra moment or so does make a difference to me on reflex volleys! I few feet back and I have almost enough time to do something with the ball instead of blocking back a shot weakly that will then come even harder at me or likely go for a winner. Out here in the sticks we must have a lot of sandbaggers, not many 4.0+ have issues banging low decent paced shots at a target 20ft away. I always reasoned that the 4 or 5 extra feet is a significant percentage increase in distance (and therefore time to react) I certainly never see pro's play super close.

2. Standing "exactly even" with your partner is not something to avoid. You want to work as a pair, not as a split-pair, if you know what I mean. Watch the Bryans sometime. They're practically joined at the hip. You don't want to leave any angled openings between your partner and yourself when you're at the net.

Mostly the percentage shot is a drive down the middle. No time for the 'mine' call, if we are not at least slightly staggered, we will soon both be after the loud clack. I have trouble finding replacement frames as it is (not to mention replacement partners) Somehow the Bryan brothers avoid this, and both still cover the middle.

3. Poaching is ALWAYS an advantage if you can get a good read on your opponent's shot. I'm not sure what you mean by "there is no advantage to poaching at that point." If you're doing your job at the net, you're always looking to cut off your opponents' shots, which means typically that you're stepping in front of your partner to do so on crosscourt shots.

If you and your partner are both at the net, I don't see much advantage for the net player on the same side of the court as the ball to poach a cross court shot. Unless of course your partner is much weaker.

Thanks again for your comments, haven't thought about the reasoning for some of this stuff for a while. My skin is pretty thick, and I am totally up for some more free instruction from this awesome board!

 

[Jackie T. Stephens]

Don't underestimate the power of the lob. Lobs work great against 2 up opponents.

Yeah, lobs are more of a defensive play.