L
Liv3 For It
Guest
What are the MOST IMPORTANT things to do in doubles? All I know, is hit crosscourt away from the net player and poach as mush as possible.
Steady Eddy
Legend
The basic drive that is your bread and butter shot in singles, has no place in doubles. I've noticed that singles players, when they switch to doubles play like they believe that hitting high, hard, groundstrokes will work for them. Nope, those are the easiest kind for the net players to volley. They boomerang. You want to either lob or have it go barely over the net so they have to volley a low shot. Doubles is very different, it's a reflex game.
Cindysphinx
G.O.A.T.
Stay on your toes while at the net, and mentally expect that every shot your opponent hits is yours.
LuckyR
Legend
The above is all true, but IMO the single most important doubles tip is: deep to deep, short to short. That is: when you are at the baseline hit it to the baseline player (if there is one) and when you are at the net, hit it to the netman (if possible). Certainly not a "rule" but beginning doubles players lose more unnecessary points because of breaking it than any other tip.
Fedace
Banned
Also i think it is really useful if you can learn to read the Lob. It is much easier to read the Slice lob cause it is pretty obvious when the racket face opens up. but topspin lobs are more difficult to read. sometimes you can tell if the guy shifts his weight to his back foot.
Arzon
Rookie
yeah definintely. and also, when i said "take away the angle shot", i ment to say down the line alley shot. i guess the angle shot application works too with chip shots..
For me, the most important thing is to learn to move with your partner. When your partner goes wide for a stroke/return, you move to the middle. When your partner goes to the middle, you go wide to cover the wide angle (no use both being in the middle.) When you partner crosses, like in a poach, you cross over the cover the other side.
On another point, don't fall into the trap of always trying to hit the opponent at the net. The best shot is almost always between the opponents because that will be a clear winner.
On another point, don't fall into the trap of always trying to hit the opponent at the net. The best shot is almost always between the opponents because that will be a clear winner.
jmverdugo
Hall of Fame
All really good advice, but this one is the most important IMO, also communication is very important. DOubles i all about court covering and empty spaces.
So with all the good answers above, maybe the most important thing to think about in doubles play is for you to play MORE DOUBLES sets and matches. Experience is the only teacher here, all the advice just goes thru one ear and out the other when you go to the courts. Lose a few points, then the advice gets recalled and maybe it'll stick.
There is NO substitute for years of smart doubles play.
There is NO substitute for years of smart doubles play.
Bagumbawalla
G.O.A.T.
Good suggestions, above, additionally, if you are serious about doubles- playing doubles on a team or tournaments- I suggest going to the library/bookstore/Amazon and finding a book (or 2) that is devoted to doubles strategy.
Start with some of the more basic ideas- serve and where to place it, getting to the net, returning, lobs and overheads- then practice, practice, practice these things with your partner. Just knowing what you should do is not enough- you actually have to be able to execute the strokes and placements in match play situations.
Start with some of the more basic ideas- serve and where to place it, getting to the net, returning, lobs and overheads- then practice, practice, practice these things with your partner. Just knowing what you should do is not enough- you actually have to be able to execute the strokes and placements in match play situations.
found a good site for doubles info www.tennisoxygen.com
Fedace
Banned
Very nice website. I am amazed that i do all this just by instinct already. This "bail out" stretegy naturally happens to me just by instinct. I don't even have to think about it. I guess that is what happens if you play so much doubles. ON the flip side, i know guys that has been playing doubles for 10+ years and still stays 2 inches from the net and get smacked when the volleyers come in. some people never learn...
Fedace
Banned
What if that one person is making ton of Unforced errors and is not learning from it ??:???:
naylor
Semi-Pro
What are you doing, always playing with one person that makes lots of unforced errors and doesn't learn from them - work-experience for a degree in masochism, penance for past sins?
The only valid excuses are:-
1) you're siamese twins... in which case, bad luck, mate! (or book that op quick);
2) you play mixed doubles with your wife/girlfriend - she's not much good at tennis but absolutely TERRIFIC in certain private sporting activities... in which case, cr*p mixed tennis is a very cheap price to pay (and you won't have long, tough matches that will leave you too tired for "afterwards"...).
fuzz nation
G.O.A.T.
I think that doubles demands both patience and aggression at the same time. It's important to constantly press forward with an aggressive mindset, but this also requires being patient enough to not over-hit while pressing for that more dominant position.
Staying patient often means keeping your shots low over the net (or deep if one of them is stuck at the baseline) and trying to force your opponents to hit the ball up into that shoulder/head high strike zone where you can blow the ball through their feet. If they hit low to you, stay patient and send it low back to them, but stretch them out of position if you can. These low shots can even be disarming when your opponents have established themselves up at net - my low slice shots off either side can be major neutralizers against net crashers and they're not in any way "panic shots". You don't need to have overwhelming power to take your opponent's power away from them as long as you can hit "under" them.
Another thing that can make you much more at home in any doubles setting, regardless of what your partner is doing, is having half decent reaction volleys. They need to be practiced, but if you can stand firm against advancing opponents instead of constantly retreating, you can take away more of their options. Remember that in a doubles match between teams of equivalent skill, the team with the better positioning will have the advantage more often. If you can volley back more of the balls that comes your way, your opponents will have to hit away from you, so your positioning can help to box them in and hit at fewer offensive options.
