Illegal Doubles strategy?

[backtothebasics]

My partner and I were discussing a strategy to try and employ in 3.5 doubles tournament. Can I stand in the same service box as side he is serving and then poach across on his ad serve. My partner has this nasty kicker he's been working on and I think it will be a lot of sitting ducks for a 6'4 quick net player. When he serves he will cover behind in case I can't quite get across. Has this been employed and is it a legal tactic? I've seen players crouching in the middle but never this. My partner's serve and forehand are his weapons and that would play into his game. We want to destroy everyone there for good reasons.

 

[backtothebasics]

Apparently it's called Australian. Seems like the da bombest strat.

 

[Cullin Kin]

Have you ever heard of i-formation? That's what this sounds like, just shifted over. Pretty sure it's okay as it was used heavily in high school tennis and I've seen it a few times now in college. Could be wrong though.

Remember though, it's pretty easy to create a short angle off of a high kicker out wide.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Not illegal at all. Here's Nadal standing in the "wrong" service box as Lopez is about to serve.

 

[goran_ace]

Aussie and I-formation are two different (but similar) tactics. Typically I'd go to the I-formation against a strong returner to take away his angles and make him have to read/react to my partner's movement. He knows that the serve is more than likely coming hard down the T but he has to make a decision on the netman and that hesitation can make a difference - whereas in traditional staggered formation he might have an idea where he wants to go with the return before the point starts and just has to read the serve. Aussie can be used to protect the server if he's weak on the outside shot or if you want to otherwise force him to hit to one side. I've played against a team in college that used Aussie every other point so each partner played on the same side on every point (e.g. keep player A always on Ad side, player B always on Deuce side on every point). In this case it was a lefty paired with a righty and this way they always had forehands on the inside and owned the middle.

Aussie
http://www.tennis.com/your-game/201...rt-3-australian-formation/46643/#.Vit51X5JYgs
I-formation
http://www.tennis.com/your-game/2013/02/doubles-strategy-part-5-i-formation/46646/#.Vit6mX5JYgs

 

[Nellie]

There are is almost nothing in the rules about where you can stand in the court. The only semi-relevant portions of the ITF rules are rule 16 which states that the server has to be behind the baseline and between the center and side of the court, and rule 17 which says the server has to serve to the diagonal, opposite service box. The receivers can stand anywhere (see rule 26, case 5) and, in doubles, the server's partner can stand anywhere. Heck, I have seen matches in which a player is injured and the other player continues 1 against 2 while the partner sits on the bench watching.

 

[Chotobaka]

Not illegal at all. Here's Nadal standing in the "wrong" service box as Lopez is about to serve.

Thanks for the video. This hybrid formation is a great idea -- it has benefits of the i-formation without having to squat down and pop-up again. Also being up and already in the read position gives the receiver a lot to think about and probably forces them to try and go DTL, out of reach of the poach, more often than they'd like. That extra 6 inches of net is a nice asset, especially on a forced shot. And no reason not to have variety and switch plays just like a regular i-formation.