Mixed-doubles etiquette
- Thread starter AggieJason
- Start date
Well, I'm glad you finally agree with me. This is what I've been saying all along.
OnTheLine
Hall of Fame
Aren't you missing something major on holding your 2.5 partner's serve? She is going to serve to both the opposing low level female and the higher male partner.
Sooooo .... in order to hold you need to be aggressive on the return to the female and don't miss! and you just have to win one point, one single time against the male. That means that you likely need to be smart and place rather than over hit.
That being said, I will not play with a 2.5 female or 3.0 male on the court if I can avoid it .... rather poke my eye out.
Oh yeah, for sure, OTL, for sure! I am extremely aggressive when my partners are serving - IF they will listen to me and put their weak serve in a reasonable place. If they can't even do that, it doesn't really matter how aggressive I am, does it? In those situations I just do what I can to protect myself.
This is ALTA I'm talking about, by the way, not USTA, so there's no guarantee I'll be facing a 2.5 woman on the other side. Anyway, that's all moot really because, I will also not play with a 2.5 female in a league match if I can avoid it. Even just for social tennis on a lark, it tests my patience, because even if it's a 2.5 woman recieving my 2.5 partner's serve, if I can't miss at all, that's a lot of pressure. That 2.5 is going to figure out to bump it way over my head once in a while, or actually hit it wide enough that I can't reach it... and then of course, I'm a 3.5, so I miss sometimes (quite a bit) and occasionally, my misses are ridiculous, stupid, easy shots that I hate myself for (that's the painful truth of being a 3.5)... and of course, in those situaitons with a 2.5 partner, those misses are even MORE important in the bigger picture, which makes me even more annoyed with them, which makes me feel like I have to hit a winner every single time I touch the ball, which makes me even more uptight, and on and on and on... is that fun for anyone? It's not fun for me.
Not trying to be a jerk but a 3.5M should not feel that much pressure from a 2.5F. If the 2.5F hits a shot that puts you on the defensive it's more than likely a mistake.
So you never just boot/shank/flub a shot as a 3.5 male? You know - unforced errors...?
Then I question your aggression - because those 2.5s can sometimes poke it over your head, especially when they're handling another 2.5's super weak serve - and they can sometimes return it out so wide that you're going to be stretching for it at best to try and poach... and every once in a blue moon, those 2.5s can poke that super weak 2.5 serve behind you into the alley.
I will concur that I can stand to be more agressive in general, not just in mixed. However my success rate in 6.0 mixed indicates I'm doing pretty well balancing safety/agressiveness. Haven't played in your league but you're making 6.0 mixed seem a lot harder than it should be for a 3.5M IMO.
I'm a middle of the road 3.5 and yes my 2.5 partners were strong 2.5s who either got bumped at year end or somehow inexplicably didn't get bumped and were bumped the following year. I would not play with a beginner 2.5 who barely knew which end of the racket to hold.
Yeah... try this out with one of those beginner 2.5s you're avoiding, against one of the strong 2.5s/unbumped 3.0s you only play with and come back and tell me what you did to hold almost all of your and the majority of her serves, and perhaps you'll understand what I'm talking about...
Traffic
Hall of Fame
The toughest opponent I've played against is a 3.5 male and his wife. He was ready to get bumped to 4.0. She was ready to get bumped to 3.0. The strong male played very good net and covered the court well. My partner is consistent, but she has no pace on her ball and she isn't particularly good at net. I spent a lot of time ducking. Trying to exploit the female got a deep lob or a poach from the male. The few times where I got past the male and got a deep shot to the female for a force error were a lot fewer than expected. At the net, the 2.5 female stood on top of the net and she did a good job of deflecting more balls back into play than she missed.
I have a strong FH and a server misses their 1st serve, I will jump on their 2nd serve. But what I do is I show the FH at the server first. Then I will hit one to the middle close enough to be within racquet range of the female at net. I then hope that she will back up on 2nd serves. If not, I will hit one DTL, possibly a slice volley to back her up.
Traffic
Hall of Fame
As I stated above, just watch the FH groundstroke to the female at net when the male hits a weak 2nd serve. Other than that, there is no need to alter your game; assuming you play with good etiquette already. Definitely if there is a short lob from the male and the female is at net, consider hitting back to the male or just deflect the ball to the female. Don't OH smash it to her. Aim at feet.
But if you are running down a ball going out wide, a perfectly good tactic is to pound the ball back toward the net player. I wouldn't change up this tactic. It's those sitters that you have options on what to do with that you should take the high road when you can.
Whatever you do, don't double fault to the 2.5 (whether male or female). Otherwise, they just hit a winner return.
If are error-prone, you'll actually have quite a tough time against a 3.5F and 2.5M.
And really, that's the name of the game. Keep your UE low. Get your serves in. All this strategy and hit to her or go for this and that is all good. But if you just play a solid game with low errors, you will win a surprising amount of points. You will get burned by winners but that is to be expected since that is what your opponent is going for. But if you keep the ball in play, you should even out with their UE.
Traffic
Hall of Fame
I think you've dialed into a very key aspect of doubles in general. Understand who should hold serve and who's serves should get broken.
I have pretty good serves, so we tend to hold my serve. My partner just needs to be ready for a slight miss hit at net and we have a quick game. But if I don't hold serve (DF, a bad point, a botched OH, lucky return) then it's an uphill battle.
When my partner is serving, I have to be very active at the net. I will plan a poach to get into the returner's head. That sets me up for effective fakes and just keeping the returner slightly off balance. Force them into hitting low percentage shots.
If the opponent (typically male) stronger server is serving, then we do our best to put the ball into play and trying to scramble for the point. But understand that we are supposed to lose the game. Then we focus on how to break his partner's serve. If you can crack that code, then you get a slight edge. Get a break by taking stronger service game away and run with it.
Yep, agreed on this. It has been my issue with mixed for 6 seasons now... this game is about holding and breaking serve, that's the critical component. It doesn't mean you have to be a servebot, but holding the serves you need to hold, and breaking when you can, is the key.
Many of the women I've played mixed with are coming from low level women's dubs teams - on those teams, almost nobody has a strong serve, and it's not at all uncommon for there to only be one or two serve holds all match. They don't think in terms of serve holds or breaks, and don't even recognize the advantage you have of winning a game when you're serving it, because 95+% of the time in their matches, nobody's serve gives them a tangible advantage towards actually winning that game... their serves are little more than the feeds they might hit with a coach in a group lesson... in fact, for some of these partners I've had, their serves are so weak that to them, when they are serving, it feels like a liability because they have the chance of double faulting... so... they just learn to serve a dink to start the point... get it in play at all costs, and as long as they're doing that, even if it's the fattest lollipop, they consider their job done... hold THAT serve against a legit 3.5M, and an unbumped 3,0, but playing as a 2.5F, I dare you!
/facepalm
Anyway...
A few weeks ago in some thread around here, someone posted a statistic that showed that if you win 55% of the points, you will win 95% of the matches. That seems obvious to anyone who doesn't really play tennis or think about it, but when you DO think about it, you can definitely imagine how winning 11 out of 20 points leads to a 95% chance to win... HOWEVER, all tennis players also know how you can lose a match in which you won more points and even games than your opponents did, we think of it as a quirk of tennis probably, and we either love it or hate it... but that aside... what's REALLY interesting about that statistic is how TRULY narrow the margin required is to have an overwhelmingly likely winning outcome. This also emphasizes how critical it is to play very near your level unless you don't mind the odds being HUGELY HUGELY stacked against you...
Last edited:
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
Well you should try to win most of them. You don't have to win all of them. As long as you win a couple of your partner's and break the opposing weaker partner several times, you'll win..
I try to hold 80% of my service games. And I know if I get broken I really need to buckle down and break the opposing male.
i disagree, you both need to hold your service. to win, you need a break or it goes to a tiebreaker.
z
Powderwombat
Semi-Pro
I once got bitched at for hitting a shot down the line (probably missed the female at net by 1 metre at least) and she basically implied I was aiming for her.
Honey if you think I'm just gonna hit cross court 100% of the time from the baseline and NEVER go line you're mistaken. You're the weak player and I'm trying to get the ball past you. Thx
Honey if you think I'm just gonna hit cross court 100% of the time from the baseline and NEVER go line you're mistaken. You're the weak player and I'm trying to get the ball past you. Thx
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
If the shot is going to land in, it's a legitimate shot. If it's whizzing by her head as it's sailing to the fence, it could be construed as head hunting.
Matthew ATX
Semi-Pro
What level?
