****Disclaimer****
The following are the views of a guy who's game is built for singles play, but enjoys men's and mixed doubles and plays a lot and strives to get better at it.
I fill in and practice with 9.0/10.0 mixed teams, and am the mascot of a 9.0 team, will play next year. I play USTA 5.0 league, and Men's Open doubles in tournaments, and practice with guys and girls on 4.0-5.0 teams as well as college players, former pros, and Davis cup players for smaller countries.
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Well, it is an odd situation when the girl is comprehensively better than the guy, and not a very good team.
The only time that you would have a team like that would be in 9.0 when you have a legitimate 4.0 guy, and a 5.0 girl, who should be a 5.5.
That is usually a weak team in that the girl will be rock solid, but not have very much that can win points outright. And the guy will make too many errors, and sink their ship.
Now if you have a ringer 4.0 guy playing with a 5.0 girl, then you have a tough team, because the ringer 4.0 guy will have something going for him in the matchup.
In order to carry a team you need firepower, and the ability to steal points at the net.
Now about your question on how to play when the girls are stronger. There are two situations.
The first situation is the one that is going to be most common for a guy, and the one I find myself in most often when playing with one of the very good girls, or in 5.0 mens.
You are a worse doubles player than your partner, but you have some strength, or advantage. In that case I would isolate what you do better than your partner, and make darn sure you squeeze every drop out of it. And then just make the makable or easier shots for the rest of the game, keep your unforced errors in check. So when you can help row the boat, row the crap out of it, when you can't row the boat, don't let it take on any water.
For me in men's 5.0 I know my purpose is to serve and return huge (or return quality if the score dictates). And I am super focused in not missing any weak returns of my partner's serve, overheads, mid court floaters, whatever.
If I am not as good of a dubs player and get caught in a net exchange and get beaten by someone with better hands or if I can't put away a ball at net that a better dubs player could, or if I get passed by a quality shot that maybe a better dubs player could pick off, then all of that is OK, because nobody is expecting Leander Paes out there, they know you are the weaker player. But when it is on your mind, and your partner hits a good serve, and you get an easy floater return and miss it. . . That is really bad.
You want your partner to understand your limitations, but believe that you are going to handle everything within your capabilities. (Well not EVERYTHING, but you know what I am saying) You don't want to be missing shots and have your parter thinking "What do I have to do to win points with this person?!?". I actually told my buddy this after a bad loss (he is a 4.0 that should be a 4.5 playing with a 5.0 girl that should be a 5.5) and they are an awesome team. I told him that nobody expects you to be something that you are not, and nobody expects you to do something you cannot, but you owe your team your best effort every time out, and you are expected to play up to your capabilities. Bad days happen, of course, but be able to clear your mind and take care of what you can, don't be upset about the last return game where you got bullied around by a great server and then miss your returns against the weak server.
The second situation is the rarer one for me, and doesn't happen in mixed (not that it really matters) but it happens occasionally when I am playing with one of the top guys on the 5.0 (ha!) mens team or some of the former pro/davis cup guys who teach around here. And that is when your partner is comprehensively better than you.
In that case your sole purpose is to not make stupid errors. Don't double fault, do your best to get serves back, and don't miss easy balls at the net. You want to be dependable, and let them play their game. The worst thing you can do is try to prove yourself or raise to their level. They know you are weaker, just play within yourself and be solid. Now that doesn't mean to be passive, or play tentatively, if you get an easy ball, kill that sucker, but don't try to be a hero.
J
