It's somewhat similar to the classic I formation, however its function is different and the formation looks different as well.
At first, I'll admit it looks pretty funny and I didn't understand why they only used it when they're serving on the ad side, but I eventually understood the logic behind it. I've seen some older players at my local tennis park use it so I attempted it with my doubles partner. It is definitely a useful formation for narrowing down your opponents' choices.
Unlike the I formation, where the idea is to keep your opponents guessing on where you and your partner will move to after the serve, this formation is used to narrow down the opponents choice so that you and your partner has a pretty good idea where the returner will hit it to. Also, it forces the returner to hit the ball to your advantage as well.
Umm, it's hard for me to explain any further so let me draw a little diagram
:
As you can see, this formation is only effective on the ad side, where the opponent will be forced to hit to both you and your partner's forehand. In the very unlikelyhood that your opponent returns it wide, shown with a black line, the net person is still in range for it.
As the server A move to the right corner after his serve, he is able to get to all the shots in between with his forehand. Any returns that are hit down the middle can be covered by the net person's forehand volley.
The only way around this formation is to lob a return to the far left corner of the court (from the image's point of view). However, it is not easy to lob a decent serve back very accurately, and chances are the net person will overhead it. You can also bet that people who use this formation are already wary of the lob, since it is the only effective option open.
Please note that this is a match between two decent teams and that the serves are pretty effective. This formation will probably fail without a decent first serve and a decent net player.
My main question is: is there an official name for this formation? I'm sure it's been used somewhere before.
You can discuss other strengths and/or weaknesses of this formation if you'd like. I'd love to know if there is a better way to put this formation into use OR if there are effective methods in breaking down this formation.
At first, I'll admit it looks pretty funny and I didn't understand why they only used it when they're serving on the ad side, but I eventually understood the logic behind it. I've seen some older players at my local tennis park use it so I attempted it with my doubles partner. It is definitely a useful formation for narrowing down your opponents' choices.
Unlike the I formation, where the idea is to keep your opponents guessing on where you and your partner will move to after the serve, this formation is used to narrow down the opponents choice so that you and your partner has a pretty good idea where the returner will hit it to. Also, it forces the returner to hit the ball to your advantage as well.
Umm, it's hard for me to explain any further so let me draw a little diagram
:
As you can see, this formation is only effective on the ad side, where the opponent will be forced to hit to both you and your partner's forehand. In the very unlikelyhood that your opponent returns it wide, shown with a black line, the net person is still in range for it.
As the server A move to the right corner after his serve, he is able to get to all the shots in between with his forehand. Any returns that are hit down the middle can be covered by the net person's forehand volley.
The only way around this formation is to lob a return to the far left corner of the court (from the image's point of view). However, it is not easy to lob a decent serve back very accurately, and chances are the net person will overhead it. You can also bet that people who use this formation are already wary of the lob, since it is the only effective option open.
Please note that this is a match between two decent teams and that the serves are pretty effective. This formation will probably fail without a decent first serve and a decent net player.
My main question is: is there an official name for this formation? I'm sure it's been used somewhere before.
You can discuss other strengths and/or weaknesses of this formation if you'd like. I'd love to know if there is a better way to put this formation into use OR if there are effective methods in breaking down this formation.
