Tennis Doubles FAQS

Francis

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Tennis Doubles FAQS

« on: August 09, 2006, 10:39:48 AM »

Source: http://tennis.about.com/

Q. Where should I stand when my partner is serving?
A. Your best position is usually right in the middle of the service box opposite the receiver. Find the middle by imagining where the two diagonals of the box intersect. You can play a little farther back or forward to adjust to the tendencies of your opponents. Remember to move forward to intercept volleys and to back up in defensive situations.

Q. What should I do if I'm getting burned when my partner serves?
A. If your partner's serve isn't strong enough to keep your opponents from using you as target practice, play back behind the baseline when your partner serves. The best you can do is play solid defense and look for opportunities to attack, such as behind a good lob over your opponents.

Q. How often should I return down the line?
A. Most returns should be aimed cross-court, but you want to avoid predictability, so a few down-the-line returns play an important role. Against an aggressive poacher, return down the line whenever you see him heading cross-court and even a few times when you don't. If the server's partner is camped out in the alley, he might be a weak volleyer, and you'll want to test him by hitting some aggressive returns in his direction.

Q. Which partner should serve first?
A. The stronger serving formation should start each set. This will usually mean the better server serves first, but sometimes the server's partner can be so superior at net that it more than makes up for the difference in serving skill.

Q. How should we decide on which side each of us should receive?
A. Deciding on which side you and your partner should each receive involves many factors, including who is more consistent versus flashy and the strengths of your backhand and forehand volleys, but the most important factor is the return itself. Returning is difficult in doubles, and if you don't get the return back well, other considerations never come into play.

At the intermediate and lower levels, most serves go out wide, so you should put your stronger returning strokes on the outside. For a righty and lefty team with stronger forehands than backhands, for example, you would play with the forehands to the outside.

At the advanced level, more serves (and other balls) will go down the middle, and that's where you want each partner's stronger strokes.

Q. Who should take balls up the middle at the net?
A. The player who will be closer to the net upon meeting the ball should take balls up the middle. Sometimes this is the player who is slightly farther back but already moving forward at the time the opponent strikes the ball. If you are both equally close to the net, then if the ball is angling toward your side, it's yours. The idea that the forehand should always take volleys up the middle is only valid when both players are almost equally close to the net and the ball is a high floater that can be thumped by a forehand. If the ball is a lob, the player who is best positioned to hit a forehand overhead should take it.

Q. When should I serve and volley?
A. If you have decent serve-and-volley skills and the receivers aren't teeing off on your serves, you should come in behind virtually every serve

Q. When should I poach?
A. Most players poach less than they should. It usually takes an experienced team to execute signaled poaches well, but players at any level should try to poach when invited by an easy ball. Letting slow, shoulder-high balls pass by a few feet away is doing a huge favor to your opponents. Picking just a few of these off will not only win those points directly, but likely many more indirectly as the receiver starts to worry about what you'll do.

What constitutes an easy ball varies with each player. For almost anyone, a slow ball 2-4 feet above the net and less than 8 feet away should be worth attacking. The more you poach, the better you'll get at it, and you'll be able to go after lower, faster, and more distant balls.

For opportunistic poaches, start moving as soon as you see where the ball is going, which should be shortly after it leaves your opponent's racquet.

For planned poaches, start moving as soon as the opponent starts her swing. Unless your partner will be crossing over to your side because she knows that you plan to poach, you can start to poach, then change your mind if the return is better than you expected.

Q. Where should I go when my partner gets lobbed?
A. When your partner chases a lob into the backcourt, you should get as far back as you can, on the side (left or right) your partner isn't on, before the opponents' next shot. If you can get back behind your baseline, do so, because your partner will have to make an excellent shot to keep your opponents from hitting an aggressive reply.

Q. Where should I aim defensive volleys?
A. Aim defensive volleys, which are usually those you meet below the top of the net, toward the opponent farther away from you, because you'll have more time to react to his shot, which is likely to be aggressive.

Q. Where should I aim aggressive volleys?
A. Aim aggressive volleys past the opponent nearer to you, because she has less time to react than her partner does.

Q. Where should I stand to serve?
A. If you're a righty, serving from the deuce side to a right-hander, stand 3-5 feet to the right of the center marker so that you have the option to serve up the middle to the opponent's backhand. From the ad side, stand at least halfway from the center mark to the singles sideline. Because of the way a righty's slice curves, you can serve up the middle from a wider position on the ad side than on the deuce side, and from a wider position on the ad side you can also kick the ball out wide to pick on receivers who hate to hit that wide backhand.

Q. Where should I stand when my partner is receiving?
A. As receiver's partner, stand just behind or just in front of the service line, depending on how quick your reactions are, and 5-7 feet from the center line. If your partner hits a return that the opponents are unlikely to hit aggressively, move up to the middle of your service box to get ready to volley. If your partner hits a weak return, stay put, or, if you have time (such as on a weak lob), back up until the opponent starts to swing.

Q. What should I do if I'm worried about getting hit by my partner's serve?
A. Being afraid of your partner's serve should not move you over toward your alley. Instead, bend at your waist (until the ball goes by) so that if you do get hit, it will either glance off your back or hit a tougher part of your body. Another solution is to start at your service line, then move forward to the middle of your service box as the ball goes by, split-step, and get ready to volley. This technique can also help you be more alert and aggressive.

Q. Is a team strongest both up, both back, or one up and one back?
A. Assuming decent net skills, a team should try to be together at the net whenever the opponents will be hitting from their backcourt and/or defensively. When the opponents have a chance to hit an aggressive shot, your best position is both back. At the intermediate and better levels, you should only be one up and one back at the start of a point while waiting for one of you to join the other. At lower levels, especially with players who aren't full grown, the split configuration can sometimes work out well, because the opponents hit either dinky groundstrokes or lobs, and the net player can pick off the former while the back player chases the latter.