Stop Standing HERE in Doubles! (why you’re losing)

With most recreational players their issue is that when they play doubles they just play. They "want" to play and win. They dont want to "exercise" playing doubles also if that means they could lose.

Im over 70 and i run two teams. I have to tell/convince my partner NOT to stay closer to the net than the rear serve box line or the opp will just hit the ball over their heads left and right to run me back and forth at the rear of the court until they exhaust me, which doesnt take long at my age! so if my partner stands on the rear service box line, they can usually easily cover any shot trying to get over their heads and cut that off by backing up 4 steps. my partner can run forward 4x faster than they can run backwards is what i tell them, which soon becomes obvious if they ignore me. my fast shots down the sideline is my bread n butter, and drop shots if u can scare the opp into staying far back. most of my opps are 10 20 30 yrs younger than me but i can still score on them no problem. i bring my bluetooth speaker and play it LOUD salsa music, everyone loves it!!

Doubles players should just hit lobs all day if there is a player at the net

3.0 players should disregard this advice. At the 3.0 level, the second serve and in most cases the first serve is not strong enough to produce setups for the net guy. Yes, you will get a few, but for 3.0s, they see the entire court as a target...down the line, at the net player more than crosscourt. They haven't been taught that crosscourt is the best percentage shot.

This is really helpful! I've been playing for about 15 years, but never really got past the upper part of 3.5-ish level (our country has a different rating system). I've had tennis lessons and generally feel more comfortable at doubles than singles, but the video had some great reminders and other tips that I didn't realize I neglected in my doubles play. I'm good at the more difficult shots (backhand smash, low/reflex volleys, tweener), but lack the fundamental court awareness and volley placement that I see in the "4.0" level constantly. I'm also much more passive with poaching than I could get away with. Without that positioning insight/these fundamentals it always feels like I'm making things harder for myself than necessary lol.

So many players insist on standing near the alley at the net because they have no confidence of their ability to volley, and yet they insist on going to the net, thus leaving a big hole on their side of the court not covered.

It would be interesting to see a top view (even a shematic one) of the court that would make it more obvious how stepping back from the net closes the large open angle

Looks like you are exaggerating for the sake of the demonstration, if the defensive net player does stand at the end of the green arrow right in the middle of the court, while the other player is far back in the corner, that leaves half of the court completely empty. but it shows the direction where he should reposition himself to cover the most ground. just standing without moving is never gonna work

Nice video. I miss the commentated doubles matches. I learned so much and they were fun.

Excellent!!

I can’t tell from the video how far should the aggressive net player position from the net. Please explain, thanks.

In your very first example, the server was weak, so as a result, the returner ended up at the net. In the second example , the server was much stronger and pulled the returner wide, making it much easier for his partner to volley. Sure, most of your positional analysis is correct, but if you are the first server's partner, you are going to find yourself in more troublesome positions.

The guy in purple is so good. And this analysis great for understanding why

I guess I should get over my fear of giving up the alley and just try it and count how many times my opponent can beat me there. Maybe I imagine it to be worse than reality.

Except both players moved up on example one. So if he moved to the correct position wouldn't that have made his left side open if the ball went to the server who was now at the net?

Sometimes even when I receive, my partner stands in the doubles ally, close to the net! It leaves a huge space in the middle of the court that they expect me to cover. I always feel like playing one against two with a partner like that.

👍👍👍👍

I just started playing doubles and this is very helpful. Thank you.

What about defending against i formation?

I used your advise in a recent tennis match.. OMG! What a difference!! We won against great opponents in two easy set! Thank you!!

If you partner sucks at serving you will get peg in the head

Ian, this is an excellent illustration of how doubles can bee a much more tiring game than most of us make it. A small nit pick: your animated beginning has singles sticks on the net while illustrating doubles! Just the antithesis of what we "all" do: play singles without sticks. Wanted you to know I really do watch your videos.

Thank you for these tips. Notice how good net player /partner of a serving player asks their partner where they going to serve and move to different position depending on the serve shot ball landing zone. So could you please cover cases when serve goes to a T vs wide and describe movement of the net player /partner of a returner depending on the serve landing zone.

One mental trick I learned from "Tennis" magazine about 40 years ago, when your partner is driven wide off the court, is to imagine there is a 15 ft rope tied to both his/her and my ankle. So, if my partner is driven wide (or the reverse), the partner needs to shift to maintain that 15 ft distance between the two of us

The server's partner (at the net) can't hit the return of serve back to the receiving team, he has to let it bounce.

M..

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G8

This advice is for players 4.0 and below. Anyone who is playing 5.0 and above should be looking to attack second serves and move forward. If you can’t avoid the net person on a second serve go work on your return. If your opponent is serving and volleying on second serves and the return is below their knees you have to be in possibility to make that volley hard. If you are standing on the service line that volley just became 50% easier all I have to do is make it. But if you are closing I have to do something with it and that is a hard volley. If there are not serving and volleying and my partner put them off there back foot with his return that person can play a much more defensive shot than if I was closing off the second serve return. In doubles you have to attack second serves breaking is already hard in dubs and being defensive off second serves makes it harder. If you can do this you will be surprised how the pressure will get you some double faults as the match gets tight.

Really illuminating.

I think that the main thing to remember is that you can't just stand at the net. you're constantly going to be moving in order to cover the potential angles that your opponent can abuse.

Thank you

It doesn't "came out nowhere". In the late 80's I was already studying and publishing collision avoidance robotics. It is a continuous progress over years, slowly but surely.

Thanks - this is exactly what my coach taught me a few years ago, but I've had trouble convincing partners to do this, perhaps because many players I play with are terrified of the net!

Very helpful, put it to use and got immediate positive results and passed on to several weekend players I play with. Another key observation I learned is that although a right-handed player can drill the ball down the alley to catch me off guard it is seldom more successful* than the natural swing direction across court. *Seldom because of the higher position of the net and because it takes a seasoned player to execute it routinely without sending it wide or long if the shot does clear the high part of the net.

It seems strange to me that the better the player, the higher the percentage of errors.

Can not wait to get on the court to try and put this into practice. As a beginner I knew I didn't understand how I was supposed to move, and didn't figure it out just yet (I figured out that I should move out from aggressive net spider, but where was the question), was quite frustrated with myself... now I'm here cutting corners. Doing a sneaky-sneaky extra curriculum studying.

Excellent video

I think something else to note is that the net players on both sides were looking BACK at their baseline partner hitting the ball. They should be keeping their eyes on their opponents instead, especially the one at the net. How the opposing net player reacts (and they must act immediately if they are intercepting the shot) tells you everything you need to know. Glancing to the side to watch the ball bounce on a serve is fine, but looking all the way back and waiting to see where your partner is hitting the ball actually reduces your ability to react to a poach.

Thanks

I should’ve paid more attention in geometry.

This is so helpful!!! Thanks for a lovely analysis

Thank you so much for telling me where not to stand :) I play tennis to exercise. Win of lose I am a winner.

You make some really good points. Tennis is a game of small steps and adjusting around them is part of the perpetual motion. When you close the opponents’ view and ability to attack, they have to work around you and your partner’s racquets.

The server returned a bad shot which allowed the returner's partner to smash the ball at the server's partner. The server should try a lob down the line which forces the opposing player at the net to hit a difficult backhand overhead with no power. Then you can go for a passing shot.