It has been said by a number of experts and tennis professionals - "the key to holding serve in doubles is not the server, but the actions of their partner." What does this mean? How can we transform ourselves into net players that our opponents fear each match, thus drawing more errors and seizing more offensive opportunities for ourselves?
1) Know your limitations
This is to determine where to begin your initial court position prior to the serve. Let's begin by assuming the ideal is to begin in the epicenter of the service box. If you are a tall person, standing closer may be beneficial since the lob will be less effective, conversely if you are short, standing further back may be beneficial to protect against the lob. If you are super fast and can react quickly, stand closer to the net. Conversely if you are slow afoot or have slow reactions, stand further back in the service box to give you more time.
2) Know where the serve is going & move forward and across from the ball
Knowledge is power. You and your partner should discuss where the serve is intended to go. This will allow you to react a split second sooner, and put you into a better court position to cover the court. When covering the court, put yourself across from the ball, but be sure not to position yourself in the alley or in your partner's half of the court prior to your opponents hitting the return of serve. Use the singles line and center line as boundaries. "Across from the ball" means if we drew a line between where your opponent strikes the ball in space, and your court position, it would create a line parallel to the singles line. The exceptions to the rule are if the ball is served in such a way where the returner in striking a ball from outside the singles line. In this case simply put yourself by the singles line. Now you are in the proper position to cover almost all options the returner can come up with.
3) Once in proper position, focus on the return that your opponent is MOST likely to choose.
This is a tricky one for most recreation players, as well as developing juniors. It is also something tan is in flux for the entire match. In doubles, the highest percentage return of serve based on the geometry of the court is cross court. Players will return that direction 90% of the time. "Down the Line" returns offer the opponent two problems, a net player to hit by and a shorter amount of court with which to place the ball. It therefore stands to reason that IF I heed point #2 and move into the correct position, that the returner will hit crosscourt 90% of the time in order to make a good return. Therefore our focus should stay on the cross court return, even if the serve forces me to cover the line.
However, in a match our opponents exhibit patterns of play. If, for example, your opponent on every 30-40 point returns up the line regardless of the serve placement, you as the server's partner need to take that information into consideration. Keep in mind what matters is not what your opponent is TRYING to do, but what they are SUCCESSFUL at doing. I define success as something that works 50% of the time or more. This means you and your partner must track the data and determine what your opponents can be successful doing. MOst server partners get hung up on getting passed down the line. This is part of the game. What matters is not the winners, but the percentage of points you are losing when your opponents ATTEMPT a return down the line.
4) Move diagonally towards the opposing net player (30-45 degrees) to pick off the cross court return.
The first step to know what you can and cannot get is to take two large steps from your court position anywhere in the service box. This will give you at least some idea as to how far you can cross over to get the returner's return. Factors affecting your ability to pick off the ball are the speed, spin, and trajectory of the return, your speed and reaction, and your reach.
Moving at a 30-45 degree angle will get you to the ball in the quickest manner possible. The ideal angle is determined by calculating the angle of movement that allows you to bisect the angle of the return at 90 degrees. Since none of us are named Pythagoras, just do your best, ensuring your are moving toward the opposing net player. This will allow you to also get your momentum behind the ball, ensuring max precision and power.
5) Volley your "poach" to the diagonal court either toward the alley in front of the opposing net player, or down the middle. DO NOT VOLLEY BEHIND YOURSELF
When you are picking off the cross court return, you are being the aggressive player on the court. This is extremely advantageous, provided you choose the correct placement of your volley. Like everything in life, being aggressive comes with inherent risks. Your job as server's partner is to limit those risks.
The greatest risk to your chances of winning the point is to volley behind your self, back to the returner's side of the court. By you crossing into your partner's court to pick off the return, you leave the side you left completely exposed. A volley back to the returner allows them to hit a not so great shot up the line which will put your partner, who should be crossing behind you, in an emergency shot situation. The advantage is lost.
If you haven't crossed into your partner's court, volleying down the line eliminates your advantage by allowing the player with the greatest amount of reaction time to play the next ball. At the recreational level, this means most times a lob over your head is coming, which places you and your partner into a scramble defensive situation.
Playing the volley to the diagonal court from which you came or are positioned in does two things. One, it forces the player with the least amount of time to react to possibly try to make a play. Secondly, if we are crossing into our partner's court to pick off the return, a volley to this side allows us to keep the ball in front of us and puts ourselves in a great position for the next shot. If the returner is fast and can get to the ball, our partner will have the same amount of time to go to the other side and cover for us. At worst, if the returner sends an incredible shot cross court or makes an emergency lob over us, we are just back to neutral. At best you will win the point outright.
6) If you know you cannot reach the return, retreat towrds the service T slightly to your side of the court
This is about proper court positioning to limit risk and take away your opponent's options. In doubles there are offensive and defensive positions for the server's and returner's partners. 1-5 discuss the offensive positions for the server. If, however you cannot reach the return, your offensive position becomes a liability. Offense occurs when the ball is on your opponents side of the court and is being played by a baseline person. Defense occurs when your partner at the baseline is hitting the ball. A forward net position in this case is asking for trouble.
The reason is if your partner at the baseline is playing the ball, the next person who has first dibs on playing their shot is returner's partner, who should be now moving forward themselves. If they pick of your partners return and you are too close the net, the hole diagonally between you and your partner is exposed and you have almost no time to react. So, when you realize you cannot poach, retreat towards the T on your side and split step when your partner strikes the ball. This way you have eliminated the middle from exploitation and you will force your opposing net play to play a more difficult cross court angle to get it by you.
7) If your partner successfully hits the ball cross court, move forward and across from the ball and repeat steps 3-6
Now you are ready to dominate play at the net. Next post will discuss how to move when your partner lobs down the line.
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