Mastering Doubles - Being Lobbed (One Up One Back Scenario)

When you and your partner are in a one up one back situation, being lobbed such that you and your partner must switch is not something either of you look forward to.  There are two schools of thought as to how to handle this situation.  The first school of thought, and the tactic used by the vast majority majority of recreational players is to have the net player simply switch to the other service box while their partner retrieves the lob.  This movement is certainly the simplest movement your team can make, and does fulfill the requirement that you cover both sides of the court.

However, as I have discussed before, tactics are about limiting risks as much as it is being aggressive.  Their are enormous risks to switching in the manner suggested above.  Illustrated, this is the scenario:







After the movement described above we have this situation



In this scenario, B1 attacks the net after the lob, which is the correct tactical play.  Now team B is positioned two up versus team A, which is one up one back.  Player A1 is in a compromised position because his partner, A2 is likely to lob the ball back or send a groundstroke to the net players that is above the net.  A2's lob could be short enough for either player on team B to hit an overhead, and if they play correct tactics, should place the overhead to A1's side of the court; if A2's groundstroke is not at team B's feet, they should attack the volley to A1's side of the court.  A1, due to his or her positioning has the least amount of time to react and will only be able to play a reactive defensive shot with limited choices.  The only options that allow A1 to get offensively involved in the point is for A2 to hit a lob that goes over Team B's heads and makes them ditch the net, or for A2 to hit a ball cross court at player B2's feet.  Any other option results in A1 being target practice for team B. The risks the position offers  far outweighs the unlikely possibility of a reactive volley or half volley winner after being targeted, or the low probability of getting the ball at the feet of B2 or lobbing over the heads of team B resulting in a switch.  So this positioning in this scenario gets an F.

The correct choice in this scenario is for player A1 to ditch the net.  See the illustration below:  



Now Team A has eliminated the risk of a short lob or a high volley to team B.  Player A1 plays slightly forward of the baseline, in case team B tries a drop shot or short angle to his or her side.  However. Team A can further limit that risk by A2 choosing to lob player B1 or B2, thus limiting the return back.  This positioning, coupled with a limitation of a lob return back to Team B leaves Team A to deal with only one remaining risk - the short lob that results in an overhead.  But that risk has been limited also due to the positioning of both players at the baseline - A2 and A1 have the maximum amount of time to react to the ball.  This movement by team A and player A1 is therefore the correct tactical move..

There is a scenario where the first switch discussed - player A1 moving to the other service box could be useful.  If Player B1 after they lob, stays back at the baseline.  We therefore would have:

.

Now Team A's only risks involve player A2 playing the next shot anywhere where B2 can be aggressive.  In other words a short lob or a high volley. However there are many suitable options.for A2.  He or she can play a lob back to B1, or simply play a ball up the line to B1. So in this case, since B1 is being passive, A1 and team A can feel safe with A2 just playing a neutral or defensive ball back to B1.  A1's position does not hurt the team.

Now you know how to handle being lobbed in every scenario where the lob goes over the net player's head.  The next post will tackle where to move at the net based on the location of the previous shot.