At the recreational level, players often find themselves out of position, ending the point on or near the service line. They stand in the middle of the court because they are worried about covering the lob, or because they don’t volley well, or they don’t know what part of the court they are supposed to cover and what side their partner will. If you can rehearse and practice automatic responses to situations that occur over and over in a doubles match, your players will be able to quickly react and get in the right position at the right time.
One situation that occurs more frequently at the recreational level than in the pros is the lob over the net player in doubles.
As a rule of thumb, the net player’s partner takes the lob when the net player is lobbed. While many players can backpedal and get to a lob hit over them, they usually end up hitting a weak shot back, setting up the opponent’s for a winner. So, teach your non-ranked players that if they have to go back for a lob, it’s their partner’s. If the lob is short enough that they can move into it (forward), then it’s theirs.
Where does the net player go after a lob goes over him?
To cover the court effectively and not leave a gaping hole between partners covering a lob, the net player moves on a 45 degree angle back to the “Hot Seat” or to the opposite side of the “T” in the center of the court.
As you can see from Diagram 1, if the net player moves laterally and stays at the net while his partner runs down the lob, a huge gap is opened in the court.
In Diagram 2, the gap is closed by the net player moving laterally and back to the service line, or Hot Seat, when lobbed.
The drill below will help both of your players who are lobbed and help them when they lob.
Remember, practicing this drill with your doubles players at least once a week leading up to the season (and even during) will help them make the correct switch automatically and maintain the proper position on court each time they are lobbed.
Step #1 — Four players line up in the serving/receiving formation with the net player in the deuce court as shown in Diagram 3.
Step #2 — Coach or feeder lobs the ball in play over the net player. If the lob is somewhat short, the net player should let it go in order to practice the switch.
Step #3 — The “Serving” team (far court net player and partner) switches sides, with net player moving to the Hot Seat (net player should yell, “Switch!’). The “receiving” team attacks, with the service line player moving toward the net toward the back player and the backcourt player (receiver) moving slightly up to cover short ball and crosscourt lob from “serving” team’s backcourt player.
Step #4 — Players play out point.
Step #5 — Play several points so that players begin to develop the switch movement automatically. After several points, coach can switch the drill, putting net player in the ad court.
Notes:
#1 Net player should move to the hot seat without looking back, in order to keep an eye on what the opposing team is doing.
#2 Receiver’s partner should move toward the net strap to pick off weak returns when the backcourt opponent is running wide, especially for a backhand.
#3 Drill can be run on two courts simultaneously, with coach feeding from between the two courts.
#4 Drill can be run with 16 players on two courts. Have four players play out a point on each court, while four players stand off the court, ready to come in and take their spots.
#5 In a real tennis point, the lob would not come over the net player from crosscourt on a return of serve. It would come from straight ahead. Other lobs will come from crosscourt, however. The purpose of this drill is to autonomatize the switch; therefore, a lob fed from crosscourt or from in between two courts is not inappropriate, especially if the coach is trying to work two courts at once. You may feed the lob from behind the “receiver” if you wish. |
