Doubles Positioning

The following article was prompted by a question posted on our coaches discussion board by John Brooks, the head boys and girls Coach at Briarcliffe High School in Briarcliffe Manor, NY, who has players who prefer to playing doubles in a two-back position.

Most experts agree that staying back in doubles is a no-win situation against anyone who knows how to play doubles. The obvious disadvantages to staying back are: 1) You can’t cover the short angles of your opponents; and 2) You can’t put the ball away with the high-percentage angles that closing the net allows.

One proponent of the two-back system, however, coached his daughter and her partner to win this way at the pro level, even a Grand Slam, and wrote a book on it. Additionally, if your players are playing at a more recreational level and not playing top opponents, they might be able to win if they have solid passing shots and lobs.

All things being equal, however, most experienced coaches agree that at competitive levels of tennis, the team that gets to the net first, wins. At the high school level, where many players may still not feel comfortable at the net, you may need to convince your players that they are still better off at the net, or at least playing one-up, one-back.

Show, Don’t Tell
The best way to get kids to agree with you is to avoid simply TELLING them what to do, but instead SHOW them what you want them to do. If you believe there are three or four reasons why it’s bad to stay back, put your kids in match-play drills where they have to solve the problems you set for them. If they can’t do the drills, they’ll see your point. If they can do the drills successfully by staying back, maybe they’re right after all and you need to re-think your idea!

Are your kids winning or losing most of their matches? Have you kept stats to determine why they lose, and do they all come back to the fact that your players are staying back? If you honestly believe that staying back is a disadvantage, figure out the reasons why, then drill your players to address these situations.

Teach Taking the Net Before Playing the Net
At the beginning of every point, at least one player on each doubles team starts back. Before you teach your players how to play when they’re both at the net, you’ll have to teach them how to successfully get to the net first. Simply running to the net behind weak or short approach shots is suicidal at competitive levels of play.

Return of Serve Against a Serve-and-Vollyer

The player who is returning serve is at the biggest disadvantage because at higher levels of play, two players are already at the net, with the third (the server) coming in behind his or her serve. The returner is the last person with an opportunity to get to the net and the person who has the most to do to get to the net.

The returner has three options against a serve-and-volleyer: 1) return the ball down the line; 2) lob the return; and 3) hit low and crosscourt.

Hitting down the line is low percentage because of the lack of room to do this, and should only be used if the server’s partner is poaching, or if the returner is pulled wide. Lobbing over the net person can be effective if the returner can hit his lob deep enough. The ability to hit topspin lobs increases chance for success. An opponent’s ability to cover lobs and hit overheads also is a determining factor in deciding how effective this tactic can be.

A return low and crosscourt, both out of reach of the net person and at the server’s feet, is the highest percentage play in doubles (against a serve-and-volleyer).

After the return
What happens after your player has successfully returned serve low and crosscourt? A serve-and-volleyer will have to hit your player’s return up and crosscourt, often giving your net player an increased chanced of poaching successfully. If the server is able to return back past the net person, your player has two high-percentage options: 1) hit the next ball low and down the middle of the court; 2) lob.

Practicing all three possible returns in drills in realistic matchplay situations increases your doubles teams’ chances to successfully take the net from a receiving position.

Return of Serve Against a Server who Stays Back

If your players are facing a server who stays back (often the case on second serve), they will want to return deep and crosscourt, pinning their opponent back. Hitting deep balls often produces weak second shots which can be poached, or short balls which can be attacked to allow the returner to get to the net.

The traditional wisdom of being patient and waiting for a short ball when two opposing doubles players are stuck at the baseline in a crosscourt rally is not a good idea at competitive levels of play. Players should not try to win the point outright from the baseline, but should use direction, depth and spins (not power) to produce weak shots or short balls. Depth, more than power, will produce weak and short balls.

Serve and Volley
The route to the net for the server is a simple, three-step progression.

#1 The serve should be deep and down the middle, taking away the down-the-line passing shot, taking away the severe crosscourt angle, and forcing the receiver to hit an inside-out groundstroke.

#2 The first volley should be hit deep and crosscourt since the server will usually be behind or on the service line at this point, and not have a short angle. A deep volley keeps the returner pinned back.

#3 The third ball should be a put away from the net, either at the feet of the player directly in front of the server, or a sharp, crosscourt angle.

It is important to remember that in order to give himself more time to get to the net, the server should actually slow down his serve, rather than coming in behind the big bomb. Gabriella Sabatini’s only Grand Slam win came during her U.S. Open final against Graf, where she served first serves in the low 40-mph range and for the first time in her career aggressively served and volleyed! A spin serve, deep and down the middle will do the trick here.

It is also important that the server make a split-step just before the receiver makes contact with the ball so that the server can change direction to cover a shot hit to her left or right, or cover a ball that is lobbed.

Approaching
Players need to learn how to approach, whether they are the returner or a server who has stayed back, and this means using a stroke that is different than the traditional, baseline groundstroke.

While many groundstrokers prefer a big backswing with a shorter follow through, the closer a player is to the net, the shorter the backswing should be. Especially at the recreational and high school levels, a short backswing gives players more time to prepare as they run forward, and a long follow through helps them hit through balls, sending them deep.

See the drill Producing and Playing Short Balls to learn how to effectively drill this stroke.

Once They’re at the Net
Because of the increased speed of the game (thanks to racquet and string technology) at both the recreational and professional levels, a style for playing doubles has developed based on the player’s increased ability to hit deep, accurate lobs and passing shots. This style, which keeps partners covering each other rather than staying next to each other, will apply to your players based on their skill levels and those of their opponents.

Traditionally, good doubles teams played side by side, moving up and back together. Because of the ability of players to hit winning topspin lobs, however, players now use a “pulley” effect when they take the net, with one player moving backwards a few steps when his partner moves forward.

When your players are at the net, if the ball is in front of Bill, Bill moves forward and plays from the traditional net position. Bill’s partner, Bob, takes two steps back, playing closer to the service line, allowing him to cover lobs.

Since players should not cover their own lobs, this makes sense.

If Bill volleys the ball in front of him, Bill and Bob maintain their positions. If Bill volleys crosscourt, the ball is now in front of Bob, and Bob and Bill switch positions, with Bill moving back and Bob moving forward, as if on a pulley.

This is effective because the ball takes longer to get to a crosscourt player than to a player who is directly in front of the ball, giving the player who is staying slightly back time to move forward and make the volley. If player hits a ball straight ahead, the player in front of that ball is already at the net. If the ball is lobbed crosscourt, the crosscourt player is already back, and if the ball is lobbed straight ahead, the crosscourt player, who’s job it is to take his partner’s lobs anyway, is already back.

Be aware that many, many players at even the early stages of competitive play do not move forward when hitting volleys, and it is imperative that the player who is playing slightly back attacks all volleys once they are hit in front of him. Even the player closest to the net should close as far as possible once he knows it’s a volley.

If your players are staying on the service line while they volley, this decreases the angles they have to put away the ball. It also allows the ball to drop, making it more difficult to hit down on the ball and put it away. From a simple geometry standpoint, your players are significantly reducing their chances of putting the ball away if they make contact from the service line.

If they are playing from the service line to cover lobs but are moving forward to attack balls once they see they are not lobs, this isn’t as bad.

Why Not Take Your Own Lobs?
At recreational and even fairly competitive levels of play, a player moving backwards to take a lob usually hits with his or her weight moving backward, decreasing the chance of an offensive overhead. Good coaches teach that in most cases, players should take their own overheads if they are moving forward, and switching if the lob causes them to move backwards.The exception would be if the player moving backward had to hit the lob because his partner would not be able to get it if he let it go.

A player in the deuce court, for example, who is lobbed, should recover to just behind the service line and to the left of the center line in the ad court (where a returner would stand), to cut off opponent’s possible angles, while his partner runs back to cover the lob. See Covering the Lob in Doubles.

Practicing the various situations that occur in doubles, including: return of serve options; producing short balls from the baseline; and serving and volleying, will greatly increase your players’ ability to successfully take the net and increase their confidence in playing up.

Drilling the various situations which occur when players are at the net, including the “pulley” formation and covering lobs, also will improve their skills, increase their confidence and increase their success.