Double Trouble
That's what you want your opponents to think of you and your partner - Double Trouble. Though
the overwhelming majority of recreational tennis is played as doubles, the junior competitive world is still a Singles dominated domain. The past two weeks at Lost Creek High Performance, we have been working hard on several key Doubles concepts, as we prepare our top players for the Doubles Excellence tournament. I thought, for those players, and any of the club players who are regular readers, it would be a great idea if I re-visited some of that curriculum. So, here goes:
two up- We spent a good chunk of time, and will continue to, on understanding the value and importance of establishing two players up at net before the opponents do. We are working on controlling the net so that whenever possible, we get the opportunity to hit down on the volley, forcing our opponents to hit up. It won't be long in such a setting until we put the ball away or force an error. Our players are starting to understand that getting to the ball above the level of the net, and taking advantage of the opportunity to hit down on that ball, is our constant and overriding quest when playing doubles. This one element will likely make more of a difference at every level than any other.
we spent another day working on the concept of
lateral shifting- We are trying to master keeping the two up partners about the same distance apart, moving together like windshield wipers, and shifting together to cover areas of the court that our shot placement has exposed. We used quite a few noteworthy rules of thumb such as
- don't shift so wide that you would cross a line, (sideline or center line)
- imagine you and your partner are tied together by an apx 8 ft piece of rope( if you strecth the rope you will get beat down the middle, and if the rope goes slack you will expose the alleys)
- the net player must shift to the ball regardless if they are two up or one up, one back
and this one is HUGE, and sometimes difficult for the club player:
-The direction and the amount of lateral shifting for a given two up team is dictated by THEIR placement, not their opponent's.
Our next topic dealt with positions, responsibilities, and most of all COMMUNICATION. The drills that day stressed whose responsibility the lob is, and that both players should move toward every lob until the player whose head it went over makes a call. If she says "mine", the partner is free to resume the attack position, and if she says "yours", the partner is already on the way, and the caller can switch and slide under to the 'hot seat"- just off of the center "T". In this session we also did lengthy work on the position of the receiver's partner, and knowing when to get forward. That player must respond to her partner's return. If it passes or clears the net player, then she closes sharply, making sure to shift to any width of her partner's return. If she sees that the net player will be playing her partner's return, then she "stays home" and covers up so she
1- doesnt get "harpooned", and
2- might get a chance to pick off and defend.
Our following session was all about serve and volley. We established that this is is the easiest and first opportunity to get "two up". We covered how shifting comes into play, and discussed the pitfalls of serving wide in doubles, forcing your partner to shift and creating more court for the server to cover. The most opposition to serve and volly , especially at the club level, is that the returns can be so strong the first volley is often unsuccessful. My reply to this is always the same, don't stay back because they are pounding your serve, work on, and IMPROVE your serve so they cant tee off on it. The other critical training element here is the timing of the split step, critical to the success of serve and volley Our kids practiced tracking their serve as it moves away from them, looking past the ball for the opponent's racquet to begin moving forward, and lifting the feet into a split step- gaining control of the forward momentum.
The other major topic is communication, in several forms. If you play with a regular partner, you will develop a lot of non-verbal communication, but this doesn't lessen the need to talk. During play, it is critical that partners constantly communicate to clarify what the individual and partner iintentions are, within the moment. That is very difficult in short time frames, which is why one syllable words are so key.
"You, me, yours, mine, up, back, go, no, shift, short, help, etc" are all great attempts at clearing the air and ending confusion. The other form of communication that is vital to doubles success is between points. Partners MUST make physical contact, a high five, a fist bump, etc in order to come together and discusss any strategy for the next point, and more importantly to demonstrate support and comraderie for the team, regardless of the result of the prior point. Whether it ended in error or winner, a high five and a quick word with your partner will show you're in it for the long haul, and more importantly for the here and now of the next point. I often say, "you can't communicate too much in Doubles, only not enough. It's kinda like marriage !......"
So give some time and energy to some of these Doubles elements. Two up, shifting, coverage and responsibilities, serve and volley ( and attacking behind returns) and above all COMMUNICATION will go a long way to improving your Doubles success and results. Concentrate on taking your Doubles game to another level, and give your opponents plenty of trouble.
