Here’s the scenario. You and your partner aren’t making much of a dent returning your opponents’ serves. You’re missing too many balls, and when you do get the ball over the net, it’s often easy pickings for the net man. What do you do? Keep playing the same way and hope for some lucky returns?
That’s probably not a winning strategy. Instead, consider playing defense for a while by positioning both yourself and your partner at the baseline when you’re receiving serve. This smart move helps in several ways:
- It takes the pressure off the returner. Since he no longer has to worry about returning well enough to protect his partner at the net he can concentrate simply on keeping the ball in play.
- It eliminates the receiving net player as a target for the serving team and forces them to deliver better volleys if they want to win the point.
- It changes the view of the serving team. By staying back the court will look different to them and this may cause them to alter their game, or become hesitant when they play.
Sure, getting to the net is always the preferred strategy in doubles, but staying back to receive for a few games may be just what you need to build your confidence with your return game.