TennisOne Lessons

Seven Doubles Principles for USTA League Players

By David Brouwer

1. Deep to Deep/Close to Close
2. Inside to Inside/Outside to Outside
3. Low you go on the secondary poach
4. On the switch, play the defensive lob
5. High, you die on the primary poach
6. Neutralize first, finish second
7. Isolate the wounded player

Deep to Deep/Close to Close

One of the first things I try to teach all my USTA league players is the principle of Deep to Deep/Close to Close. Simply put, if you're the player who is deepest in the court, hit to the opponent who is deepest in the court and if you're the player who is closest to net, hit to the opponent who is closest to the net.

Although this principle can and will be broken by players, it remains one of the highest percentage plays and wisest tactical decisions a doubles player can make. Here are two of the main reasons why:

• If you are the deepest player in the court, you are probably not in an offensive position. Also, you will probably not be able to hit a forcing shot at the feet of your opponent. Therefore, playing the ball back to the deepest opponent allows you time to get closer to the net to look for a more offensive opportunity. The opposite is true if you play your shot to the closest opponent. The quicker your shot gets to the closest opponent, the faster it will come back at you or your teammate, therefore stealing time from your side of the net. This is exactly what you want to avoid.

• Click photo: Short overheads can be aimed at the closest opponent.

  If you are the closest player to the net, playing the ball at the closest opponent affords them the least amount of time and space to react to the ball. Therefore, a well-struck overhead or volley in a close to close exchange will usually end in a winner from you or an error from your opponent.
  
  The opposite is true if you play the shot back to the deepest opponent. This affords your opponent more time and space to react to your shot and possibly put themselves into a more offensive court position. Again, this is exactly what you want to avoid.

Although this principle is high percentage and tactically wise, there are some occasions when it may be broken. Here are two:

• Click photo: Primary Poach - A high volley can be played to the opponent who is closest to the net.

  You are the closest player to the net on your team, but you have a tough low volley or an off balance shot opportunity. It makes more sense in this situation to take your shot back to the deepest opponent in an effort to buy more time to get balanced and hopefully be more offensive on the next shot.

• You are the deepest player on your team, but the closest opponent is obviously the weaker player. It could make sense in this situation to isolate the weaker player with your shots even though it will steal time from your team by going deep to close.

Some examples of when this principle can be played out in a match situation are:

• Both the server and the returner are net rushers. After the serve, both players advance towards the net playing their shots back to one another until they achieve the same court position as their partners. Their entire trip to the net was a deep to deep exchange. Now, once at net, they are in a more offensive court position and have the potential to move in closer and go after the closest opponent.

• The server is a net rusher, but the returner is staying back. After the serve, the return comes cross court and the server plays the mid-court volley or half volley back to the returner (the deepest opponent). After the server moves in tighter to the net, if they receive a higher or more offensive shot, they volley the ball to the feet of the returner's partner, making it a close to close volley.

• The returner lobs the return and closes behind the return. The lob is over the server's partner's head, but they can still reach it for a defensive overhead. In this situation, the server's partner should play the tough overhead back to the returner, who would still be the deepest player on the opposite side of the court.

• Click photo: Secondary Poach - low return can cause the opponent to hit up and create and easy poach.

  Probably the two most obvious examples are the primary poach and the secondary poach. The primary poach is when the server's partner cuts across to pick off the return of serve and snaps the volley directly at the returner's partner in a close to close exchange.
  
  The secondary poach is when the returner's partner recognizes that the return is low and will force the server to pop up the next shot. After the server commits to the shot and has their head down to the ball, the returner's partner cuts across to pick off the first volley and snaps the volley directly at the server's partner.

Because this principle is so important to understand, you'll want to drill it over and over. Here are two suggestions on drills that can really make this principle a habit in your game.

• One doubles team positions itself one up, one back. The other team positions both players at the net. The pro feeds a ball in to the player positioned on the baseline who may lob or drive the ball. The team at net is then working on going back to the deep player if they receive a tough overhead or low volley and going at the feet of the net player if they receive an easy overhead or high volley. Play side against side games up to 11, 15, or 21 and then rotate positions. This drill really gives repetition and a chance for the teaching pro to reinforce decision making skills.

• This next drill, the TCU drill is especially fun for the pro because they get to play in. The pro is positioned at the service line and their partner is on the baseline. There are 2 players in one up, one back position on the opposing team. An additional player is waiting out on their side. The pro feeds a short ball to the player on the baseline and the point is played out. Then you play a series of four more points with the pro mixing up the feeds to either player and reinforcing the decision making of the teams. Again, any easy overhead or volley should be directed at the pro as they are the close player. The pros partner will stay back for the entire series of four balls as it will give the net team multiple chances to make decisions on where to place their shots. After the series of four balls, the attacking team rotates one spot to the right and the series begins again. After a game of 11, 15, or 21, put a new player on the pro's side.

There are many more opportunities to have your students work on this principle. Perhaps the most important thing is to reinforce the principle every time they do it correctly. If you get creative with drill ideas, target areas, and match specific games, your students will be hitting close to close winners and staying in the point on deep to deep exchanges. Both of these will lead to more success as a doubles team which leads to more fun on the tennis court!

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