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TennisOne Lessons 
Mastering the Return Game in Doubles David W. Smith, Senior Editor TennisOne We all know how intimidating and dominating a great serve can be, especially in doubles where the return has to be more precise. The prospect of setting your partner for a trip to the emergency room with a weak return can cause enough stress to make a player break out in hives.
Yet, there is an equalizer in doubles in that a great return game can turn the tide of offense in the flash of a stroke. A solid return in doubles immediately puts the serving players on the defense. Depending on whether the returning team recognizes this shift in momentum, the serving team can be running away faster than a knight from Monty Python! Return Strategies So how do we create those opportunities that shift the momentum from defense to offense while we are returning serve? The answer lies in the ability to successfully, a) keep the ball away from the serving team’s net player, and b) hit a shot that places the sever in a defensive position. Neutralizing the Net Man Let’s face it, most players hate to get passed down their line in doubles, I know I do. They have not only lost the point, but they have lost the point with a lower percentage shot by an opponent, and, there is a real sense that you let your partner down by giving up the alley in the first place. So if the down-the-line return is such a low percentage shot, why try it? Good question, but I learned a long time ago that if you go down the line early in a match, you plant a seed early on that you might just do it again. My dad used to say, in the first game, go down the line once. Even if you lose the point, you may win many others by making the opponent aware you are not afraid to hit the down-the-line shot!
I remember a little joke I read a long time ago that fit this scenario: A hack golfer bet the club pro $100 that he could beat the club pro in a match. Scoffing at the hacker, the pro said, “How many strokes do you want?” The hacker replied, “None. However, I only ask to do two things.” The pro asked, “Well, what are the two things?” The hacker said, “I’m not saying, but I’ll tell you while we are playing.” The pro agreed, figuring what in the world could a hacker golfer do that would allow him to beat the pro. On the first tee, the pro, addressing his tee-shot, got into the familiar routine and was in the middle of his backswing when the hacker screamed at the top of his lungs. The pro nearly broke his arms trying to keep from hitting the ball. The pro looked at the hacker and asked, “What the heck was that???” The hacker said, “That’s one.” Obviously, a little tongue-in-cheek, the idea was the pro was so terrified that in the middle of his swing the hacker was going to yell again that he couldn’t focus one bit on any shot for the rest of the round! Going down the line in doubles early is a bit like our little joke. If you do it once, you might do it again. However the same mind trick can be performed by a net player simply by poaching aggressively in an early game. This sets up the same kind of precedence. It's like saying, “You never know when I’m going to go again!” Use the Serve Return to Take Time Away From Your Opponents If you move in a few steps, shorten your backswing, and basically block the serve back, you can also neutralize the net man. This is because if you step in and take the ball early, you take reaction time away from the net man. By shortening your stroke and basically blocking the return back, you can control the angle of the return and use the server’s power to provide your shot with enough pace to be effective. This works especially well against serving players who come in hard after their serve. A slower hit ball that dips low over the net can be very effective and force an opponent to volley up or hit a half-volley — shots that are usually defensive in nature. Stay Sideways on Your Return One of the biggest mistakes I see players make when executing a return is the tendency to open up too early on the stroke. Because we are concerned about the net man poaching the return, we tend to open up and try to peek while we are hitting our return of serve. When we open up early, we tend to push the stroke more. This not only diminishes the pace and spin of the return, it tends to send the ball more down the middle where a net man can easily cut it off for a volley winner.
This mistake is usually more often made by right-handed players returning serve on the ad court. Opening up the body tends to make us late on the stroke. On the deuce court, a right handed player hitting a forehand can end up hitting late by opening up too soon. I know this sounds opposite to what we might assume. However, when we open up on these two shots, our body recognizes that it will pull the ball too far so we instinctively end up laying the racquet face open more. This action, in turn, forces us to then push to direct the ball instead of using a good stroke with angular momentum. Shorten the Backswing As mentioned in moving in and taking the return earlier, just keeping a shorter backswing can improve your control and your quality of contact, especially against big servers. I’m not talking about just blocking the serve back, although this is not a bad strategy as mentioned earlier. But rather driving forward from a half backswing with topspin can be very effective and consistent.
Lob on the Deuce Return When returning serve from the deuce court, one of the more effective shots is the lob, especially against right-handed opponents. This lob generally goes over the backhand side of the net man which limits the chance of hitting an easy overhead if the lob is hit too low. This lob, when clearing the net man, will bounce high to the backhand of a right-handed server if he has to run over and retrieve it. This is a difficult shot to be hit well and may very well set up an easy put away by the returning players who have closed in.
Drop Shot on the Return After have hit a lob or two, or a few zinger returns, mix in a drop shot or two occasionally, especially on weak second serves. If a server has been dealing with some potent returns, or if the serve has a weak second serve, they may be falling back after the serve in preparation for the big return or the lob. Try hitting a drop shot off the weak second serve and follow it into the net. If the player can even get to the drop shot, chances are they won’t be able to respond with an offensive ball, leaving both serve and partner very vulnerable. Focus On the Contact Point
Many times players become distracted by the antics of the opposing net player. Because of this distraction, and having to avoid the net player, returners often lose focus on what really matters — the contact point. This focus is a very important concept to be mindful of during competition. Know where you want to hit the ball and then focus only on the contact point of the shot. Even if the net man is poaching, a crisp, low return is usually either irretrievable by the net man or will put him in an awkward volley position when trying to track and respond to such a shot. But if we are more concerned about the net man or what the server is doing, (coming in, staying back, running around a backhand, etc.), we are unlikely to make a crisp return. Conclusion Hitting more consistent returns as well as more strategically effective returns can neutralize the advantages of the serving team. Obviously, any return that forces the serving team to respond from a defensive position, (returns hit low at their feet, away from the player, over their head, to their weak side, etc.), turns the returning team into an offensive team with one shot. Try to apply pressure on your opponents early in any return game. Winning the first point can effectively switch the burden and the pressure on to the serving team. For this reason it is a good idea to put your most consistent returner on the deuce side. This helps the return team get into a more confident and offensive mind set if they can win the first point and cause the serving team to have doubts creep in. Work on these different strategies and see if you can become a more dominant returning doubles player and doubles team!
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