Lesson Library

The Ten Most Common Doubles Errors

Part Eight: Not Covering the Center

When in doubt where to play a shot in doubles, the best advice is hit down the center of the court. Since each your opponents must play close enough to the alleys to guard the alley, your shot down the center will, at a minimum, make them move at least a few steps to hit a groundstroke or volley. From the center of the court, it's difficult for them to hurt you with an angled shot out to the alleys. In addition, by forcing your opponents to the center of the court, you open up the sides of their court to an angled drive or volley. Finally, the hit down the center is always a good fall-back tactic as you can sometimes generate easy points when your opponents become confused over who should play the return.

Since the hit down the center is such a fundamental doubles tactic, not covering the center is a fundamental error--and one of the common doubles errors.

In the diagram on the left and the photos below, we see a perfect illustration of this error. I have played a shot down the center, exactly between my opponents. In this situation, my opponents should be preparing themselves with two thoughts in mind: 1) "the next ball is mine"; 2) "close to the center."

As the photos below indicate, apparently neither of these critical thoughts seemed to have entered into my opponents' befuddled minds. They have left the center of the court too open and they have fallen victim to "I-thought-you-had it" syndrome. The result of each thinking "I thought you had it" is, of course, that not one has it. You end up staring sheepishly at your partner and lamely repeating what you just thought, "I thought you had it."

In this situation, both players should move towards the ball and the person closest should take the shot. If neither player is closer, the person who has the stronger volleying game should take it. However, this understanding can also lead to shots not being played, as the weaker volleyer will sometimes backs away from shots he/she should take, allowing the ball to sail right through the middle for a winner. When you and your partner have failed to cover the center, talk to--not yell at--your partner about what just happened. Each partner needs to accept the responsibility and reaffirm his/her commitment to always cover the center and to always play like "the next ball is mine."

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