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Lesson

How to Hold Serve in Doubles:

Moving with the Flow

By Monty Basnyat, TennisONE Associate Editor

Strategy Question

My partner and I are a pretty good team. We move, communicate and play well together. Our only problem is my partner does not have the greatest serve so we get broken a lot and end up losing the tight ones. Please, can you help us.

Answer

For your partner to hold serve, there are two things that need to happen. The first one is common sense--tell your partner to quit trying to serve the bomb. Tell him his goal is to hit a high percentage of first serves in (65-70%) with good placement. Every time a good team sees a second serve they think: chip and come in, lob and come in or drill it and come in. The result is tremendous pressure on the serving team.

The second thing that needs to happen is that you--the server's partner--must learn to move with the flow of the serve and not with the movement of the receiver. The net person must concentrate on the bounce of the ball and follow its movement to the receiver. It would be a mistake to watch the receiver and follow his movement. Remember, the ball moves faster than the receiver. If the serve is out wide, the net man moves a step or two out wide following the ball. Similarly, if the serve goes down the middle, the net man moves a step or two towards the middle.

If your partner hits a good serve down the middle, don't be afraid to be a little aggressive in moving towards the center, as you can see Player #2 doing here. Of course the receiver (Player #4) can try to pass you down the alley, but he must hit over the higher part of the net and place the ball in the narrow width of the alley (4.5 feet). In addition, if Player #4 is right-handed, he must execute this difficult shot off this backhand side, which is usually the weaker side for most club players. If the receiver passes you once or twice down the alley, keeping moving aggressively towards the center. You've forced your opponent into a low-percentage strategy, while you will be cutting off more mid-court balls and putting away easy volleys. The net man putting a tremendous amount of pressure on the receiver will cause him to make more errors. Now your partner should have an easier time holding serve and winning the tight ones.

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