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In the first article we analyzed the basic geometry of the doubles court, saw how doubles is fundamentally different than singles, and analyzed the patterns and strategy for your team’s serving games. Now let’s look at the other half of doubles: the return game.
Attack or Defend?
When your team is receiving in doubles, you should make a conscious decision whether to attack or to defend. If you choose to attack, the partner not receiving serve should stand just inside the service line, but this is a temporary situation.
The receiver should join his partner at net as soon as possible if your strategy is to attack.
The purpose of this one up, one back position is to allow the receiver to join his partner at the net as soon as possible. He can do this by hitting an approach on his return of serve or by taking a short ball. The third option is to lob over the opposing net player’s head and follow it in.
Another reason for starting one up, one back is to allow the partner at the net to poach. If the return of serve is good, the partner at the net can go across…