Which Side...

Which Side...

You’re on a tennis team and when the captain prepares the line up you’ll find out if you’re playing singles or doubles. If you are to play doubles you may play with a partner you know or one you don’t know. So how do you decide who is going to play which side… the deuce side or the advantage (ad) side?

The usual response is, “Which side do you like better.” This might work out just fine. If you like the deuce side and they like the ad side, everyone is happy. What if you both prefer the deuce side? Either someone is just gracious and says, “Please you take it” or maybe they do rock, paper and scissors to help them decide!

In singles you have to return serve from both sides. Yes you might be better returning from one side or the other. But you do learn to play both sides.

Some players only play doubles and many get set in their ways hoping and wanting to play their better side for the return.

So a few recommendations and then a strategic approach.

Particularly in practice you should practice returning from both sides. So you have some familiarity and confidence on both sides. When you are given a partner who really prefers one side you are happy to play either side.

If you are playing practice games you can switch sides each set. You can then see which way you play better as a team, remembering that it will be different with different partners. For example, if you play the deuce court in set 1 and win 6-2 and then in the second set you play the ad court and lose 4-6. Odds are that when you’re in the deuce court and your partner is in the ad court you play better as a team. This is not only based on the return as other factors can make the difference too.

Now for the strategic approach which obviates the "which side I prefer syndrome."

This is for two right handed players first.

In many ways return of serve in doubles is harder than singles. You have less court to return into and you usually have the servers partner at net willing and ready to poach your return. So you have a smaller area to return to while trying to keep the ball away from the opposing net player.

Among the four major returns in doubles which are 1) out wide to the forehand on the deuce side, 2) up the middle towards the “T” to the backhand on the deuce court, 3) up the middle towards the “T” to the forehand on the ad court, and 4) out wide to the backhand on the ad court. Which return is the hardest to play?

If you chose number 2) you were correct. On the deuce court the backhand return requires the ability to turn a lot and hit the return inside out to get it back towards the server and past the net player. Whereas in the ad court number 4) this is just a cross court backhand which is much easier to execute and requires less of a turn.

This is also true on the forehand returns. On the deuce court number 1 is just a cross court forehand and on the ad court number 3 is slightly tougher as you have to hit the return inside out to get it back to the servers half of the court. However most players forehand’s are usually better and you don’t have to turn as much to hit the forehand in as you do for a backhand.

So the first point is whoever has the better backhand return plays the deuce court. This usually also means that the better overall player plays the deuce court and I’ll tell you why…

Besides handling the toughest return number 2). This allows the partner to hit the easier backhand cross court return number 4). Once a rally starts In doubles most shots are hit up the middle between the two players for two major reasons: a) the low risk of keeping the ball in play and b) the slight hesitation the players have when a ball is hit between them as to who should take it.

Balls that are clearly on your half of the court are yours and the same for your partner’s half. Yet balls exactly up the middle that aren’t clearly on one half or the other cause a slight hesitation on who should take it. This is normally resolved by making a prior agreement with your partner on who will take the balls up the middle or quickly shouting “yours” or “mine.”

In that situation with the better player in the deuce court you have two strengths up the middle the better players backhand volley and your partners forehand volley. If you switch sides the better players forehand volley might be great but your partners backhand volley might be much weaker. You want to keep two strengths for the shots up the middle.

Lastly if all things are equal means that many games will get to deuce. In that case if the better player is in the deuce court, they will get the advantage for their team more often. At that point all the pressure is on the server to try to get back to deuce, and they may be confident they could do that because the weaker player is in the ad court. However, once the retuning team has the advantage, the deuce player can turn to the ad player and say, “Go for it, swing away…because if you don’t win the point, it only comes back to deuce and I’ll get you another advantage point." This keeps all the pressure on the serving team.

If the returners are set up in the opposite positions, meaning the weaker players in the deuce court, the serving team gets the advantage point more often. That puts the pressure is on the ad court returner to get back to deuce. Yet the server is thinking even if we go back to deuce we will get the advantage again so the pressure stays on the returning team.

This strategic approach of having the better player in the deuce court gives you these four major advantages which increase your odds of playing well.

1) returning the toughest backhand return number 2) into play.

2) giving your partner the easier backhand return number 4) cross court.

3) having two strengths for playing the shots up the middle.

4) having the better player in the deuce court and getting their team the advantage point more often, keeping all the pressure on the serving team.

If you play with a lefty, you play the ad court and they play the deuce court. This gives both the players the easier cross court backhand returns on both sides. Plus two strengths of forehands up the middle.

On the rare occasion when two lefties play together the basic strategy still stands. This time the better player plays the ad court.

Please give this strategy a try and have fun playing better doubles.