Recently I've been playing with various double partners. I usually stand a bit closer to the center line. Nobody else complained except this one guy. He said I should stand in the center of my half and this way does not interfere with him returning a drive/flick along the center line. Is he correct?
Nah, higher level players do what you do. Perhaps he's being safe, afraid of hitting you by accident.
Yes, when playing him it is correct and position yourself accordingly. With other players, you can stand close to the centre line so long as you move out of the way quickly enough if there is a serve to that area.
Thanks guys. I guess there is no hard rule about this. This particular partner has very good defensive skills but he rarely charge on serves. If he lifts a lot, I guess side by side isn't too bad. Every case is different indeed.
Indeed, the pros and high level players do what you do. But the game is also about adapting to various partners, opponents, and tactics. So you are not wrong in what you're doing (it's good in fact), but I see no problem with humoring him and standing to the side, unless it is detrimental to your effectiveness.
I usually stand in the center of my half unless I know my partner is a very good and aggressive returner, in which case I do what you do. Most rec players aren't aggressive enough when receiving serve in rec doubles anyway. You said that particular partner has very good defensive skills so chances are he prefers to start side-by-side when receiving and look to counter-attack instead of going for first-strike attack within the first 3 shots?
I don't like it when my partner stands like that. I know that it's "theoretically" good, but I don't trust them to get out of the way fast enough, and I don't want to get injured due to their incompetence. This does depend on who they are, of course; some players I trust. But with random club players, especially if I'm playing "socially", I am not happy for them to stand there. If they insist, I will just leave the flick serve. It's not worth an ankle sprain. This is one area where I advise players not to copy the pros, unless they are confident that their partner will get out the way.
Of course you stand behind the receiver, on the midline roughly. Where else? The receiver should never (!!) lift, so you try to get into an aggressive position. Therefore, you have to stand behind him. And even if he has to lift (for whatever reason), you have enough time to get to your side. On the other hand, you don't have enough time to get behind the receiver if it comes to some push/drive action.
I will always be behind the receiver right at the middle line. If its a flick/drive serve then I will just move a bit to the side and take the front(or my court side). I don't care where my partner stands when im receiving a serve. All I care is that he react accordingly to how I react to the serve. Pro players stands everywhere(mostly middle or close to the side of the receiver), but they almost always react accordingly to what his/her partner does. Thats all that matters.
Stand near the centre a little closer to your backhand side so you can around the head more easily if they hit it there.
