Doubles Front Player Positioning

I prefer to stand more towards the centre of the court, because I find my options are too limited at the service line or closer. I find that if I stand on the service line, I can't defend shots towards the edge of the midcourt very well, but this might just be a limitation of my level.

After serve, I stay at the service line expecting a net reply, if they lift, I move towards the centre court. I let my partner play their attacking shots, and make sure I'm prepared to defend any offensive replies, but also to attack any lose net.

I think it's just finding a good balance, especially for your height. I can't be too far back because I'd obstruct my partner, too far forward and I'd find myself useless.

 

Lee Jae Bok has 2 (maybe three videos) on Doubles rotation, and the front players positioning, and posturing. You may want to look it up.

In general, as soon as your opponent lifts, you need to back away from the front, in anticipation of the fasting flat drive return to your partner's attacking shots. If your partner drops, you need to quickly move forward to cover the net area.

If your opponent's lift/clear is short, you'd however need to move to one side, and let your partner to come forward.

That is the basic. This topic in fact has been discussed a number of times in BC. You may want to google them.

 

For doubles, what matters is covering the court effectively as a pair.

In doubles, it is very dangerous to have a large gap between you and your partner, and so you must make sure this gap is not too big.

Example: if you stand on the front line, and your partner is on the back line smashing, there is a huge gap in between you - this is a dangerous area, because if the opponent gets the shuttle between you, then it will be very difficult to retrieve for both of you. However, if you were to move backwards in the court, and stand in the mid court when your partner is on the back line, then there is no gap between you.

This is the first stage of understanding positioning - where to be BEFORE your partner hits the shuttle - you must move with your partner. This includes standing on the same side as your partner - remember its about not having too big a gap. Try to keep one foot near the centre line, so you are not "too far" on the same side as your partner.

The second stage of understanding positioning, is to understand what shots to expect from your opponent and hence where you need to be.

Imagine your partner is on the back line, on the left hand side of the court. You should be at the centre of the court, standing slightly to the left of the middle line. This is a good position for you to be with your partner. Remember - if they are not so far back, then you do not need to be so far back.

When your partner hits a shot, it can be:

Clear - you defend. End of attack in most cases.
Drop - will land close to the net.
Smash - will land further away from the net.

If your partner drops, you should move forwards to threaten the net. You will be on or near the front line. Your partner will move forwards with you (to keep the gap small) and he will cover anything fast that goes past you. You need to try to take net shots early.

If your partner smashes, you should stay roughly where you are. Why? Because you should expect something fast back - you need to try to cut out anything fast and flat. In order to do this, you need to be in the mid court (at least 1 metre behind the front line - probably further back) in order to have time to intercept the shots.

At this point, most people worry about the front: If your opponent hits to the net, it will be a very slow shot because of the trajectory of the shuttle - if your opponent retrieves the smash from the middle of the court, hitting tight to the net is incredibly difficult. The only way to do so is to loop the shuttle slowly into the air. You will have plenty of time to move forwards and take the shuttle.

The final thing to consider is where to move if YOU hit a shot.
Follow similar rules to above - if you hit fast, STAY WHERE YOU ARE - be ready for a fast shot in reply. Do not bother trying to move somewhere - just be ready. If you hit soft, then move forwards to threaten the net.

Remember, as soon as the shuttle goes to your partner, you need to move based on where he is (keep the gap between you small). When he hits the shot, you may need to move again, based on whether he hits soft or hard.

Good luck!

 

This is a very detailed insightful post from Matt. I'm beginning to wonder if our moderators could set up a FAQ section, with subsections, and put all hot topics (esp. those with good replies) in it.

Suggested organization -
Techniques/Training
FAQ
Doubles (Level/Mixed)
Singles

Then, (hopefully) we won't be rehashing much of the materials every so often.

 

Because you should be expecting your partner to a) play a good shot and b) play to get you involved. this means your partner plays a good attacking shot and limits your opponents reply to be 'somewhat' straight. In this case your team gets most advantage if you are on the same side - you get best attacking options here.

If you expect weak shot from your partner, then standing on other side/more central gives you better coverage against counter attack, but allows opponent to play simple straight block much more easily - you lose the attack more easily in this situation.

Correct. You shouldn't be on the service in this situation anyway...

I agree with you - if you hit downward drive from sides formation then you are attacking - move forward. However, if you are already the front player and you hit a hard shot, you have no time to move much - just get your racket up!

 

1: Yes. 2, 3: it will be obvious if you or your partner get it.

Yes, a bit towards the front - move with your partner. If your partner pressures the net, then you move up and cover the mid court. Leave space in the position that is best for you! Think: Do you want to allow your opponent to play to midcourt after a drop, or only to rear court? Of course the rear court will generally give you best attacking options!

Yes, so even if you move a bit forward after a drop shot then you have lots of time to get behind the lift.

Depends where you smash from and where you target your shot. If you smash from the side tram-line, then you should recover towards the centre line. Unless the lift was short, in which case you should probably follow up your own smash.

Yes, like dancing! Try not to let your partner get too far away, otherwise the gaps are obvious. If you stay together, that spaces are in the most difficult to reach positions for your opponent.

 

Amleto has answered all your follow up questions! For clarity, when I talked about you hitting and staying where you are, I was specifically talking about you being the front court player in doubles. If you were the front court player, as per the whole scenario, you need to know where to be:
1. before your partner hits a shot
2. after your partner hits a shot
3. after you hit a shot
Reread my post, with these things in mind. Hopefully it will be clear.

To answer this question, please think about the principles I described: you need to keep the gap between you and your partner small. So if you hit a drop shot... what does your partner do? They move forwards to cover the net (they same as you would do if you were at the front).
You, as the back player, need to keep the gap between you and your partner small, so you need to move forwards to the mid court. This will leave the back court open, which, as amleto said, may encourage your opponent to want to hit to the back court. Which is good for you as that means they constantly lift and you constantly attack.

I will attempt to simplify these rules a bit with another way of thinking:

Imagine this:
The court is split vertically into 3 equal thirds: the front court, the mid court, the back court.
The court is split horizontally into 3 equal thirds: the left side, the centre line third, the right side.

In order to be positioned correctly, the following rules apply:
1. Partners should be no more than 1 third apart horizontally or vertically.
- This ensures the gap between partners is never "too big".
- By definition, if one player is in one of the four corners of the court, his partner must be occupying the middle box so that the players are only 1 horizontal and 1 vertical third apart.

2. At least 1 player must always be in the mid court.
- If no player is in the midcourt, then it means that the court is exposed (both at front, both at back, or one at front and one at back whilst nobody in the middle).
- Both players can be in the midcourt, (one on left, one on right) particularly when defending.

3. If you are on the attack, but are NOT hitting the shuttle, then strive to be in the centre line third.

With the above rules in mind, let me explain about playing smashes and drops from the back of the court:
you play a drop shot - your partner will move forwards to attack the net, to stop opponents playing the net. Using rule 1, he moved forwards from mid to front, so you need to move forwards from back to mid. You have satisfied rule 2 because you moved forwards. Rule 3 is achieved if you move back to the centre line. So - that is what you must do if you hit a drop shot: move forwards and move to the centre line.
you play a smash - your partner does not move forwards, because they are ready for fast shots. Your partner is in the midcourt, so you have already satisfied rule 2. Because your partner didn't have to move, you have already satisfied rule 1. The only thing left is to satisfy rule 3 - you want to be on the centre line. So when you smash: you just have to move towards the centre line.

Good luck!

 

[MENTION=47032]MSeeley[/MENTION] Gorgeous explainations! Where is the "LIKE"-function?

 

Yes, excellent explanations.

And the like button is there... if you're using Tapatalk...

 

This is an excellent post that should be regarded as an example of classic literary genius.

 

Fully agree, brilliant post and possibly the best description of positioning in doubles I have read to date [MENTION=47032]MSeeley[/MENTION]. You've written a lot of interesting posts in the training/techinque forum, but this one was your masterpiece!

 

Yes that's correct