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The best doubles teams are not necessarily the best singles players….so we all still have a shot at the 75+ doubles crown with that one perfect partner. I’m sure Ruben Gonzalez will still be around when I get there…he’s my choice. Tip #1 Get two pieces of paper and two pens/pencils. Now you and your partner both draw a rectangle that represents the whole racquetball court on your perspective papers. (you can even put in the lines…but it’s not a drawing contest). Now separate yourselves. Without looking, shade in the part of the court you think is yours in general…have your partner do the same. If you both just colored the court on your side in a perfect long rectangle…there's some work to do. Next discuss how your coverage changes when you hit different serves…if you have to do more shading…do it. Go through drive serves and lob serves. Touch on wide angle pass shots and shots off the back wall. This little trick works especially well if you’re looking for the setup off a good serve. A good serve will only allow your opponent a limited number of returns. Together you and your partner can essentially sit on a couple of the return choices and end the rally immediately. A perfect example of this is using a high lob nick serve. Once the receiver fails to take this well hit serve out of the air or on a short hop, he can almost never go cross court at your partner as he backs up against the back wall. With the offensive cross court shot eliminated, the serving partner on the backhand side can guard the down the line and the other partner can guard against the pinch. If the receiver shoots either of those shots, they will now have to be perfect. Since you are “sitting” on them…you should be able to finish the rally if the receiver misses. There are many such “plays” that can be setup with a good communicating doubles team. Tip #2 “Mine / Yours” This may seem simple or trivial or even stupid to you at first. But once you’re in the habit of saying “Mine” or “Yours” each time a ceiling ball is hit or any ball that could create confusion, you’re on the way to becoming a Doubles TEAM. You will both learn that the earlier you say something the easier it is for your partner to either move to take the shot or to setup in a better position for a future shot. The earlier you say something, the sooner you will also know if you have a problem. There’s nothing like both of you shouting “Yours” at the last minute and realizing neither of you is going to get the ball. After you both yell out :”Mine” a couple times (and you have your shaded diagrams in mind) you’ll learn who will actually take the shot. A doubles team generally has 1 captain for situations like these. In the “Mine” / “Mine” scenario, you should call out again…and if you feel your partner has a better shot…switch to “Yours”. If you both switch…hopefully you have time for one more round of yelling. Incidentally, more racquet breakage occurs from partners not communicating than almost any other scenario. The worst part is that the partner clash is not covered under and racquet warranty plan. Tip #3 Talk about a game plan. I like to tell my partner what serves I’ll most likely be hitting before we even go in the court. I have been know to call my partner the night before a big match to see what he’ll be serving the next day so I can picture what returns I’ll be watching for. (See the Mind’s Eye Article). There’s nothing worse than being surprised in doubles by your own partner. In general, 5 minutes before you go on the court just run through any weaknesses you know of that you would like to exploit in your opponents. Go over what serves you will most likely use and what returns you expect…and who will cover the expected returns. If you win…between each game go out and discuss what really worked (and what didn’t). See if you can stay with the same game plan or if they were catching on and a slightly different approach is now needed. If you lost…go outside and figure out how they beat you…figure out how you will both need to adjust and encourage each other a little….nothing like an ego boost outside the court. If you lose again…discuss where you’re going for that beer! You can forward any rules questions to me at Pat@Racquetworld.com
Copyright 2005 RacquetWorld. All rights reserved.

Doubles - Becoming one with your Partner

By Pat Bernardo

This month seems to be all about doubles…lets face it…as we all get older, it’s much easier to cover the court, you always have somebody to blame the loss on and most often you’ll still have at least one friend to get a beer with after the match….so doubles has become very popular.

I’m only going to give you 3 double’s tips…all these tips are geared towards better partner communication and that’s what doubles is all about…. communication with your partner. The best doubles teams are not necessarily the best singles players….so we all still have a shot at the 75+ doubles crown with that one perfect partner. I’m sure Ruben Gonzalez will still be around when I get there…he’s my choice.

Tip #1

Get two pieces of paper and two pens/pencils. Now you and your partner both draw a rectangle that represents the whole racquetball court on your perspective papers. (you can even put in the lines…but it’s not a drawing contest). Now separate yourselves. Without looking, shade in the part of the court you think is yours in general…have your partner do the same.

If you both just colored the court on your side in a perfect long rectangle…there's some work to do.

Next discuss how your coverage changes when you hit different serves…if you have to do more shading…do it. Go through drive serves and lob serves. Touch on wide angle pass shots and shots off the back wall.

This little trick works especially well if you’re looking for the setup off a good serve. A good serve will only allow your opponent a limited number of returns. Together you and your partner can essentially sit on a couple of the return choices and end the rally immediately.

A perfect example of this is using a high lob nick serve. Once the receiver fails to take this well hit serve out of the air or on a short hop, he can almost never go cross court at your partner as he backs up against the back wall. With the offensive cross court shot eliminated, the serving partner on the backhand side can guard the down the line and the other partner can guard against the pinch. If the receiver shoots either of those shots, they will now have to be perfect. Since you are “sitting” on them…you should be able to finish the rally if the receiver misses.

There are many such “plays” that can be setup with a good communicating doubles team.

Tip #2

“Mine / Yours”

This may seem simple or trivial or even stupid to you at first. But once you’re in the habit of saying “Mine” or “Yours” each time a ceiling ball is hit or any ball that could create confusion, you’re on the way to becoming a Doubles TEAM. You will both learn that the earlier you say something the easier it is for your partner to either move to take the shot or to setup in a better position for a future shot. The earlier you say something, the sooner you will also know if you have a problem. There’s nothing like both of you shouting “Yours” at the last minute and realizing neither of you is going to get the ball. After you both yell out :”Mine” a couple times (and you have your shaded diagrams in mind) you’ll learn who will actually take the shot. A doubles team generally has 1 captain for situations like these.

In the “Mine” / “Mine” scenario, you should call out again…and if you feel your partner has a better shot…switch to “Yours”. If you both switch…hopefully you have time for one more round of yelling.

Incidentally, more racquet breakage occurs from partners not communicating than almost any other scenario. The worst part is that the partner clash is not covered under and racquet warranty plan.

Tip #3

Talk about a game plan.

I like to tell my partner what serves I’ll most likely be hitting before we even go in the court. I have been know to call my partner the night before a big match to see what he’ll be serving the next day so I can picture what returns I’ll be watching for. (See the Mind’s Eye Article). There’s nothing worse than being surprised in doubles by your own partner.

In general, 5 minutes before you go on the court just run through any weaknesses you know of that you would like to exploit in your opponents. Go over what serves you will most likely use and what returns you expect…and who will cover the expected returns.

If you win…between each game go out and discuss what really worked (and what didn’t). See if you can stay with the same game plan or if they were catching on and a slightly different approach is now needed.

If you lost…go outside and figure out how they beat you…figure out how you will both need to adjust and encourage each other a little….nothing like an ego boost outside the court.

If you lose again…discuss where you’re going for that beer!

You can forward any rules questions to me at Pat@Racquetworld.com