Mixed Doubles Strategy - I

Service (a) Woman (b) Man
Reception of Service (a) Woman (b) Man
Offensive Play, Role of (a) Woman (b) Man
Defensive Play, Role of (a) Woman (b) Man

This document was prepared for the O.B.A. by Mr. John Gilbert, Level III Coach

Introduction

Men, if you want to play singles, play singles; if you want to impress the girl, take her to dinner or a movie; but, if you want to play mixed, play mixed. You will note that all three are alternatives and do not necessarily co-exist. In this discussion of mixed doubles, I am assuming both men and women wish to play mixed doubles and are prepared to accept their proper responsibilities. For purposes of organization, I am going to discuss mixed doubles under the following headings:

Service (a) Woman (b) Man
Reception of Service (a) Woman (b) Man
Offensive Play, Role of (a) Woman (b) Man
Defensive Play, Role of (a) Woman (b) Man

I. Service (a) Woman

Many men in mixed doubles have a habit of intimidating the opposing woman by smashing her serve directly back at her. This tends to have a compounding effect as the fear of the smash leads to a poorer service. The consequent effect is an intimidated woman and her irritated partner because of her inefficient service. Therefore, the woman in mixed must practise

(1) a short service which is very low to the net. What is important is that the serve is close to the top of the net, how far back it lands in the court is largely irrelevant.

(2) The woman should also develop a second serve - either a flick or a flat drive service - which is disguised until the point of contact to appear as a short serve.

A judicious mixture of these serves should keep the opposing man off balance so that his rush loses its effectiveness. Try not to show you are afraid of the rush - look him in the eye before service and then calmly decide on your service. After short service, keep your racket up and follow your serve part way to the net until your position is roughly at the "T" formed by the centre court line and the front service line. After a long service, take the defensive action described under "Defensive Play, Role of Woman".

(b) Man

Since the man in conventional mixed covers the court area bounded by the front service line, the side lines and the back line, he must serve from the centre of this area so he will be in position for the ensuing return. This will seem more apparent when it is remembered that the service being struck below the waist is therefore a defensive stroke. The man should serve, therefore, from about four or five feet back from the front service line and standing very close to the center court line. Since he is further back, his serve takes longer to cross the net and thus allows the opponents more time to rush in and smash it down. Therefore, the man's service must be particularly close to the net and should be hit fairly quickly to obviate the speed question already mentioned. Again, it is largely irrelevant how far back of the front service line the bird lands, provided it passes close to the top of the net. Like the woman, the man should practise variations of service disguised as much as possible and should mix these serves in a game. Of course, both women and men should consistently exploit any obvious weakness in their opponents' reception of serve.

II. Reception of Service (a) Woman

If short served, a woman should vary her return, using the following:

net dribble to the alley closest to her
net dribble to the alley furthest from her
push the bird directly back at the server

You should then follow this return in to the net with your racket up and either force the opposing woman to lift the bird or, if she net drops the bird back, you can pounce on it and knock it to the floor. Note this shot should be hit as steeply as possible to the floor.

If long served, a woman should smash the bird as follows:

at the opposing woman
straight down the sideline

You should then follow the bird to the net as soon as possible. Your partner should cover everything except the bird hit directly back to you.

(b) Man

If the man rushes the serve well he should have his partner straddle the centre line about half court. If she takes this position, he must rush the serve to either alley or the opposing man's body forcibly enough to make the opposing man return it weakly either to him at the net for an easy put away or half court to the lady where her smash well placed should be most effective.

If the man does not rush serve well, he should leave his partner in her normal position and should use the returns recommended for the lady. Immediately after hitting such a shot he should return to his position at three quarter court. If the opposing man attempts to anticipate these returns and moves too far forward, you should hit the occasional lob to the backhand deep corner.

III. Offensive Play, Role of (a) Woman

In conventional mixed doubles the offensive court is divided into two zones with the woman responsible for the up zone from the net to about a foot behind the front service line. I would suggest that women encourage their male partners on occasion to gain respect for the difficulties of this position by playing it themselves in practice. It is difficult position and involves almost endless crouching, anticipation and quick movement and is a suicidal spot if the bird is unexpectedly lifted. In this "up" position, the woman is responsible for all net shots and cutting off as many flat shots as possible, especially the cross court ones. She must avoid lifting the bird at all costs. Therefore, she must become very proficient at net play and blocking drives. Keep you racket up and angled slightly forward so any shots hitting it will fly in a flat or downward trajectory. Take all net shots as high as possible, preferably with overhead strokes. When blocking flat shots, block: do not swing at them to any noticeable degree, it will cause faulting. Remember, your job is to set up your partner by forcing your opponents to lift, and to finish some rallies off with put aways from the net. A put away is just that, it must never come back. Be certain you are able to smash that bird very sharply downwards to the floor rather than hitting it towards the floor at three quarter court where the opposing man easily handles it. The result of this premature "smash" is often to lose the offensive advantage you had been developing. In fact, it would be a good idea for a woman to play mixed without ever hitting a bird to the opposing man.

(b) Man

The man is responsible for the rest of the court not assigned to the woman (see above). Let me suggest, men, that if the women appear to be weak and thus ineffective (on the court of course!), hit the bird to them and exploit those weaknesses. Do not hit back and forth witht he opposing man: it may look good but it is not the way to win mixed doubles. Play the woman, forcing the opposing man to come closer to the net to help her out. As he comes closer to the net, he will be increasingly out of position. Then hit quick, flat, straight drives down the sidelines, preferably down the backhand. Be careful with crosscourt drives: a good opposing woman will cut there of and almost inevitably they are winners or lead to winners. Once you have the opposing man in the backhand corner, leave him there. There is very little he can do from that position and you should definitely be able to win the rally.

IV. Defensive Play, Role of (a) Woman

Defensive play in mixed doubles is defined as whenever the opposing team is in a position merely to push the bird downwards from the net. The latter situation results instantaneously from the net play and a woman is in position to do anything other than protect her face of flail blindly at the bird.

The bird should never be lifted in mixed except in emergencies. If you do lift, try to lift it as high and deep to a back corner as the gym permits. The woman should position herself a few feet back of the front service line diagonally to the smash. Because of the greater distance on the diagonal, her position now is the same distance as her partner is:

If she is capable, she should crouch and return the bird by overhead blocking. If shw is not quick enough for this, she should retreat further down the crosscourt sideline and square off with her back to the sideline and retrieve entirely with a backhand or forehand, depending on the side of the court she is on. If she is in the further up position, she is responsible for the smash and as much of the possible drop shot area as whe can. If she is in the further back position, she is responsible for the smash, the drop in front of her and a flat clear in her direction. For all intents and purposes, a long service should be treated as a deep high lift. Whatever the case, always cover as much court from a side line in on a smash and drop as possible and return the bird with a net drop or flat push.

(b) Man

For the man, the defensive court if obviously the area not covered by the woman. As well, the man is responsible for a high clear hit over the woman's head. Because of the time factor in its trajectory, the woman should be able to move back into her offensive position and the man should be able to move quickly enough to smash the bird. Note that when the bird is lifted in mixed, both the woman and the man have a very difficult job ahead of them. Therefore, avoid lifting and, if necessary, attempt to flatten your return of the smash.

Conclusion

Here are just a few final reminders. The woman at the net in mixed is in a very vulnerable position. She cannot see the play developing as can the man from the back court. She is almost always in a crouch. The man in mixed should be considerate in this regard and avoid a style of play which will make her task more difficult. Like men's or ladies' doubles, mixed is a team game. Partners must complement each other and work to be greater than the sum total of two individuals. There is no room for the women's libber or the male chauvinist on the mixed court.