this is a mens double tactic question: consider you and your partner are serving... you are at the back and your partner is serving. your partner serves low serve from the forehand court... the opponent places it between you and your partner and you being a right handed player have the bird on your backhand.... the bird is not a drop but is not high either... how do you respond? you cant smash it as it is lower than that and its not a drop so you dont have to clear? my opponents used very effectively and i want to be clear and ready for the next time!!!
This is a standard double reply, and your opponents are doing the right thing. The ways you can combat this are: -Get your partner to serve better. It may sound obvious, but if your partner is better at serving, then the opponent will not be able to hit down, and to make it drop between you and your partner will have to hit slower, which will allow you to hit higher and earlier or your partner to intercept and kill. If the receiver tries to hit harder, you can cover the back and be in control -Stand closer to your serving partner. This will mean you are closer to the shuttle. If you choose this you need to be confident of your partners serve though, otherwise a higher serve will just be driven past you. Also be confident of your ability to cover the rear court if the receiver just lifts over you to the back. -Stand to cover the side the receiver is at. If your partner is serving from the right. put your right foot on the centre line so you are slightly over to one side. The receiver is most likely to hit to this side, otherwise he will be hitting back into the serve, enabling an easier intercept. This agains requires you to be confident in your partners return -Improve your explosive footwork speed, so you can cover the shot better -Keep your racket at shoulder height and in front of you. Let your arms do the work. If your racket is by your side or you hit close to your body your body has to move further and you have less power. Keep your back straight but racket arms extended with non-racket arm counterbalancing. Doubles is a partership, and you must have confidence in your partner and know what they are trying to acheive and vice versa. The more you are confident in his ability the more you can alter your play to a specific pattern, which should lay a trap for the opposition.
return it fast (fast enough to get past the front opponent), straight (down the sideline), low and drop between them. Then move to the front (cut off any low middle shots) and your partner covers the back.
