How common is this problem? I play in the UK at some reasonable clubs, a little under county standard, I'd say. And there are very few players when they are at the front of attacking formation that move away from the T, no matter how deep you are in a corner. This frequently ends up with this scenario: I straight smash (tram-lines/body), returned, block/push I then have to clear the shuttle from knee-high if the blocker has any sense and followes in. Isn't it quite basic positioning? To play the net player in, I am going to playing a straight smash/drop so why do very few people move away from the centre line - especially when shuttle is on our backhand side?
maybe your partners are lazy. or maybe your smashes are ineffective that if your partner covers straight, your opponents can easily flick cross.
AT decent club standard they should be covering this. A Common lower level problem is players who just want to get to back and smash, don't cover straight net.
I think you should talk to the partners that you play with and don't confront, but ask why they play the front court the way they do. Give them suggestions as to how you play and how you would like your partner to play. If you expect your partner to cover the front court off smashes, tell them. Ask them what they want you to do when you play. Communication is key and if you really want to perform as a doubles partnership, this is very important. If you don't stick with the same person the whole time, it just gives you more reason to find different ways to play with your partner. Take the leadership in a partnership but know you can only give suggestions, you can't control others. That last point about control had nothing to do with your post in anyway, just thought I should mention.
If you smash at your opponent's body, then your partner should be able to intercept--then it's his/her issue. However, if you smash towards the tram-lines, that strategy is not the best in getting your front player involved (at any level). IMO, one only smashes towards the tram-lines when he/she thinks the point can be won with that smash outright. Hope this makes sense. Cheers
I've got the same problem. Most guys don't like being the front player. They think it's more cool to be the smasher. What a lame idea.
or sometimes, they are just lazy to move around the court also, being a front player oyu need to be very agile, moving half step back then front or side to side a bit, some front front players just really are stuck in the center and not movin
This, or even to the centre of the middle-court, making sure it is not a cross-court smash as it limits the replies of your opponent.
i like to play at front and back too..who wanna be my partner? i 100% sure that you will like to play with me
Because, simply speaking, most people get told to do front-back formation when attacking. I can imagine most people would stand at the T to cover both sides equally and because they haven't learnt to cover one side more preferentially than the other. I have to agree with a previous poster of questioning why you do smash down the tram lines if your partner is at the 'T'. The straight return from this is not exactly easy for most people at the net. Since you are the one hitting the shuttle, you are the one with the choice of shot and should be creating the opening for your opponent. Playing a full smash from the deep corners is probably a shot to be used judiciously. After you play such a shot, your court is opened up tremendously to the opponents. No point in expecting your partner to cover all the open areas.
Another thing to be considered is when pushed to the corners and forced to play a straight shot is to rotate follow in your smash. i like playing front but do find it difficult if partner hits a very wide smash. I don't like straying too far away from the t as then become vulnerable to the cross court reply especially when smashing wide to their forehand side. yeah and it does annoy me how many males and females i know dont like playing at net Me and a regular female partner of mine regularly beat numerous male pairing whos sum of abilities are better than ours (ie they are both better than us at singles) because they have weaker net skills and play less as a team.
You mention how you like playing the front but don't like your partner playing wide smashes. You then go on to say you dislike being pulled away from the "T" as you have to hit a wide smash to the opponents forehand.Don't hit the wide smash, you could straight smash to the side of the body closer to the centre line.
Sorry jonster my bad english. I was referring to my partner smashing. My usual response as a front player is to move slightly away from the t and if the opponent blocks straight to net i do a leaping backhand drop shot to try to intercept it, better players could probably backhand smash some of the shots that i just drop.
I played the other night and this new partner of mine was too lazy to cover the front court. After smashing from the very rear court, I had to run to the net to cover the straight block. This has been repeated several times. In the end, I got lazy covering for the straight block. Actually, I got lazy the entire succeeding games. Might as well get it over with and start a new match with a new partner.
if i was you...i will just drop that shuttle..why bother to smash,your opponent can easily to block it..just wasting your energy..
I can understand your frustration. I agree that the front player must move to the side of the court the back player is smashing from, this will narrow the angle of return and allow continuous smashing and pressing leading to winners. In fact, the front player must be very alert to know where the back player is. If back player is smashing 3 quarter court , front plyr must go nearer to net. If back plyr is smashing at baseline, front plyr must move slightly beyond T. He must hv a sensing of every minute, where his back court partner is , so that he can make the appropriate adjustment to keep the attack going. But most time intermediate players hv the impression that just standing alert at T will do.
I have a practical advice. Try playing the front position yourself intentionally during practice/matches and see what type (& location) of smashes from your partner result in replies that are tough/easy for your to intercept. For those who play mainly at the back, sometimes they lack the appreciation of what the front player feels in different situations. At the end, you win/loss as a team, and you need to take into consideration what your front playing partner "want" as well. After a certain level, it is tough to win points outright from the back (via smashing/drops), so the goal is to set up an easy kill for your front partner. Hence you need to empathetic to what the front player wants when you smash.
In front/back formation, your partner has to follow your side to side movement to stay in-line with the shuttle trajectory. When you smash, he has to understand that the faster he can get to the shuttle, the less lateral amplitude his movement will have to be. There is nothing more manly to like one role over the other, in fact, if you looks at a match, you will see that the front player has the winner much more often than the rear player. The rear player initiates the attack, and the front player just finishes it. Depending on your partner's height, when you initiate the attack from the rear, he should find a spot about 12-18 inches behind the T and put himself in-line with where the shuttle is going, once he sees the shuttle pass by, he should step towards the shuttle to intercept a flat return or a drop at it HAS to be coming from that direction. It is a mathematical game at that point. One mental image that really helps me is this: I always move as much as possible while the shuttle is going away from me so I can move as little as possible when the shuttle is coming at me... One possibility is that your opponent will go for a very wide angle trick shot on a long net-net diagonal, but the shuttle will be in the air and so flat for so long that the front, or even the rear player in some cases, should be able to get to it and kill it or just leave it at the net. Checkmate for your team at that point. Hope this helps, T.