Hi all. This weekend I'm playing my first XD tournament and it's 2 ranks up (i am in the D bracket, partner C1). I rarely play mixed at the club but I am aware of the fundamentals of XD play. The fine prints however, not. Do you guys/gals have some extra XD advice that is seldom thought of? My main goal is not to fail on things that should be known for XD. Winning matches will follow (I hope ).
depends on you and your partner's abilities... watch some of the recently just finished all england 2012 xd matches to get some ideas
hope this helps... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSO_sYT5L38&list=PLE95E9FD2D39A2214&index=7&feature=plpp_video
I'm assuming you're male, since that's what it says in your profile... It sounds like your partner is more experienced than you, so talk to her! Ask her what style of play she prefers, and do what she says. At C/D grade you'll see a lot of different styles; people won't always play "correctly", it's more important to understand how your partner is used to playing. Things you need to know: If the opponents flick serve to her, does she want you to cover the whole of the net, or play side by side? When you're returning serve, if you play an attacking shot, should you take the net or should you move back? If you're in a defensive position, will she move back and defend in a side by side formation, or will she stay at the net? Likewise, if you play a flick serve, where will she move? If she's just played a net shot at a front corner, and the opponent plays a crosscourt net shot, will she move across and try to play the next shot, or does she expect you to cover it? and ask her if she has any other advice for you.
Kwun: It's never too late . At our club we do play "mixed" but rarely like you would play on tournaments. something about recreational play . My partner is still in the C1 bracket but hasnt played in years so I'd say we are pretty even on skill. the only difference is that she used to ply a lot of mixd back in the days. Cheers Alex and Nivla for the hints. A nice example of "details" is the swap of sides when you serve high as shown in the youtube videos. We're going to do some last minute training this thursday and I'll be sure to get these thoughts across. I'm also watching some of the latest superseries mixed matches as Visor suggests. Besides, we have some more tournaments planned so we can learn from the beating we (might) receive .
