Playing with unexperienced double's partner

I got a partner that couldn't play at all, his smashes and clears were weak so I tried switching strategies but he had slow movement to play at the front too. Right now, I just hand him advice and just let him practice. He will slowly get better at playing unless he ignores whatever you says.

 

Give him time and always make agreements with him in the intervall or after the rallys. Give him the feel that you are a team and try to get the best out of it. It's better to make a climate that you are both equal than a teacher and student atmosphere. He won't be able to transfer everything for the next few games. You must be patient and always keep cool. Everyone start small. Often a simple yeel of "me", "you", "front", "side by side" can help alot and support him. Remind him quite when he forgot something. That's the hard way but can lead to a good partnership and become good friends.
Much easier is to look for a different partner. A good doubles player. But even with such a person you will have sometimes to make small agreements. Every partnership needs efforts and work.

 

And since you also added about "SUPER bad technique", what I would say is just try to correct him, he will get better sometime soon :=

 

You asked what should we do, not what should I do. That is a good start because it suggests you are happy to work on the partnership and don't resent it.

(1) Be patient. You cannot dump experience into someone like filling a bottle. He will need time to discover doubles for himself.

(2) Don't give too much advice during games. Maybe don't give any advice during games. There is too much to concentrate on, and it will make him feel pressured. But you can compliment him when he does something well during a game.

(3) Gently offer some suggestions after games, or even when you are having a drink at the bar. When there is some empty court space, go through the basics of doubles positioning with him. Listen to him when he asks questions. Try to understand and acknowledge his point of view rather than just dismissing it as wrong.

Above all, be constructive and sympathetic, and be patient. Good luck.

 

A weak smash with good angle and placement is not so bad than a strong smash with bad angle and bad placement. Clears should be played rarely and only under pressure to give you time to recover. You can switch to mixed doubles tatics if he is ok with this.
You should also count in that he might be slow at the net, but if your drops and smashs have a bad placement there is no wonder that he will struggle if he is slow. Especially when he stand in the middle of the frontcourt and you smash and drop mostly to the sides he must cover a bigger area at the net due the bigger angles of possible returns. If you play alot in the middle of your opponents court you bring him better into the game if he stands in the front and he has to cover a smaller area at the net for possible returns.

 

This helps a lot. Recently I started playing in a club and I can't quite compete with the stronger players eventhough I like to try. Last time I played with 3 reasonably experienced players (5-7 years of practice) and first game we lost with 5-21 but my partner kept giving me pointers on both my technique and positioning and I improved a lot that game. Second game we lost with 17-21 and the third with 20-22. Felt like quite an achievement considering I've been playing for approx 4 months.

 

1. place him in the front first, you at the back
2. make some agreement regarding when to switch to front-back and left-right position.
3. Make some agreement on who takes the ball, especially those which are aimed to the middle.

the yells of yours, mine, you left, you front, me right, me back, pass (to leave the shuttle) are very helpful.

and again, after the game, discuss politely and give short pointers

 

Placing your weaker partner at the front is IMO a bad attitude and a no-go. Your partner won't learn any positioning for doubles, will only do limited strokes the whole time and will maybe become a better net player, but will never improve overall. Also you tell him indirect that you don't take him serious and respect him as your equal partner. That's especially for a man very abasing. Even women don't like to be unloved appendage in a game. You must be patient and sensitive and play with him like a MD pair do. It's not easy and you will lose alot of games, but that's IMO the better way. These front-back positioning works only for beginners when they play against beginners. Better player won't do this, because it's not effective in all situations and good players have skill, tactics and good placement to bring you both in trouble to make the point.

 

Sometimes you must do it, otherwise you'll be frustated and never have a good game. it's the best thing tactically to do if you want a chance to have a good game and win.

About bad attitude, I think that's not the case. If the partner is willing to learn, then train and do some drills, or use the match as a practice, not a lose-win match and discuss things after the match.

about the tactical stuff, I also was paired with someone whose doesn't know doubles positioning. The thing I had to do is yell where my partner should be . left, right, back, front, yours, mine. These 6 words are massively helpful, although you could be out of breath to shout them.

but in my experience, your partner will know and be used to doubles dormation and rotation after some time so even you don't shout the words, he will know what to do.

 

It's difficult. If your opponents know or notice that you are both at very different levels, they will be focused on your weaker partner. Especially when your positioning don't run like a well oiled machine, they will notice situations to force you to a weak return or make a direct point.
Without knowing these situations of your game and anything about your partner it's pretty impossible to give an advice. Do you know when you get in trouble with him? When does he struggle? Are there always the same or equal situations when you opponents make points?
The best thing is to start against weaker opponents to get some routine. Their game won't be so demanding. Forget tournaments and league games. No chance to win.

 

i think it is bad..

in my club nobody places the beginner at the net, no matter how big the skilldifference!
doubles formations is no science! every beginner can learn the basics quickly so that placing at the net and even commanding him all over the court is a bad choice in my view! even more so when its just leisuretime games anyway!

women also most of the time have more fun with leveldoubles play so we just play leveldoubles unless a pair (both of them) wants to practice mixeddoubles

 

I never said it will be easy. I mentioned before that it's more comfortable to play with a good player. To have a good game depends on your strength of your opponents. If they are advanced players and you are an advanced player and your partner is a beginner, you will never have fun and a chance to win. You must look for weaker opponents to get the right balance of strength to have a good game. The best games are the tight ones. No one want to lose 9:21, 6:21 and no one want to win with ease. With your advice you can do one or two games with a friend or a weak club mate but this type of pairing will never grow and will always loose if the strength are balanced. It's a short time solution but nothing to work on.
And somebody who plays tournaments or league games with a far weaker partner is just stupid. Or what do you mean with these lose-win matches?

 

Hard to come with advice here unless you tell us more about your individual strenghts and weaknesses.

For instance if you have a good smash-defence while his is not so good, you must remember to always lift straight and never cross. This will minimize the risk that they will smash at your partner and even if they do, the shuttle has to travel a longer distance.

You can also encourage him to follow his own drops and smashes to the net, which is a pro-active move and it gives you charge of the back court.

 

As this is training matches, you have to teach him to move properly.
What else?