When my partner (female) serve(short serve) from left to right to our opponent (male). The guy did a drive flat and fast to my backhand side (shot land on the back court alley). What are my best shot selection? And where should I hit it to. Thanks in advance for all the advice!
if on a service return, he is able to drive the shuttle back to you, it means either two things: 1) he has to rush forward to get to the shuttle early. in this case, he is off position and the rear court is wide open. in this case, your best shot, and almost always end up to your advantage, is a fast drive / fast flat clear to his forehand rear court. 2) you have a poor service. practice your service. and one more point: 3) if he is able to do a flat drive, your partner should be able to cut it off.
I suggest that you tell your partner to do flick serves once in a while to make the guy hesitant in rushing her serve. If she doesn't know how to do an effective flick serve, tell her to practice it.
if he hits to your backhand, hit back a STRAIGHT backhand shot push , if u have the power all e way to the back, if not, just play it safe and just to the center would be good enough. don't play a cross court as the shuttle requires more time to travel but instead keep it simple and straight. Most probably he would return with his forehand a desperate high shot to back. what do u do? ans: you do a cross court push not smash down. OR, he would do a low cross court shot, where it's your female partner's job to just net e shuttle back.
Try these returns if you can.See diagrams.Also if your service is rising as it crosses the net you will always face this dillema from a good receiver.
Sorry Bighook, nice diagrams, but I believe the flight path of your "good" service is quite impossible, at least on Earth. The flight path shows the apex of the shuttle is reached before crossing the net and the angle of the shuttle after the apex is shallower than the initial angle which is quite impossible, unless gravity has been reduced. I think moving the net in your "bad" sevice diagram to the right, under the apex or very slightly to the right of the apex would show the best short serve possible. You should also draw the service line on the ground where the shuttle should be dropping.
Your probably right but all the diagrams are done with just the paint function.My point being if your serve is still rising as it crosses the net the flat or downward returns are possible which freezes the server and puts immense pressure on the partner to make any decent return.I admit it is an exageration but sometimes this is a better way to make the point.I don't have a digital camera at the moment so this will have to suffice.If you wish to draw a better picture be my guest.
Thanks for all your help. Bighook: The flat drive actually land at the back court and is a mixed double game, so I doubt that the "F" player will go all the way back there for that shot. I think my two options are either a straight drive to the back court or do a cross court drop(but it will be difficult to do). Kwun: I have told my partner to cut off that drive, but it seems that she can't cut it off. Also, she is serving not me. But good info, i am thinking of the same thing (do a backhand drive either to mid court or back court). Thanks again for all the help. Btw: I just finished a tournament the past weekend and I still have the same problem.
One simple tactic that the two of you can adopt is for your partner to raise her racquet and follow the serve into the net (one step should do it). She may not be able to get the third shot, but that action would probably limit the angle of your opponent's returns. But do this only if she is confident of taking a net shot to either corners should your opponent change his mind.
attacking clear! If you return his service return with a straight drive, you may find it difficult to get it past him since he has just pushed straight and he's on that half of the court. Kwun said it right I think: if he really is rushing it, you have to get it over his head with a fast clear. Of course, there's no one shot that will do the trick, the hard thing is adapting to the situation each time...
The returns I listed in the diagram are still valid.The point of contact would just be closer.If the (M)man rushes forward to drive the serve to that corner he is generally overextended at the net . This leaves the (F) female player to cover the drive return straight to the back corner.If not then the serves are staying high allowing the man to stay back hit the shot and cover the backcourt as well.Many male mixed players will put pressure on the woman server if she isn't a consistent server and to make her nervous.To do this he must trust his partner to cover that possible opening if his drive return isn't a winner or forces a return directly back to him to finish with.It is often a worthwhile gamble.
i agree with bighook. if you look at your scenario from your opponent's perspective, your opponent opens up a vulnerability by attacking you. when i play mixed, i am always cautious not to rush attack the male player on a service return, as all he has to do is to clear the shuttle over my head and puts me into a huge disadvantage.
So if the female player moves all the way to the back court to cover my drive or clear to the rear court. Wouldn't they be out of rotation and i guess the female palyer has to be a strong player too, since she have a difficult shot to hit? I guess that won't be my concern either, since this is my advantage. But i do agree with the fast clear to the back cout is the most effective way to get me out of trouble.
does the shot land in the box in the bottom left sidelines? if so, i think you can just about hit it forehand (maybe over the head shot needed)? If the angle is too great, and you can't get across, then surely the shuttle doesn't land as far back as the back line....and so a straight backhand lift to the lady player should work.
