I have a 15yo boys pairing in the junior Club that are reasonable county standard. This year they move up into U17 category for the forthcoming season of events. They started together earlier this year and have done pretty well in the U15 events and also they play reasonably well against senior club players. The main problem arises with them maintaining the attack. Defenders drive shuttle back or hit from mid to mid/forecourt, eventually the rearcourt court player is deceived to cover cross-court leaving a huge hole straight down the line. This happens in the main where the rear court attacker is on their backhand side of the court in a channel attack formation. (ie if they attack straight down the line on the left side the right handed partner is in the rearcourt) Should I advocate that they try to set up instances where they only attack when the rearcourt attacker is on the forehand side? With this in mind then they should try to get themselves into a position where forehands are covering down the line on both sides and with both backhands down the middle.
This suggests to me that the front player is not cutting off the shuttle. Having the right handed smasher in the rear backhand corner with the leftie up front should actually be a good attacking position to be in as it forces the defenders to go cross court. The straight drives should theoretically be in the perfect place for the net player to kill it (ie their forehand). If the back player is forced to get the cross court, then the net player has to focus completely on getting the straight shots to cover the hole. He doesn't need to worry about about the cross court, as his partner is already there. Without watching them play, it sounds to me like they need to tweak their court positioning and communication. They may also be attacking down the line a bit too much. Wayne Young
I'd be concerned about trying to change things too much. I'd go with the approach of asking them about it during a practice match when you're able to interrupt things for a discussion. Ask them why the attack sometimes doesn't work when in that position. The net player needs to understand that he needs to take a slightly less aggressive position for covering the net when he believes his partner is having trouble getting to the smash on the backhand side. The back player has to recognize the angle of returns the net player is best positioned to get, and adjust his shots accordingly.
Yes I agree with you both. I dont want to change the basic formation in attacking. We need to work on court coverage similar when(two right handers or two lefties) the rearcourt player is pulled so far to one side that he will not be able to go back to the other side, the front player should angle feet to take crosscourt. This scenario seems to happen more often with left/right pairing. Maybe the front court player should leave the crosscourt alone unless its a forecourt or mid court shot, leaving the high crosscourt lift for his partner to take on his forehand. I guess we'll just have to practice and investigate. See what the players find best for themselves. Thanks for your help.
