I am wondering what is the best way to position urself to receive a low serve for doubles. Im 6ft 2in, very tall, should a crouch down to have my racket head at about net height or should i still stand quite tall? I generally clear the low serve & i want to stop this, i want to attack on the return of serve. What way should i hold my racket in terms of grip, panhandle or forehand or something else? All help well appreciated.
Your racket head should be slightly higher than net height. You will need to crouch somewhat, with a wide side-on stance, your non-racket foot forwards and racket foot backwards. With your knees bent and leg muscles loaded, you can spring quickly forwards (low serve) or backwards (flick serve). Your weight should be somewhat forwards onto your non-racket leg. Because the low serve can come to either side, you must be flexible with your grip. You will need to change grip depending on where the serve comes, and which shot you want to play. A basic grip ("forehand" grip), held short (towards the cone) will allow you to change to panhandle or thumb grip ("backhand" grip). The basic grip angle is in the middle between these two grips. Start with a push downwards to load your leg muscles; this will make your forwards movement quicker. Take the racket straight to the shuttle without back-swing, changing your grip as you move it. This helps you take the shuttle early, allowing for better attacking options.
