Hi everyone, I was playing mixed doubles yesterday, and I am in the process of trying to develop a good mixed team with my partner, but I noticed, even against a considerably weaker pair, that there was a huge hole in our game. The problem is this, when I am serving the lady stands in front of me, and we play a traditional style set-up, but I find that if I serve standing near the front service line, I find it very difficult to retrieve deep drives to my backhand or forehand corners. Likewise if I stand a little further back when serving, I can't seem to reach the push shots to the middle of the tramlines and both sides of the court. I hope that I explained this properly. It is slightly easier when the lady is serving, but still the similar problem. Is there any suggestions that anyone can give me? Can I do something different? Can the lady do something different? Another problem I have which is sort of related is that I feel my backhand corner is often exposed (although my backhand is quite strong anyway), and I can't get around quick enough to hit the round-the-head forehand. Perhaps this is footwork or positioning? Any advice is appreciated, Thanks!
in front and back positionings, you would have to run a lot if you n ur partner dont switch positions. try to develop a semi-strong smash and a half-precise drop. It will aid you in your game. Also, when ur serving, if it's possible, have your partner stand in front of you with one foot in each side of the court. This way she will be able to get to net shots on both sides easier. And stand back about half way (slightly towards the front... ) inbetween the service box when serving... which basically puts you in the middle of the court YOU are responsible for Footwork wise, since your're playing the front bak position, you basically have to play singles with a shorter court. Make sure your steps are big enuff. dat's all i can think of now... i'm sure other pplz would have more better suggestions for you
matscam, from what you decribe: stand further back. and learn to serve tight from a mid court position. it is actually easier, standing further back allows the birdie to flatten out it projectile before reaching the net. the downside is that you are giving your opponent more time to react. but remember, usually guys moves up faster on the service return, but if he does, he is leaving a HUGE hole at the back court, a fast clear reply to his service return will catch him off position. pushes to the tramlines may or may not be the responsibility of the girl in front. obviously your opponents have the mixed game sorted out. the midcourt tramlines are the most vulnerable placement in mixed doubles. at a higher level, when you actually have the backward movement sorted out, then you can experiment standing further front. JChen's answer is good also, have the girl stand closer to mid-line. have her crouch down a little bit, as long as she is not blocking the view of the birdie, you guys are ok.
attacking the serve that is useful information to consider, thank you both. I will try the suggestions next time I play. Kwun, 1 interesting point you raised about the man attacking the serve, and then being vulnerable at the back. This same thing happened to me, I attacked the serve, and if the opponents made an attacking clear over my head, it was very difficult to return it unless I was able to intercept the attepted clear early. Have you any thoughts about this?
Re: attacking the serve I'm no expert, but on mixed doubles short service reception, I would personally take one of the following options: 1. If the opponent's serve is poor, pounce and kill it, making sure it doesn't come back. If it does happen to come back, it should be a very weak return so you can kill it again. If you're quite competitive, then channel your attack at the opposing lady. It's not exactly "liberal" but hey, every competitive mixed player does it. 2. If the serve is decent but you correctly anticipate it, lunge forward and push it flat to the mid court sides. Preferrably to your forehand sideline of the opposing court so that a straight drive return will be to your forehand. However, don't lunge with all your weight forward, more of a half lunge, with your lead leg remaining forward, so that your weight is more evenly distributed but slightly more front. So that as soon as you contact the shuttle you can easily push off and get your butt to the back half of the court. 3. If the serve is decent but you correctly anticipate it, lunge forward with the half-lunge (as in option 2), this time tap-dropping the shuttle tightly to the sides of the front court, preferrably to the opposite side that the lady is standing on. Also as in option 2, as soon as you make contact, push off with the lead leg and move your butt to the back half of the court. 4. If the serve is awesome or you just sat there and waited for it, clear it to their backhand (high/fast enough to get past the lady but low enough that the man has to move fast to get there in time to smash), then get your butt mid court on the side you served on and anticipate an attack. If your opponents are really good then scenario 1 probably won't happen very often. And scenario 4 hopefully won't happen too often as well. Scenario 2 and 3 occur most frequently to me so those are basically the two options I personally take, with variation only if the instance requires it. Again, I'm no expert so I don't know if these are truly the "best" things to do.
matscam, unless you have lightning speed to the backcourt, or if you are very sure that the rush to the net can create a BIG advantage to your side, or if you have a really strong girl who can cover the back, then i suggest not rushing the service. instead don't rush all out, just do one step forward and fast push to the tramlines or straight down the center of the court, or do a *tight* net drop. even so, after you execute the return, immediately go back and cover the back. if your girl is a good girl, then she will know to cover up the front... mixed is pretty fun, isn't it? mixed is my favorite event.
ok, thanks again everyone. perhaps I will hold off on the all-out attacks unless I know for sure the serve is poor. The only thing, being left-handed, standing on the right hand side to receive serve, and I push it to make the opponent make the shot to my (left) forehand side, surely this would mean I would have to make a cross court push? - which is a bad idea I think. Should I only push flat or straight on receiving serve? How can I make the opponent play a shot to my forehand? (p.s does that make any sense?) > mixed is pretty fun, isn't it? mixed is my favorite event. Kwun, yeh, I love mixed, when I first started playing, the club I went to had twice as many women as men, so I got to play mixed a lot, although after that I didn't play so much. Now that I have a steady partner I want to improve the game.
Hmmm I don't know about you but I stand 1'-1.5' or so to the service "T", regardless of which side I receive serve. So when I move to contact a short serve that's aimed at the T, I'm almost at the middle line of the court. Standing practically at the middle... there is no cross court. In the odd case that the opponent serves to the outside of the service area, I happily drop tight, push midcourt, drive, or attack clear it, straight down the alley. It's their loss putting themselves at such a disadvantage where I'm standing at their alley with 4 possible shots and they're still standing behind eachother in the middle line of the court. If they move too early to anticipate the alley I make a fast shot cross court. Either way I see it as an opportunity for my team to get on the offensive. So the way I receive serve it wouldn't matter whether I was left or right handed.
I am a left-hander myself and when I play mix-double, if I am serving from the right, I usually stand mid-court, w/ lady in front, and serve a little bit closer to my right side to cover any possible return to my backhand since I can reach forehand much easier. Serving from the left is the same thing, except the lady ducks so I am able to serve and still remain relatively close to midline. In mix-doubles, it's pretty much all about placement of shots. I've learn not to be too aggressive as that will sometime send you to the fore-court and leave the back either un-covered or covered by a weaker-female counterpart. Just play positioning like you would with any other doubles game and try to distrupt opponents' rhythm and formation by hitting the four corners. Well, so far that's worked fairly well for me, I actually find it easier to serve when playing mix-double like Kwun said since the trajectory is different.
I totally agree with placement. Be aggressive only if needed but accuracy and placement plays a very important part of a mixed game. Attack the weaker player, which most of time is the lady player (not always though
When you're serving, you would stand farther back than in men's doubles. Because the opponents have more time to see the serve coming, the short serve absolutely must be low, which should be easier to do because of you being farther back. Serves should be made to the center line so the return will have to be hit back close to the center, thus making it a little easier to get to the sides or back corners in time. After you serve, don't wait to see how good it is, get immediately into your ready position (let your follow-through take you right into your stance). In mixed, the man must be able to get back into either back corner and hit down and at least somewhat hard. A good backhand is probably more important for the man in mixed than the other events. If I'm receiving a man's serve, that's the first thing I test by pushing it deep into the corner. Lifting in mixed is more dangerous than in doubles and should be avoided if at all possible. A flick serve should only be used against the man to surprise him or if he consistantly rushes the net. On the other hand, a flick serve to a lady can work very well. If you have a partner who can get back and smash flick serves, block crosscourt drives, serve well, and play the net well, do whatever it takes to keep her! There is so much to say about mixed. It's the most challenging of the events and there's a real art to playing it well. I enjoy it and it used to be my best event, but I hardly ever get to play it anymore because of a shortage of ladies. My wife is a great mixed player, but she's been having elbow problems.
absolutely agree with californian about serving short to the man and high flick to the woman. This way you disrupt the original formation and switch their role for the first couple of rallies, which should be enough to decide the point. Should also definitely avoid the service wide since opponent can lift to the respective corners and that is trouble for you to get to.
with serving, I almost always serve short to the man, and flick to the women depending on how good smash she has got. My serving is normally quite consistent, although if I serve from slightly further back, then I will have to practise it is bit more. Although if I flick serve to the women, what tactics would you suggest to try and keep the woman 'pinned' to the back? and the man at the front?
You don't need to keep the man pinned at the front. The object is to play strokes that give you an advantage to win the point. For example, you play a stroke that has forced the women to the back, then you hit to the front to make her run, stretch and then play a weak lift/error. Similarly you can pull the man forward, and do fast drives cross court or downward pushes to the midcourt area. He may well be off balance and then play a weak shot. Again the object is to change to the game so that you have an easier chance of making the winning stroke.
Probably the trickiest part of mixed is how to defend when the bird is lifted. There are different possibilities, depending on the relative skills of all the players. What are your experiences and tactics for this? My wife and I developed a modified side-by-side defense that roughly split the court diagonally. She would back up into the crosscourt side and position herself slightly towards the center of the court on her side. I would be responsible for straight-ahead smashes and all deep shots, so my territory was from midcourt to back. Her responsibility was for crosscourt smashes and all drops, so her territory was from midcourt to front. We would shift laterally in the direction of the lift to help cover the weakest point of that formation, which was against a good straight ahead drop.
Cali, please read this great article on mixed defense... http://www.badmintoncentral.com/badminton-central/techniques/mixed-doubles-defense.php the diagonal defense is one that i use often with my partners as well. that particular defense is one of the aspect of mixed which makes it a different game than regular doubles. eg. when serving high, normal doubles, you will just back up. mixed, you have to go cross court. when a guy is lifting, never lift cross court, when a girl lifts, always lift cross court.
yes I have read that article on mixed defense, problem is getting it to work in the real situation, but I haven't had time to try it too much, only read it yesterday although I am trying to avoid lifting at all costs, is just gets us into too much trouble, I have played too much of a lifting game in mens doubles, because I felt my defense was strong, but now I can't get out of the habit of lifting
I play doubles with a friend of mine, and when we use a full court we each have 1 side of the court and if the shuttle cock comes to e.g. my side I hit it back etc but if she's at the back of the court and the opposition hits it to the front iI'll shout 'its mine' or whatever then i'll get it. orwhen we're playing with half a court one takes the back and the other takes the front when the shuttle goes to the back the player at the front will bend over giving room for me to hit it back. hope that helps
I tend to play lots of mixed doubles at the moment, like the others have said; stand further back when serving - about a meter back from the T works for me. Vary your serve if your shorts serves are getting rushed try a flat drive at your opponents face for example or a deep flick to the backhand. Have your partner aware if your going to serve wide so she can cut off the tramline return. Be prepared to rush in yourself to either help your partner out with a return on drop or to kill a weak return.
