Doubles formation & movement

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by nprince, Feb 19, 2010.

  1. nprince

    nprince Regular Member

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    In doubles, I commonly face a situation where I do not know which is the correct movement. Please see the attached images.

    When my partner goes back to the forehand rear court, I take a front attacking position expecting him to smash down the line. Instead, many club players do a straight slow drop. This is explained in Situaion.jpg

    Now I am in a dilema how to move. If my oponent reach early, he will play a net kill. Even if they are bit late, they have many attacking options.As sugested in option 1, If I move in to the net to cover tumle drop, they can crosscourt drop or push or drive to our back hand rear court which is empty

    As sugested in option 2, if I move away to the other court, many a times my partner do not recover fast enough to cover the net tumble.

    I know the easiest options are to tell my partner not to play this shot or change the partner. But always not easy when we are playing in a common club. Given the situations, what are the best & correct movement patern?

    In the images, 'A' is my partner, 'B' is where am and marked 'X' is where the shot was played.

    Thanks for your help
     

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    #1 nprince, Feb 19, 2010
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2010
  2. druss

    druss Regular Member

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    This is difficult to determine and depends on many factors. In most cases I'd suggest you stay at the front in an attacking position while taking a half step forward to get ready for a tumble drop shot return.

    The only time I'd say that you rotate as shown in the third picture is if your partner played the shot from mid court and is naturally moving forward anyway. His momentum can then carry him forward while you move backwards to cover the cross court lift. The biggest problem with this rotation would be a cross court drop shot, you need to watch for that.

    Keep in mind that you should always be fluid, never standing still, always try to anticipate without commiting too much.
     
  3. Sketchy

    Sketchy Regular Member

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    The most threatening shot your opponent can play in that situation is a straight net shot, so you should take a step towards the shuttle to cover that.
    If they play a cross-court net shot it has further to travel, so you should still be able to get to it.
    Similarly, if they lift to the back your partner will have plenty of time to get there too.
     
  4. mann68

    mann68 Regular Member

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    remember when your partner plays a dropshot from the back... your prime responsibilty is the net... once you have that under control you can help your partner other wise.

    if you go on youtube.. you will find three vedios by lee jae bok on attacking position, helping rear court player and helping forecourt player... it will solve all your problems!!!!

    do try it.
     
  5. staiger

    staiger Regular Member

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    My theory is that if he hit a good drop then , move forward like the first diagram , if not then it does not matter much
     
  6. paulstewart64

    paulstewart64 Regular Member

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    Good advice here.

    If your partner is taking a shot at the rear court, it's your responsibility to cover the forecourt and net area.

    Your job as the partner nearest the net is to put pressure on your opponents to force another lift or poor net return which you can kill.

    If you're in doubt what your role is, then perhaps that's giving your opponent the opportunity to play a net shot return. As other members have commented, you need to take a pace closer to the net to try and threaten this potential return.

    If your opponents decide to lift the shuttle again, it's your partners job to retrieve it and maintain the attack.

    By understanding your roles, you should remove any doubt or confusion regarding what you must do. Cover the net return to maintain the attack.

    there is one other thing to consider here. That is, ask your partner to vary their drop shot. sometimes dropping closer to the centre brings both your opponents into play as they go for the same shuttle. It can also cause confusion as they leave it for each other - nice, a cheap point. This also means you have reduced the angles they can hit. However, it does open up your backhand corner as a likely return so your partner needs to have recovered and moved into a central base in order to cover this likely return.

    Hope this helps.

    To your success.

    Paul
    www.badminton-coach.co.uk
     
  7. alexh

    alexh Regular Member

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    The problem is, if the partner's "drop shots" are too high and the opponents are playing net kills, then you don't want to be at the front, it's very unpleasant! If my partner kept playing such poor shots then I wouldn't go to the front, I would take up a defensive position crosscourt. (And I would have a few words to say to that partner...)

    It's not clear from the original post whether this is what's happening. If the drop shots are OK most of the time (or if the opponents are usually too slow to play the net kill) then Paul is right, you should be covering the net. But if your partner keeps setting up net kills for the opponents, then you give up any thought of winning those points and just look after your own safety.

    One thing to consider: when you move to the front, you shouldn't look behind you, but you should be able to hear what type of shot your partner has played. If it's a smash or a fast drop, then you can safely stay at the front. But if it's a slow drop (softer, quieter sound), you have about a second to adjust your position.

    I second the Lee Jae Bok youtube videos, they're very good.
     
  8. Dolphin

    Dolphin Regular Member

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    absolutely. you could get the opponents smashing the shuttle right into your eye. don't want that to happen!

    had this discussion with some friend on this issue some months back. in the end we agreed that if partner is playing such poor shots, better to lose the point by standing back a little than to risk losing an eye. it's just not worth it :cool:
     
  9. nprince

    nprince Regular Member

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    That says it all. I liked it. But the problem here is, something in between, drop returns are comparable to serve returns-some times net kill which I have nothing to do, sometimes, drops so close to the net which can easly be tumbled back and sometimes little faster which can be driven or pushed. My partners keep me guessing than our oponents! I am the person who is last to see which shot my partner has played.

    Thanks to all those who sugsted cover the net and forget all other replies. Let me try it next time and I will post the results.
     
  10. gamepurpose

    gamepurpose Regular Member

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    this is weird i thought i did have a question in this thread, anyway here goes again.

    My question would be this. If my opponent pop up the bird, right side, and it is just around in the middle of the big square or just a foot back. (anyway the point is it is not too far back. So if my partner smash, should I go in front? Or just stay still (side - side)
     
  11. alexh

    alexh Regular Member

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    No, and no. Your partner will be moving forward to take the smash, so it makes sense for them to keep moving forward and go to the front. You should rotate around to take the back of the court.
     
  12. staiger

    staiger Regular Member

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    This is how the system work,

    If he hit a poor/average- straight drop , then he should come to the net and lift the shuttle if he could he should lift it cross-court (I doubt he will have time to play it any other way) . You should then be in good position to cover your side, also this will give enough time for him to take a few steps back to cover his side .........p.s. I only know that because I had tips from some nice people here !!!!



    Anyway , ask your partner to stop messing about with drop , if he cannot perform a nice drop from the back then he should use it less often and go for the smash down the line !
     
    #12 staiger, Feb 22, 2010
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2010
  13. gamepurpose

    gamepurpose Regular Member

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    i'm not asking about front court smashing.
    Let's try to have a clearer picture, my partner is going to smash where usually we're always practice drive shot but like 1 foot further. Or how about, my partner is going to smash in the center of the big right square.
    where am i suppose to be? if that's happen
     
  14. gingerphil79

    gingerphil79 Regular Member

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    I find this awkward because unless it gets talked about or some1 shouts, front back, its hard to know what to do. At high level doubles, if it is half court shot and back players comes forward to smash it, he will usually keep coming in. and the other players moves to the back

    But at lower level doubles sometimes the players at the back who comes forward to smash will sometimes stay where he is at for a weak lift. This is when I find it hard whether to stay sides or move more to the back. I guess you just have to know your partners style of play and talk about it when it happens
     

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