Playing Mixed rules with a bad partner

I think David means that both he and his partner are men, but because his partner isn't very strong (probably can't clear to the back of the court), it might be better if they adopt mixed-doubles formation/tactics, with the weaker partner playing the role of the woman - and he's asking if that's okay.

 

This is a difficult matter. Personally I wouldn't ever tell them to play in that way. I think you did the right thing by NOT telling them to play "mixed" tactics.

If they started to edge towards the net, leaving me to defend smashes, I would not tell them to do otherwise, unless they kept getting hit by the smashes! In this sense, they have chosen to be a more front court player, I would simply let them carry on playing there.

On the other hand, i have known guys ask me if they can stay at the front, and let me cover the rear and midcourt, because that way we have a better chance of winning the game. Once again though, this was their own choice.

However, there is nothing worse than being told to play at the front. If they are not very experienced, I will offer them advice on some simple things they can do to help their game i.e. hitting it straight, using faster shots instead of slower shots etc. However, I will also trust them completely to cover the court as I would expect a competent partner to do. This way you respect your partner, accept they are practising. They are learning. It is GOOD for them to HAVE to cover the correct areas of the court. It is the only way for them to understand badminton properly. At the same time, I can encourage them to hit cross court lifts for example, to ease the defensive burden on themselves.

If the game was competitive, then things might be different e.g. if its a match I have to win. But then, hopefully the other person will agree to playing a more game where I take more of the shots.

The final thought I will offer, is that making them stand towards the front when they are not so good, is going to destroy their confidence in many cases. Why can't they play the back court equally with you? Probably because they can't cope with the pace of the game - struggle to move back in time etc. So putting them at the front makes this problem 10 times worse, because now shuttles will come at them so quickly and we will expect them to get to an awful lot. It takes MORE skill to play the front of the court as a lady would in mixed doubles, than to play "normal" doubles, so I think making them play this way is counter productive, UNLESS they choose it.

Hope this helps.

 

I was on the receiving end once. I was having a horrendously bad day and everything was way off. The partner just demanded that I stay up front and don't ever go backwards. It did not sit well for me as I was already quite fed up with my performance. I proceeded to just cut everything into the net or lift half court to end the game.

It's a surefire way to have your partner feel worse than he is doing and in my case will just totally sabotage the game. Not too good to have your own partner setting up the play for the opponent.

I will not do this even with female partners. Most of the time, I'll encourage them to move forward but if they want to play square, so be it. It's just a game.

 

That happen to me when i first started playing (playing front court women postion). and i would agree that it doesn't help develop the game of the beginner. However to be honest, neither will stepping on court against 3 other players who are significantly better than them. So unless they are good friends, i think its quite selfish of the beginner to request to play against advanced players over and over.

I'm not saying this as an elitist, i am intermediate at best. I can sometimes see the boredom on the 3 ppls faces when a beginner steps on court , and they are just being nice and keep lifting the shuttle over and over instead of playing their normal game, which would usually result in ending the rally instantly.
Really i think the beginner is just wasting the time of the 3 other players.

Unless its some understandable circumstances, like a busy night and your club only has a few courts. Or everyone in the club is experienced and they really have no other people to play with. This situation shouldn't be happening.

I think it would be more respectful if one plays with people that are within their level and only once in a while test themselves against the better players.

So the solution i would say is , introduce them to the people you think are their level, most people would probably appreciate that gesture, the ones that get offended are usually selfish or fail to see the situation from other peoples perspective.

 

Personally, if I'm playing with someone who's obviously stronger than me, I don't mind them asking me to play mixed style. The only condition is that they actually have to understand mixed tactics! I've had this work well with two partners. But I had one person who could smash more powerfully than I could, but his serve was terrible. So mixed didn't work in that case--the drive to his backhand was a winner every time.

(I'm not talking here about asking beginners to play mixed. Doubles is already confusing enough for a beginner. I mean something like a B grade player partnering an A grade player.)

By the way, playing mixed does NOT mean that one person stays at the net 100% of the time, and it shouldn't be boring for the front player if it's done properly. Asking your partner to stay at the net while the opponents are smashing is definitely bad form. You should make sure you actually know what you're doing before you tell your partner how to play!

 

The problem we are faced with here, is that for the player who is the "lady", he will have to be, in my opinion, even MORE skilled to pull off this tactic, than simply playing regular doubles. I agree, the player is not at the net all the time, but unless your partner who is "worse" is amazing at the net - and remember they are unable to play level doubles - i.e. not able to hold their own half court, they will probably be so confused by these different rules and tactics, which are so different from what they NEED to learn, is it worth them attempting to play as a lady in mixed doubles tactics? My view is that to play mixed doubles well, the lady has to be spectacular, whilst the man can be average. Probably wont be the case that they "weaker player" will be able to be that good?

I agree in principle, that mixed is not weaker than level and that you are most certainly not always at the net, but to pull it off I believe the player at the front must be even more skilled!

 

True. But I've met club level players who are "weak" in the sense that they don't have enough power from the back of the court--they can't clear full length, or smash effectively--but are still intelligent, fast, and very skilled at net play. I'll grant that it doesn't happen often, but it's possible.

 

Absolutely true...I think playing the net requires more skills and control. I'm the back-court player because of my smashes and stronger backhand, but always make the net player feel they are the ones that are more skilled(which is true), and I depend on them to set up for the smashes by causing lifts. The net player is the one who finishes off the weak returns from the smashes. I admit I'm terrible at the net, and always appreciate a great net player.