HELP: MEN Doubles Strategy advice

mann68,

It seems that all the best advices (tactics and skills department) have been covered in this thread.

I'd like to add another department, that is, the psychological department.

Keeping your attacking position is correct. However, continuous smash could take its toll as this will get you tired immediately. Maybe you're trying "too hard".

It's like, in your mind, you have to go "attack, attack, attack!" And then, after a while, you think, "Oh no! My smash can't penetrate their defence. Man! They have good defence. I can't kill the rally! It's so hard. I'm already tired. I must keep on smashing harder. I must vary the phase. I must push, drive, drop, and then smash again. I must be deceptive."

And then, you hit a weak smash, the attacking position goes to opponent, and then you think, "I have to convert our defensive poition. I must push or drive or drop their attack". And then KILL! You lose the rally. The point goes to them.

I was once partnered with a Thai player, who is by the way superb. His shots are very simple. Nothing fancy. But we won! During that match, I was trying too hard. He said that I should take it easy. Relax. Don't think too much. Make simple shots. It worked.

Maybe your prolem is not only your skills and tactics. Maybe it's the mind set.

 

Can you elaborate on this point? The front attacker if standing in the correct position should be putting these away or at least forcing a weak return.

If your opponents are not blocking to the net then maybe you should try a sides attacking formation so that you can share the workload of smashing. As soon as they start to block to the net you'll have to change to front & back.

 

I totally agree with Venkatesh. Sometimes it is all in your mind set and you end up trying too hard-Instead, use your brain and play a smart game which may work.

 

just posting for the feed

great tips ... already have been putting many to use b4 i read this particular thread... just got to be more efficient and learn to play more 'simple' shots more often.

& something u prolly shouldn't do all that much (do sometimes if it works any):
try forcing the opponent's front player to have to play shots... push it with just enough pace to get it behind him but land before the back player. force them to have to play shots with their arm more extended, forcing weaker replies.

im not at any high level at all, just local club. i say that some 'defense' looking shots (ie. attack clears or drives) may help lots to reset yourselves depending on the situation in rallies and/or if you're starting to get out of position with faster rally exchanges. sometimes try focusing on just moving one of them around... it's bound to make a gap at some point, even if you have to take the shuttle early by blocking, it still moves them front and back in addition to the usual side to side.

don't always have to go by the book... the pages are flexible.

 

interesting thread. mann68, be sure to post what happens in your next match against your nemesis. more important than the result will be whether you are able to break your opponents' rhythm... at least they'll know they can't just do the same thing all the time to upstage you

 

Awesome! Great to hear!
Talk about upset in the 2nd and 3rd games!

So, now you know as long as you place your shots tactically, whether pushes, drives, drops, or smashes, you will make them run and when they give a weak return, kill time!

Did the opponent team say anything to you after the game?

 

Congratulations! It seems that the match was tough, especially that you're still using the old scoring system.

I'm glad the tips given here worked for you. But what I'm most amazed about is your come back from 11-3. That shows a great strength of nerve, which brings me back to my point, it's in the mind set. If you're going to read your post, you were the one who came up with the strategy of exploiting the tall player's weakness. The difference this time is that you're psychologically prepared. Amazing.

Tomorrow's my tournament. Wish me luck.

 

fantastic. was getting a bit worried that the deluge of information was too much to digest but looks like you and partner went one better - you could think on your feet to change the tide of the rubber. may this be another step to move your game up to the next level

 

Congratulations!
I am sure, this is a great thread which could help many. Thank you Mann for starting this.
...

 

You blow yourself out. Dont keep smashing. As my grandad always said if you've smashed twice, don't smash a third time because you'll most likely put it into the net. Instead do a drop shot and let them pick the shuttle up which gives you time to regroup and have another go at smashing.

 

I do not agree with you...

I do not agree with that. If you are playing high level of doubles, smashes are the way to go. There is no thump rule that you third shot will not be a smash. Many a times, we smash 4 or 5 times continuously to maintain the attack and bring the front player in to play. A predicatable drop shot spoils all your hard work on 3 or 4 smashes.

Instead use drop shots only when your smashes are so effective that your opponents are far back in a defensive stand, if not as a sudden change of pace which can catch your oponents of guard.

When my oponents are smashing, I always look for their body languages and any hint of fatigue, I wait for the drop shot which I can counter attack.

 

If their return is really good then smashing continuously may not be the best option. However, if you're on the attack with a good smash, no reason not to smash way more than 2 or 3 times in order to push your opponents further back. It only works if you have the energy though.

 

I'm so happy that you and your partner get along with your tactics.

I just lost a competition yesterday. The main reason is my partner kept lifting. He said the opponents' defences were too strong. He wasn't patient enough.

I couldn't impose my strategy because he's the better player (skillwise). He doesn't listen to me. He likes to partner with me because he says we have good rotation/chemistry on court. The problem is, he doesn't believe that doubles is an attacking game, thus, the lift. The worst part is, I'm being blamed for our loss.

 

That's pretty much the problem I have with some of my partners. With some partners, it's pretty much all attacking and we have no problem complementing each other. With others, they tend to slow down the game and try to outwit the other opponents, which doesn't really jive with me.
But we just try to adjust the games as best we can.

If your partner in the tournament is your fixed partner, you probably should try to get advice from a third person to objectively analyze your game and give advice on who's making the mistake or who should be changing their game.

I find it's pretty impossible to be in the game yourself and comment on the game. Very easily becomes a blaming game.

 

I'm not sure if KKK and TBH also have such a Plan A, B and C, but if you try looking at some of their games, the change in strategy is quite obvious in some of the matches. But probably at their level, they can execute all Plan A, B and C equally well, so it's not much of an issue. Just a matter of using which strategy against which type of opponents.