Hey all, I have a question about the positioning of the serving team players in men's doubles. So in mixed doubles, the female player would stand in front of the man (regardless of whether the female or male player is serving.. and while following all the rules about not blocking the opponent's view of the server) because it would allow the male player to be in position to cover the rear court when the serve is returned, and the women would be playing near the front court. This is done since it is implied that the female player doesn't have as much power in her shots as the male player. I'm wondering if this type of serve positioning can be done in men's doubles as well. Is it legal or illegal in men's doubles?
It also depends on how bad your opponents are. If they can't hit the shuttle to the back to save their lives, you & your partner can both cover the front I tend to follow the "standard" server covers the front, partner covers the back. Even in mixed - some girls I play with are strong players & can handle barrage of smashes or whatnot. I do what OP described with weaker partners regardless of gender - sometimes I play with older players who're happy to stay on the net
Rules are the same for both. Servers partner can not obscure the receiver's view of the shuttle. The implication in mixed is that one partner is significantly weaker than the other. Whist this may tend to be the case, it isn't always true. Try not to think so rigidly in terms of 'mixed' and 'level'. Think more generally in terms of 'doubles'. I've only seen 1 instance of a level doubles pair act this way. They were about 14-7 up when one of them pulled a calf muscle. They needed the rubber, so they played as 'mixed' and just got it.
i tend to play that way with my father and his friends. since my dad is 60 and just wanted to swing around and his friends a a bit younger (50s) and a bit more competitive, i usually just cover the back and the sides, kinda like a U shape, while he tries to intercept everything that goes thru the middle, LOL i tell you, it's great training on stamina