Rotating for clear return

If you're in an offensive position, it's usually the guy in the back's role to cover the back entirely. I usually go with that, with one guy behind attacking and the other right in front of him or slightly more towards the middle of the front court if the other smashes from a corner.

If the need comes, switch to defensive, then the closest to the shuttle moves to get it, and the whole thing starts over again.

It's the basic idea, anyway, but I find that I've reached another level in doubles, and me and my usual partner keep rotating and adapting, and it works wonderfully. My general shots and strategy have also changed a couple days ago...

So that's it. One behind, covers the back. One in front, covers the front. So side-to-side motion is very important.

you have to get a feel for when you can reach for weak returns without getting in the way of your partner. You both have to determine that. Usually, though, if you do that, you're the one switching to and covering the back from that point on.

 

the player who is smashing from the rear will occasionally go foward to "follow" his shot similar to drops and such. this is to basically keep the pressure on and to cut down any weak returns.

when he feels he can do this, the net man should take the cue to rotate to the rear to cover a good deep defensive lift.

if this does not work out as expected, then obviously your partner who decided to charge foward made a bad decision.

 

Yeah, basically take the cue of the backcourt player. If he follows in his shot, you can't actually be staying in front with him. Since you can't see him at the back of your head, you have to assume that he got the backcourt covered if he doesn't go in front. You could 'force' a rotation by backing up to midcourt during a baseline lift that's going for the corners and edge towards the other corner until your partner smash and then proceed to cutoff or smash followed by recovery to the backcourt central line. If he does a good proper smash, he'll naturally follow in. Of course, you're stuck to the front if he drops.

 

Here's a rule of thumb that I can give you. If your partner gets tired from the back, he should tell you during the rally to switch before he smashes and move up to take the front. Another cue is that you take the back only when your partner receives a mid lift court (week return smash) and you know that he's gonna kill it. Then you should reliaze that after his smash, his momentum will be leaning forward by leaving both corners empty in the back. That would be the perfect moment to rotate.

 

I think I know exactly the situation that you're describing. You know that if you're at the front when the opponent has a smash opportunity, you are expected to force the rotation by dropping back to a defensive position on one side but there is no such set procedure for this kind of vulnerability when you're on the offensive. I find this is especially dangerous if the player at the back is forced to go wide to the backhand side to smash around the head. It is still an offensive situation and one hopes that the return will come back weak for easy pickings by you, the front player at the net. However, if the lift has succeeded in making the back player really work for the smash, you often get a combination of an awkward landing and a smash down the line, which can present an opportunity for a crosscourt lift (or even worse, a quasi-drive) to the opposite corner. As the front player, hearing your partner scramble across the back of the court prior to seeing the shuttle whiz by your ear and into the net is extremely frustrating. I have had many occasions recently wherein I've cheated or been tempted to cheat and run back to take these cross-court lifts. Sometimes my partner is relieved and sometimes it forces a collision. As far as I can tell, the back player, if out of position, should be yelling to the front to come back and cover the crosscourt lifts. The trouble there is that this is likely going to be too late.
I think the majority of the responsibility lies with the back player to manage the risk. If out of position before the smash, a punch clear or a drop will provide more recovery time. Only smash if the chances for a winner are high. Or at least avoid smashing down the line as this makes it easier for the opponent to do a sharply angled crosscourt lift.
Occasionally, when I am at the back and don't entirely trust my partner to recognize his/her limits, I'll drop back almost to a defensive position on the opposite side from where I suspect an awkward smash has come. If the crosscourt lift comes and I anticipate it early enough, I'll simply yell "mine" to call my partner off. In other words, I force the rotation as it were. If I don't see my partner coming up to fill in the other side defensively or if my partner calls for the shuttle from behind me, I'll be ready to resume my position up front. If you don't have good communication, though, you can end up with a collision or one of those mutual staring matches in the back forehand corner as you stand there watching each other and the shuttle fall between you. I have so many times had partners who think they can get there fast enough and who don't call for help or don't do so early enough.
I am sorry I don't have any official position on this one.

 

I think this is the only time you rotate, back player in trouble, out of position, weak smash that leads to crosscourt drive/lift. I will also rotate when i know that my partner is tired and a switch would continue the offense.

I know this in theory but i could not execute this in play. Most of the time, when i move back, it's already too late and the shuttle has passed me, the best i could do is only a punch clear.

I notice that the pros are so good that they could anticipate this, react and still leap behind to continue to smash. I only wish i could have this speed, anticipation and agility.

 

You mean that is the only time you would rotate while on offense. Obviously, it is far more common to rotate into offense from a defensive position. I think the situation you describe wherein your partner is tired is the better time to rotate. My coach did a drill with us wherein the back player was supposed to smash 3 or 4 times and then yell "Bbajiuh!" or "come back" to the front player. Moving back when your partner is in the middle of smashing and doesn't know you're coming back is a bad plan. It has to be at the instigation of the player at the back. As I said, the cheating and coming back that I sometimes do is a result of not trusting a club player who may expect to be able to smash off-balance and then run cross-court to retrieve the lift. That isn't a good plan in general because if you move back almost to your side defensive position, then you are committing to covering the entire court apart from the back corner in which your partner is recovering from that awkward landing. In other words, if the opponent sees you move back too much , you can expect a short block to the front backhand corner to keep you honest. However, as for only managing only a punch clear, I think that is acceptable considering that the alternative is likely a running, stretching lift from the back forehand corner. If you want to stay on the offensive, the player at the back is going to have to drop or half-smash to the centre so that there will be ample recovery time or somehow manage to execute the smash and land going forward after calling you to cover the back. Either way, you need to be able to trust the partner at the back to instigate the effective recovery.

 

As with all positional questions, the front player must initiate the change of position and the back player must cooperate, even if he thinks his partner has made a mistake.

This is because the back player can see his partner and react to his movement. The front player cannot see his partner.

The front player can, with experience, learn in what situations he should go back to help his partner. Of course, a good understanding between the players helps!

It is much more mentally taxing for the front player to do this, because he has to be ready to cover three corners -- every corner except the one that his partner just smashed from. But if he succeeds, the front player will enable his side to maintain the attack rather than play a defensive shot.

 

I asked basically the same question in another thread. Look at it this way.

When on offence, you divide the responsibilities with a horizontal line (ie. front back).

However, if there is a smash that is returned with a weak cross court return, the front guy should be able to cut it off. So in a sense, the dividing line of responsibility isn't purely horizontal but slightly angled.

In other words, the smasher takes the half court shot on the side he is on, the front guy takes the half court shot on the opposite side.

 

Thanks, Gollum. I knew we could count on you to clear this up authoritatively and succinctly.

I was going to say that the trick our coach had us practice with the back player yelling to the front player to spell him off on the attack was an exception to the rule you stated above; however, on further inspection, I realize that even in that case, the actual movement is initiated by the front player. Even if the back player were to yell at the front to rotate back into the smashing position, the back player can't risk moving up the front until he sees his partner reacting and coming back.