Intermediate player here: I am serving, receiver plays a slow but deep shot to the middle of the court. Of course I would go for it if it doesn't go way past me but I would still have my racket up. My usual partners are telling me I should stop shadowing at the front because they aren't sure if they should get it at the middle. I think they maybe right but l also think that if I didn't contest the shuttle, the receiver could send it downward with impunity, of course a big no no in doubles. What is the general consensus on how and who should take the 3rd shot at a professional level?
You should always shadow at the front. Your focus should always be on the shuttle, and if it is you can't see your partner when you are at the front. However, your partner(s) can see you in their peripheral vision when in the back. Basically whoever is in the back should always assume the front person will not reach the shuttle and should shadow their front partners movement. As for who hits the shot, generally if you're in the front and you have to reach behind you/turn backwards to hit the shuttle, it's probably better to leave the shot for your partner.
Generally I leave this to my partner as RC has mentioned your partner can see the court whereas you will have to turn your back to the court. Another thing to consider here is your partners positioning, if they stand way back then maybe you should consider going for it. Convince them to move up the court closer to you if this is the case and your serve is good and tight. Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk
Do you mean, even if I'm shadowing, if the shuttle gets past me, it is still his responsibility to get it right? I mean as intermediate level players.
If you're the front player, you should be trying to actually reach the shuttle . The back player is the one who should be shadowing you. And yes, if you're an intermediate level team and the shuttle goes past you, then your partner should be able to retrieve it.
Not sure if I agree with everyone here. It depends entirely on your partner. If they are fast, and can shadow you and still get the shuttle, AND play a good shot, then I agree just go for it. However, if you are shadowing shots that are not clearly yours, then you are just causing confusion. You are delaying your partner setting off for a shot to take it early, simply because you decided to give an ill advised swing. So you can go for it if its coming up in front of you, or you are very confident in your skills to get it most of the time... but if its only 50/50, then as your partner I would be irritated - you are just in my way! Of course, it depends on how reliably you can kill the shuttle if you do get it etc... but remember if you sometimes hit and sometimes not, then if you go for it, and hit it, when you partner is expecting you to miss, then you are both stood in the same place on court... which is bad. So ultimately, I don't really like shadowing just for the sake of it. If the shuttle is coming in front of you, then take it. Otherwise, leave it to your partner. You do not often see players swiping and missing at the professional level. Rather than thinking this is because they move so well they get to everything, instead realise they actually only go for the things they can get to that are their responsibility. No amount of shadowing you do will stop your opponent attacking a bad serve - it is much more useful for your partner to have absolute clarity which shots belong to whom, than have you jumping around getting in the way of shots that 1. you may or may not reach and 2. if they are not taken in front of you, are not likely to be high quality shots, therefore being bad if you miss, AND not even that good if you do hit it! Cheers!
With one small change in word order, I agree with that: However, if you are shadowing shots that are clearly not yours, then... To intercept stuff from the front effectively, you cannot afford to hesitate. You will miss a lot of opportunities if you only go for the ones that are clearly yours. Naturally it is possible to go too far as well.
Fair! Although... to be pedantic... you can only avoid hesitation by knowing you will get the shuttle. So that's the point - only go when you know you will get it. Of course sometimes you may miss it, but there should be a good chance you will get it - and I wouldn't expect your partner to then have to wait and also go for the shot if you miss it. As you say Gollum - it may have been better to leave it to your partner... if the player makes contact most of the time, I am generally ok with that (acknowledging as you say - you can go too far and intercepting just because you can reach it does not make it a good idea).
Hmm, these statements seem contradictory. I think I know what you mean though -- it's a tough one to describe without coming down too heavily one way or the other.
Haha - I know. I thought that when I wrote the post. But basically, if my partner goes for a shot, I expect him to make it. I will not also shadow it as this puts us out of position. Therefore, if they go for it and miss, we lose the point - therefore they should only go for it if they are confident that the shot is inside their skillset, not a gamble.
I think there are situations where you see a lot of "shadowing" in professional play -- especially in mixed doubles. This makes sense to me. But then there are also situations where this would push the "back" player out of position -- particularly when the "front" player is moving farther back and effectively displaces their partner. There comes a point where the partner must not shadow, because they will be forced back into a position where they cannot cover the court effectively (stuck behind their partner). I believe there is too wide a range of situations to have one rule for all cases.
Hi everyone! Thanks for the replies! I know why I am having trouble about my opponent's return to the midcourt. I finally solved losing so many midcourt points as a front player. What really helped me solve this effectively is my serve! Before I was serving directly to my tall opponent, but now, by simply serving to the T, he is having a hard time sending it to the mid-court side without it going wide-out. When he tries to push it, it can easily go long, When he tries to return it deep-center, I can react and gain the advantage. So the answer is: Serve to the T more. Any other low serve is only a variety adjustment.
Against that player, yes. Once you play many different people, you find they have their different strong areas to return serve, so be alert to needing to change if necessary.
There is no right answer. Once a shot is played in the middle of the two players, who takes the shot depends on each player's relative skills, athletic abilities, experience, and motivation to get to the shot. You would see often time even top pairs in the world when they are out of their favorite position (eg. Cai/Fu when Fu is in the front and Cai is in the back), the player in front unlikely to go after the mid court shot, and even if he goes after it, he is unlikely to put enough pressure on the shot back at the opponent as his partner would. Alternatively, if the player like Cai in the back takes the shot, he is unlikely to put as much pressure as his partner would. When you are playing at intermediate level and you're the front player, try to think how you can improve the reading of the game, actively hunt for the middle court shot, strengthening your physique so you have more capability to take shots that you could not take before. That way, your court coverage area becomes larger and more threatening to opponents. The player in the front should be decisive in going after the shot, ie. you don't stop half-way when going after the shot. With that being said, if your partner is good enough, he might still be able to recover a late shot caused by your mistake. If you are the back-player, stay back and stay calm. Your partner's going after the shot, so you don't want to rush and clash rackets with him, and if he missed, you need to have the calmness and the peripheral vision to see what shot is best, knowing that your team is at a disadvantage caused by your partner's mistake. It is a dance of you and your partner where you try not to take things personally if your partner made a mistake in going after a mid court shot.
