Five Common problems faced by 3.0 and 3.5 adult doubles players and how to address them
1.
Deep balls have the biggest impact on a player. When faced with a ball hit deep to them the player often plays a defensive, just get it back, type of shot. This enables the net player to gobble the ball up. When you are staying back make sure you move back into position after each ball one step behind the baseline and don’t get caught playing a couple of steps inside the baseline. Additionally, be willing to execute the lob when faced with a player who hits with pace and depth. Lastly, attacking first and taking the net is the best way to prevent from being attacked.
2.
The most advantageous position in 3.0 and 3.5 doubles is when you are returning the second serve of the opponent. If you are just putting this ball back in play you are missing a golden opportunity. Develop a wide menu of options for this play – deep and hard cross court, lob the net person, aggressive down the line, and short angle. By doing this you put a lot of pressure on the opponent and force errors from them.
3.
A good 3.0-3.5 doubles player should be getting 60% of their first serves in. This is vital because if your percentage is lower your second serve will be attacked too often. Practice 40 serves one time per week by hitting 10 serves into each corner. This little bit of practice will increase your first serve percentage.
4.
Players get stuck at 3.0 because they become too risk averse. They may have a winning record at 3.0 because they never miss and frustrate their opponents. But as we know that is not good enough to be a winning player at 3.5 and above. 3.0 players need to add some diversity to their game. Coming to the net with a little more frequency is a good place to start. That doesn’t mean you should come every time but if you follow your good shots to the net more often you may surprise your opponents and they may make more errors. One has to come to the net with more frequency to build their bank of knowledge and instinct on how to come to the net.
5.
When you play big matches like state tournaments players lob more. They lob more because the lob is the go to shot for a nervous player. 3.0 and 3.5 league players should practice their overhead more often, especially leading up to a tournament.
~ Bobby Walker
