Improving Your Doubles Game By Mike Puc

Are you a club player who plays doubles exclusively? Do you play on a team? Do you take clinics from a pro? Are you getting better?

The circle of training for club league players is: they are assigned a team, go to practice, play practice matches with their teammates and, hopefully, win league matches. This routine may result in achieving a reasonable level but then stagnating attempting to maintain this level. While there are many reasons for joining a team and the “circle”, including competition, comradeship and fun, if you are participating to improve and move up the team ladder you may want to evaluate your methods. Private instruction from a pro will certainly help with many areas of your game especially technique. The component many players miss in their search for improvement is creating their own self—practice routine to teach themselves to own the skills they have been taught. Besides a weekly session on the greatest underused tool at every club, the ball machine, I suggest you integrate a collection of staple doubles specific drills to practice with a partner. If doubles is your game, there is no need to train for singles.

Keep the drills crosscourt, the duration short at one-to-two times per week for 40 minutes, and the intensity high.

Deuce court to deuce court, and then ad court to ad court for five minutes each. The person who misses the last ball loses the point. Not to be confused with pushing the ball with high moon balls but rather drilling to put the opponent on the defensive with penetrating depth, creative angles and speed you can contr ol. Drilling crosscourt groundstrokes has been around forever with good reason. It satisfies all of the aspects above while developing mental toughness. Challenge each other with the goal being consistency and quality. Play this cooperative drill with your partner focusing on the process rather than the outcome. A rule on this drill as with all the drills in this package is to never call balls in or out. You are playing the ball, not the opponent.

One player up and one player back. Baseline player mixes in “over and down” balls that land at the net players feet and mid-court lobs. The net player is focused on retur ning deep for control of the net. Avoid drop volleys and short volleys as this will kill the drill. Focus on footwork, body positioning and recovery. If done properly, both players should get a great workout. Play the deuce side for five minutes each and the ad side of the court on the next session.

Advanced doubles is won at the net so it is a good idea to drill your volley. Start each player at the service line. Start the ball and advance to the middle of the service box. Keep the ball low , add some angles, and every so often try a bump lob to be hit with an overhead with just enough force to keep the ball in play. The idea is not to win the point and to certainly not overpower your partner. Do this for five minutes.

When was the last time you practiced your retur n of serve. Every point in tennis has this dedicated shot as the second shot. You can actually control a match and make your opponent fear your return of serve—if you only practiced and developed it. We all know the benefit of a good serve. What a luxury if you could have as few as one or two unreturnable serves on each service game. Again, a shot hit with power or spin that could control a match. Start with a basket of balls and serve and return 20 balls without playing out the point. After 20 balls, serve and play with the goal of control. Switch serving and receiving. Do this for 15 minutes total.

Congratulations! You have now taken control of your doubles game improvement. You will feel the difference in your stroke production and confidence, and your opponents will want to know your secret. You have come full circle.

Mike Puc has been the Director of Tennis at Gleneagles Country Club in Delray Beach, Fla. since 1998. A winner of 15 national titles and an ATP world ranking, Mike directs 25 teams with 350 players in nine leagues, while offering the most extensive Calendar of Events in South Florida that includes tournaments, lectures and social round-robins.