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Tennis Tip of the Month
July 2008
"Mixed Myths"
There are several things I get asked on the court a lot about mixed
doubles. Let me get through some of those questions.
No 1 - When do you hit to the woman? or to the man? Many times people think that hitting to the woman is either the easiest way to get the point or on the other hand is rude. Two things to consider regarding this question are #1 decide which is the higher percentage play or the right play at the time whether that is hitting to the man or the woman. #2 Decide ahead of time who is the weaker player at the net or at the baseline and hit to the weaker player hoping for an error or a weak shot on this part.
No 2 - Would they get mad if I hit hard at the girl or hit all out? It is a general rule to be polite towards the girl, but if the right play according to doubles strategy is to hit at the net person (man or woman) go for it. Pay attention to who that might be and do not try to kill the person you are hitting at but rather hit a solid shot in hopes to win the point not the match by default. So, as a general rule do the right thing and hit at the net person, man or woman, but keeping in mind you are tying to win the point instead of hurting someone.
No 3 - Why did we loose to two 3.5's if we are a 4.0 and a 3.0? In my opinion, I think that more evenly matched doubles teams will be more successful. I have played many times in Pro-Am events where someone gets paired with the weakest player and it is always harder to play against evenly matched teams because there is no one to pick on. In mixed doubles, it might be a little different but I know there are many girls out there that love to play the net and are not scared of anyone. If you are looking for a strong team keep this in mind.
No 4 - Where does the woman need to play, or the strongest player need to play? (Deuce or ad) Most of the time when I hear this question, the answer is they put the man on the ad court because he is the strongest player. What if the woman has a great backhand return cross court from the ad side? What if the man likes to hit more forehand returns? There are many variables that can influence our decision making when picking sides. I think you should always put the best receiver on the ad side because that way your opponents know that if it is an important point they are going to have to be ready to play the return of serve. It is important to keep the servers on their toes by making a lot of returns which puts a lot of pressure them in important points.
For further questions, please contact me or visit the Pros at Topspin for an on-court lesson.
Game Set Match,
Carlos Lozano, Director of Tennis