As long as his partner is 1900, I'll take them on and attack Master S. Yu's serve with BH. It is sudden and can go down any path. I don't really like to banana flip, the ball goes out too slow and not as much spin as I want, I prefer the straight flip with either a LOT of spin of a pretty fast pace resembling a flip kill. I am lately realizing the importance of choosing a banana flip as a safer return when I do not precisely read the spin or depth. I realize it is better to land the shot in those cases than to make a strong shot not fully reading the ball.
Doubles is all about CONFIDENCE and being ready. It is very important to understand each other and set each other up and feed off success, but also not be negative when ya miss. It is SO EASY when you know, or reasonably expect to get an attackable chance on 3rd ball. Makes all the difference. It is also easy on the partner if you can get them to miss on your serve a few times, then be tentative or reluctant to attack, just makes the 3rd ball opener easier. Often, such a shot will get blocked out high/long or setup nicely for an easy skulldrug finish and another chance to fist bump, roll down sleeve, flex bicep, give a thumbs up, then bump forearms and immediately shoot arm and 1 finger to the sky and say "yeeeeaaahhhh". You keep doing that and opponents really see they are in a tight place and the pressure is applied, you get more easy points with shock and awe. But it does work both ways, so you gotta bring the fight - hard and decisively FIRST.
Doubles definitely requires these kind of things over raw skill.
I taught that cheer to just about every fan & TT Athlete at Special Olympics... was a total riot for an official to do that. If this was the US Open or nationals, I would prolly never be asked to umpire again, but doing it there was the stuff of legends and one of the reasons why we hold the Special Olympics... to give those Athletes something to increase their self-image, sense of accomplishment, a great fun time, and a hope they can achieve and function like anyone else at a high level and public stage.
