Doubles - You are Weaker Player - How do You Play?

Nice! I found especially point number 2 very helpful over more then 10 years playing doubles in various roles (= meaning being stronger or weaker player). This one is not so obvious and 100% tactical which can bump the performance of the team by 5-10% immediately (depending on how bad your other serves which you were trying are. That can be huge difference in pretty close competitions!

Der_Echte said:

Larry Hodges put up an interesting post on his blog about doubles, where YOU are the weaker player of the team.

http://www.tabletenniscoaching.com/node/2812

Add some discussion and thoughts.

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I was thinking about it and it's also simply because most of right-handed players (including me) are so used to serve primarily from BH side (to be able to attack by FH on 3rd ball) that already the position on the other side of the table makes big influence. In combination with bad positioning and trying to do FH sidespin serves (like you would do 50% of time during singles) make most of lower ranked players to do at least one service error per game to net or to wrong side of the table + several more serves which are simply too long and too weak in rotation so opponent strikes back with heavy FH topspin cross the table... practicing simple BH short serve with back spin or almost no spin suddenly helps almost every right-handed pair!

Der_Echte said:

JST... You sure got it... It is not all that difficult to make a dead or low spin short serve to land close enough to the center line to cut down angles and make it more difficult to strongly attack. Some require some learning for this and are too tight and tense to get it short. Having this one basic thing practiced even 5 minutes a day for a few weeks makes a HUGE difference.

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Some really nice tips from Larry. The key one for me is "Keep the ball in play with well-placed shots".
If I'm the weaker player, I just try to keep in the rally with good placement - making the other players feel uncomfortable if I can and then my partner has the opportunity to finish the point. Of course, if I have an easy ball to finish the point, then I will do so.

If I'm the stronger player, I want my partner to do the same thing. Don't take crazy risks, just keep the ball on the table with good placement and give me the chance to play my shots. But if you have an easy chance - then go for it.

I didn't read the article, but here are a few tips:
-Don't try to do nice dropshots/short pushes. Just push with spin to the middle. It will be looped, but it's not as dangerous as risk an incoming flipkill or a push into the net.
-For right handed players: if the opponents use sidespin serves, receive with a BH flick/banana flick. As you have to cover a smaller part of the table than in singles, it's much safer.
-If you're much weaker, trying to do a strong counterloop is less effective than using well placed punchblocks (thing about Harimoto style blocks from both wing). Try to be closer to the table, so you can use wider angles. The stronger player should be always further.
-Avoid using dead pushes. Higher level players usually can read it and they can loop it with more precise and faster. Also, they can loop it later, while spinny balls should be attacked earlier. Use mainly backspin and if you feel it right, sidespin pushes.
These concepts are usable when you play against higher level players in singles too, but in doubles you can go safer, if your partner is also strong. These were my experiences and the tips from a doubles match against/with 2 Hungarian second league level players and a Bundesliga 2 (or it was Reginalliga?) level player. I felt myself embarrassed... Actually we had to use 5 handicap points because of me.

- If your stronger partner happens to be left-handed, do not continually serve balls which the receiver can batter wide to your partner's backhand side, i.e. along the same diagonal as you just served. Depending on his temperament, you may find that your partner simply abandons serious efforts to reach those returns - or you may find a bat handle inserted in your nether regions

As a left handed person who has been both the weaker and stronger player before:

Communicate: Before the point starts, if you are receiving the serve, tell your partner where you will hit the ball. Even better, ask your partner where he/she wants you to hit the ball. This helps immensely with positioning and preparation.

Ask your partner what serves they want. This is pretty standard.

Serve safe short underspin. You don't want to lose the initiative right away if you serve is attackable.

Don't take unnecessary risks to end the point quick (don't hit it ridiculously hard). You should trust your partner to make the next shot if the ball comes back.

If you can't receive the serve/shot well, do your best to get it on the table. At the very least, your partner has a chance to turn the point around.