Doubles underappreciated?

Ilia Minkin · May 29, 2018

Do you feel like doubles competitions are underappreciated in our sport? Most of the attention is drawn to singles and team competition where in most formats there is no doubles match. Also, in US many amateur tourneys don't have a doubles event. I understand that a part of this reason is that finding teammate can be hard, but still. I personally enjoy playing doubles a lot, maybe even more than singles. I played doubles tourney a couple of times, and it was a massive blast. The team chemistry adds a totally new dimension to the sport. What do you think?

zeio · May 29, 2018

In the past 10 years, definitely. Ever since the event was replaced by the team since the Beijing Olympics, China and Germany as far as I know have placed much less emphasis on it. This is sad. From the historical perspective, Cai Zhenhua concluded if China was to get back to the top after WTTC 1989, then the fastest way was to break through the European roadblocks by focusing on the doubles. I miss the rivalry between Rosskopf/Fetzner and Wang Tao/Lu Lin. Japan and Hong Kong as far as I can see are the only associations that pay more attentions on the doubles. South Korea used to focus on that, too, but has given up in recent years.

Hopefully mixed doubles will fill up that void.

ttmonster · May 29, 2018

Agreed , there is less focus ... its thrilling to watch and is a great underutilized tool that can be used to make table tennis popular ...

JHB · May 29, 2018

I play doubles all the time. As a left-hander, the result of this is that my forehand has atrophied while my backhand has improved beyond all recognition

Shifu · May 29, 2018

I love playing doubles and I very much welcome the fact, that the German Bundesliga is going to have doubles soon.

Joepole · May 29, 2018

JHB said:
I play doubles all the time. As a left-hander, the result of this is that my forehand has atrophied while my backhand has improved beyond all recognition

As a left hander you should be able to play forehand dominant. That's why left and right makes such a great combination with both p!ayers utilising their forehands.

Airoc · May 30, 2018

Ilia Minkin said:
Do you feel like doubles competitions are underappreciated in our sport?/QUOTE]

In pro table tennis more doubles would be welcome.

In amateur leagues - for me - less so.
Here in Germany every match up to and including fourth league (which is semi-pro to pro already mostly) starts with three doubles.
Double 1 as the strongest double faces double 2 of the other team, which is often referred to as "victim double" (and guess how motivated most of these doubles 2 actually play if there´s no expectation on them to win anyway ...).
Emphasis is put on a strong double 3 if possible, so that you can come out 2-1 in the most likely case that both teams` double 1 will win.
Three points out of 9 for a win are in these doubles, and a fourth double (1 vs 1) is played in case of 8-7 to decide over win or draw.

However, if I go watch fifth or fourth league games I make no effort to be on time, because I feel if I miss the doubles I don´t miss much. The outcome is predictable and as in most cases one team will lead 2-1 the tension for the singles is undiminished.

Years ago, in Bundesliga (our first league) one double would decide at 2-2, in teams of three players. I do like the idea of a deciding double, so in teams of 6 why not play one double at 6-6 - this would be an important one and the two strongest doubles would face each other. But in most cases three doubles at the beginning account for a one point lead - a bit boring.

JHB · May 30, 2018

Joepole said:
As a left hander you should be able to play forehand dominant. That's why left and right makes such a great combination with both p!ayers utilising their forehands.

Indeed I should. However at the level at which I play doubles 95% of the balls travel down the right-hand diagonal, which means that to play forehand I have to get well outside the line of the table. Most of the people I partner get confused if I stand behind them instead of to their left, so if my partner is serving or receiving I always have to start each point from the left-hand court - meaning that there is usually only time to reach the return on the backhand.

I'm surprised to read that the German Leagues play so many doubles in a match. In the league I have played in in the UK, a match consists of 9 singles and one doubles. I have a feeling the doubles is only there to give an even number of games, thus allowing a match to finish as a draw - however the match format is long-established and the reasons are probably beyond the memory of anyone still playing.

bircham boi · May 30, 2018

JHB said:
Indeed I should. However at the level at which I play doubles 95% of the balls travel down the right-hand diagonal, which means that to play forehand I have to get well outside the line of the table. Most of the people I partner get confused if I stand behind them instead of to their left, so if my partner is serving or receiving I always have to start each point from the left-hand court - meaning that there is usually only time to reach the return on the backhand.

Doubles can be and should be about playing to your strengths. If you're in a team competition where you play with the same players week in, week out then there really is no excuse for not developing team dynamics. For example, I'm right handed but much stronger on my backhand than forehand. In one roster, the other two were also right handed but we played exclusively with me starting outside their FH (is if I was a leftie). We played the entire competition without losing a single doubles match and topped the comp. even though we were not the strongest singles players.

JHB · May 30, 2018

bircham boi said:
Doubles can be and should be about playing to your strengths. If you're in a team competition where you play with the same players week in, week out then there really is no excuse for not developing team dynamics. For example, I'm right handed but much stronger on my backhand than forehand. In one roster, the other two were also right handed but we played exclusively with me starting outside their FH (is if I was a leftie). We played the entire competition without losing a single doubles match and topped the comp. even though we were not the strongest singles players.

I agree, and when I play with a proper (veteran) player she insists I stand in the correct place. In my normal friendly games though nobody gives a #%@* - most of them I can't even persuade to serve anything other than long and fast !
I

chuckjordan2 · May 31, 2018

Is doubles less appreciated because our society has become a 'Me' versus a 'We' society?

Doubles is a different, more mind intense (to me) game. I find it harder to keep track of the spin than singles. At first I didn't like doubles, however now, I find it as enjoyable as singles.

Ilia Minkin · May 31, 2018

chuckjordan2 said:
Is doubles less appreciated because our society has become a 'Me' versus a 'We' society?

That is very deep.

phorkyas · May 31, 2018

Personally I like that there is so much doubles in the German leagues even if it was largely to the disadvantage of our team. Part of our shitty first season was due to us often starting even 0:3, because we could not find *any* stable pairing and we had to fight hard to even come to the deciding double. I wouldn't wanna miss the doubles still.

Airoc said:
Ilia Minkin said:

Do you feel like doubles competitions are underappreciated in our sport?/QUOTE]

In pro table tennis more doubles would be welcome.

In amateur leagues - for me - less so.
Here in Germany every match up to and including fourth league (which is semi-pro to pro already mostly) starts with three doubles.
Double 1 as the strongest double faces double 2 of the other team, which is often referred to as "victim double" (and guess how motivated most of these doubles 2 actually play if there´s no expectation on them to win anyway ...).
Emphasis is put on a strong double 3 if possible, so that you can come out 2-1 in the most likely case that both teams` double 1 will win.
Three points out of 9 for a win are in these doubles, and a fourth double (1 vs 1) is played in case of 8-7 to decide over win or draw.

However, if I go watch fifth or fourth league games I make no effort to be on time, because I feel if I miss the doubles I don´t miss much. The outcome is predictable and as in most cases one team will lead 2-1 the tension for the singles is undiminished.

Years ago, in Bundesliga (our first league) one double would decide at 2-2, in teams of three players. I do like the idea of a deciding double, so in teams of 6 why not play one double at 6-6 - this would be an important one and the two strongest doubles would face each other. But in most cases three doubles at the beginning account for a one point lead - a bit boring.

Click to expand...

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Der_Echte · May 31, 2018

It is regrettable I do not live in Germany... I speak German and love doubles.

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Brs · May 31, 2018

The biggest club in Florida runs teams events several times a year. The format is best three out of five, two singles, then doubles, and the reverse singles pairings as needed to get to 3 wins.

A lot of teams are unbalanced (like in the U-4200 a 2300 with an 1899) so the singles will go 2-2, and doubles ends up deciding the result. It's a very enjoyable format and I play that a lot. It does give the doubles pairs who train together a huge advantage over the ones who were thrown together for the event.

Doubles underappreciated?

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