Today I am sharing a tennis doubles drill which was adapted from Pat Blaskower’s “The Art of Doubles: Winning Tennis Strategies and Drills” and Helle Sparre Viragh’s “Dynamite Doubles: Play Winning Tennis Today” which are two books recently reviewed by this site. The drill explains the core principles of the staggered positions when both players are at the net. Even better, it is excellent practice for mastering that court positioning under dynamic playing conditions.
In the staggered net position, the crosscourt player’s duty is to keep the ball in play until their partner has the opportunity to play an aggressive volley. Blaskower calls this player the “setter-upper” but I prefer the term “Workhorse” which was originally coined by Helle Sparre Viragh. The proper court position for the Workhorse is on a straight diagonal line between the ball contact point and the netstrap. That player lags off the net a little bit because it is also their duty to cover the lob over their partner.
The other net player who is directly across from the point of contact as the baseline team plays the ball is the “Terminator.” The proper court positioning for the Terminator is to mirror the point of contact in an aggressive position close to the net. The Terminator is looking for opportunities to hit an attacking volley while simultaneously defending her side of the court from passing shots.
Blaskower proposes the “Take Away the Net Drill” as a great way to practice the positioning and roles. It is for four players. One team starts at the net in proper staggered position. The feed is delivered to the other team which start out positioned at the baseline. The Workhorse is responsible keeping the point going crosscourt to set up the Terminator with offensive volley opportunities.
When the ball changes direction to the opposite crosscourt, the roles and proper positioning points change. That is to say that the Terminator becomes the Workhorse and vice versa.
In this drill the baseline team attempts to win the point through execution of passing shots which can be hit to any point on the court. Depending on the development objectives of the players involved, lobs may or may not be allowed. Blaskower proposes that the teams swap the net and position anytime the net team is passed. An alternative variation is to play games to 11.
Repeatedly practicing this drill will lead to more instinctive execution of this positioning strategy. You should give it a try.
