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Doubles and Mixed Doubles 2: Few Generalities Previous Page
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 1. A doubles team works as a unit but not quite on a line. The player on the side with the ball in front of him is a few feet closer to the net and directly in front of the ball in play while his partner covers the centre of the court from a point about two feet deeper. Should the next shot to them go back to the other side of the court, then the man who was in the middle moves in toward the net and directly in front of the ball, while his partner now drops a few feet back and moves into the centre of the court.
2. The man closest to the net, usually in front of the ball, should step in, even poach any time he sees he can reach a ball for a kill, no matter how far he may go into his partner's territory, but if he does poach in front of his partner, he must end the point, win it or lose it. It is inexcusable not to put the ball away, because he will have opened his side of the court. If he cannot reach the cross-court shot for a kill, then he should let the cross-court go to the man covering centre. He is in position.
3. Unless caught off balance, each man should cover his own over-heads, even if he is compelled to drop the ball, run back, and play it off the bounce. If he is compelled to do this, his partner should drop back into the centre of the court or he will be left in an untenable position if the opponents come in, which they should.
4. If for any reason your partner crosses behind you to play the over-he ad calling "Mine!" to show he will play it, let him. Hold your position and do not cross, except when your partner calls "Cross!" as a signal to you.
This in is conflict with most experts, who advise the automatic cross, but I have logical reasons.
(a) If you stay where you are, your partner knows where you are and then can play his shot with that in mind, so that he knows just how far he must go back to cover his court.
(b) Only one man will be moving and out of position, leaving only the wide opening cross-court undefended, where as if you too are moving, neither of you is in position. So the entire court is now vulnerable, particularly through the middle between you.
(c) You are in position to poach after the cross-court if you want to take a chance on a kill.
(d) If your partner calls "Cross!" go into the centre of the court and stay in close to the net. Watch for the shot between you. The return will usually go there.
5. Either man must always feel free to cross in front of his partner or go anywhere in the court out of logical position if by doing so he can make a kill. The only thing is, he must go out for that kill if he commits himself.
The one absolute necessity for a good doubles team is the mutual give-and-take attitude of the players. They must have confidence in each other, complete faith that each is doing his best at all times, and each must be willing to overlook any errors of commission or omission of his partner. Nothing can be at a team quicker than friction. Open grousing is inexcusable, of course, but that air of resigned martyrdom that is so obvious (and, I regret to say, popular) with same players is just as disastrous. Once in a long while a player will really "throw" his partner, and "dog" a match, but such situations are few and far between. If your partner does that and you know it, I suggest defaulting the match, walking off the court, and never again stepping on a court with that man.
I am a great believer in two partners talking to each other, encouraging each other, and working always with a show of friendship. I think it has a definite effect, not only on your partner, to keep him happy and working, but also in making the other team aware of your cooperation toward victory. Do not always try to get the best player as your partner, if you and he are not compatible.
You will not be a good team. Usually two great singles players together do not make a great doubles team. Each is too apt to be an individualist, who wants to run the team, with the result that they never achieve smooth teamwork. They remain two fine singles players, playing singles side by side on a doubles court, but they are not a doubles team. Examples of that were Donald Budge and Bobby Riggs, or Henri Cochet and Jean Borotra. Budge and Mako were a far finer team than Budge and Riggs, yet Mako was never the great player that Riggs was. Cochet with Brugnon, and Borotra with Brugnon, were both better teams than Cochet and Borotra, yet Brugnon was hardly in the same class as the other two. I have always believed that the really great teams were made up of a clever, steady player who made the openings, and a hard-hitting killer, who won the points through those openings.
It is always the killer who gets the reputation, but it is the man who makes those openings who is the wheel horse of the team and its real strength. It was Mako who gave Budge his chances. Peck Griffin opened for Billy Johnston, John Van Ryn gave Wilmer Allison his openings, George Lott worked out the setups that Lester Stoefen put away.
Among modern players this art is almost lost. Only Frank Parker has the quality that made Mako, Griflin, Van Ryn, Lott and Brugnon among the greatest doubles players in history. Those men are great doubles partners with any hitter.
Get one thing firmly fixed in your mind about playing doubles. You can't blast your way from the baseline through a doubles team in position at the net. There are two men to cover only thirty-six feet of width on the court.
There just isn't room enough, until you have moved one or both of them enough to open their court. What are the various ways to open up the holes? They are few but definite. You must go outside, between, or over your opponents, but you can't hit through them from back court.
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