what to do in doubles?

One of the most important part of the game is to recover after playing a shot-- court position wise, stroke wise, stance wise, mental wise. Only when you're ready to defend can you choose to attack. That means taking shots early and infront of you. Doing that consistently will allow you the best field of vision for offense. Not doing it, you'll always be hitting blindly.

Attacking clears are shots that push your agressive opponents back when you discern a gap in their rearcourt. It's still a lift, but one that's hard to attack given the situation since it's high enough not to be intercepted in midcourt yet not fast enough to go out the court. More importantly your opponents might not be ready for it.

 

focus on the weaker player, play more aggresively and pressure them into making mistakes. hit attacking clears and alot more drives, they are important in dbles, use deception and deceive them, if all you play is drops and smashes then thats all their gonna be expecting, mix it up a little. get your partner to improve his def, just rally with him and smash at him alot, it helps if you guys can play defense too, then all the work will be eqaul, not just you jumping about in the back smashing and dropping everything.

 

i personally never liked attacking cross-court on a regular basis. you're on one side, and it takes a lot less effort for him to defend with a straight return, than it does for you to run back ot the other side of the court.

for sure, your partner can help you out, but then you gotta contend with not only running backwards for a very potential weak return, but also possible communication and conflict issues between the partners. too risky of a shot for too little return.

definitely if executed properly, its advantageous, but isn't all shots, if properly executed, advantageous?

i just think its something that should be kept to a minimum...

 

Absolutely correct. In doubles, attacking crosscourt should be reserved for a surprise variation, or when you see that your opponents are out of position and not covering the crosscourt stroke.

Crosscourt drops and smashes take your partner by surprise and make it difficult for him to intercept the next shot. Most drops and smashes should be played either straight or to the middle.

Advantage of straight: it is the shortest path, so the opponents have the least time to react.

Advantage of centre: you limit the angles that the opponents can use to counter-attack. You give your partner the best chance to intercept in the midcourt and forecourt. The opponents may become confused about which person should take the shot, because it falls between them.

 

I think that's a little over-dogmatic of your coach.

The middle is a great variation, although straight strokes should be used more often.

Crosscourt, however, is a very risky variation that is usually tactically unsound.

The IBF training videos have sensible advice about this.

 

playing drops to the middle is a good tatical move for doubles, given that
u r on offensive, and your opponent should naturally be playing sides
if they'r not playing side when they constandly clear the bird for u to smash on.. something is not right with yr smashes..
so mix in the center drops to create delay and confusion
its a lot of effort in double if u plan to just smash non stop till your opponents give up. (ppl with unlimited supply of energy do not apply here)
remember yr smash will only get weaker when done repeatively.
center drop is a good mix as yr partner is already there at the net eger to
do the finishing move.

 

Also if u have a static partner.. u can try setup a particular pattern to indicate a swap the front/back role, like after 3-4 continous smash. where yr
partner will come in with fresh juice and keep up the offensive output.
i've seen some well trained partner do it, Sounds good in theory but i find this method rather difficult to pull out effectively

 

Provided that they're fast drops to the middle, I would avoid shots to the mid unless I know my opponents' positions before I hit the shot. I would go with straight shots most of the time.

 

i believe u do know yr opponents' positions, the original post said he was not able to pull out a kill shot when he's on offense smashing repeativily.
where the other side simply keep clearing all his smashes
Assuming you r on attack and your opponent doesn't feel like taking the side formation... something's not right with that picture

 

here is something i found useful. clear to their corners as a variation. doesn't have to be flat clears. back hand or forehand corners may do wonders for you if u can get it to their very corner. only use it seldomly. attack clears can also work. your smashes, should b hard and close to the alley lines. that would put lots of pressure on your opponents. mix up drops in the middle occasionally. if you are dueling in drives. do some in the middle to cause opposition to be confused. as drives gives even less time for the opponent to react.

 

hmmm... that really depends on technique. I have seen lots of players blindly attacking which resulted in their shots being driven back to them or to the opposite corners. The original poster might not have been able to pull out a kill shot because he wasn't in a position to kill it.

 

You might wanna avoid relying on punch/attack clears too much as they give your opponents chance to attack. The clears are only effective if your opponents didn't anticipate them. If you want to rely on any shots in doubles, drives and netshots should be the ones. First, they minimise interception by denying the opponents their main weapon (the smash). secondly they force your opponents to work/reach for their shots (assuming you're driving/blocking to the right places ). Lastly, whoever owns the net dominates the rally.

 

No, that's more like a midcourt push.

An attacking clear is essentially the same as an ordinary (defensive clear), except that it has a shallower trajectory. The same goes for an attacking lift.

Both attacking clears and lifts are used frequently in singles, to send the shuttle quickly into the rearcourt and deprive your opponent of time.

In doubles they must used with more discretion, because the shallower trajectory will result in a punishing smash if your opponent is able to intercept it in the rear midcourt.

 

If the defensive team is in a square position and they keep returning your smashes, you should try to move them around so that they don't have the "Great Wall of China" effect. Drops and attacking clears are great for doing just that, and you can even mix them up with drives.

I've always found that when I'm in the back court, I can control the game more because I determine how to move the other team. If I can push the other team enough, they usually give a weak return for my partner or me to put away the point. This is of course if we are in an attacking position

 

It's easy to get drawn into smash after smash in an attempt to break through. It's much better to move your opponents around to pick apart their defense as it's harder to defend when you are on the move. Afterall, one shouldn't give away the shot by sending it to a prepared opponent.

Learning how to create openings in a solid defensive formation will take some instructions from an experienced coach or from experience. When you know how to do that, the game becomes so much more fun.

 

just want to share... try to bring the two players on one side... especially on theie back hand side. Have a clear shot at the corner of their back hand side and follow up with a drop at the same side (vice versa). This will give you an option of returning the cock (i mean the fly!) drop, drive or smash on the other side. Of course this is not a perfect play especially when your opponents are left and right handed players....