Doubles return of serve

I used to do the back hand top spin - side spin flick. But I am not very consistent with it. Now I will stand away from the table to get the swing for the top spin. 

Thank you

Hi Alois,

I think you should do a few videos on strategies for playing doubles as well. I play with people who are more comfortable using their backhand when serving and returning serves, because of which I have to stand on the left hand side even though I am a left hander. This has made me develop my backhand because otherwise I can't survive. Have you seen any other lefties standing on the left hand side when playing doubles?

Hi Abhinav,

We can work on more Doubles strategies.  What sorts of things are you looking for?

It is best for the left hander to still stand over to the right even if the receiver wants to play backhand  There is still enough room and time to cover the area with your forehand.

Hi Alois,

There are many things that would be useful to know when playing doubles. For example, if there are certain things to look for in your doubles partner when preparing for a tournament. I guess they must complement each other technique wise? 

What is the general strategy, for example, does one player tries to be more attacking and the other tries to be more defensive and sets up the points for his partner? 

What sort of serves to do so that the partner doesn't immediately get a hard ball to defend? For example, as a left handed, what sort of serves my partner should do so that the opponent doesn't get a chance to easily play wide on my forehand side where I don't have a chance to reach it. 

Do the players tell their partner what sort of serves they are going to do? For instance, if the server is going to do a surprise long fast serve, does he indicate his partner about it so that he is ready for a fast return.

These sort of questions regularly pop up in my mind. I will post more if more such things come up.

Those are a nice set of questions - Even I wanted to know some of them. Can't wait to see Alois answering these. 

Hi Abhinav,

Finding a partner is crucial.  Someone that complements your style is important but also someone that you get on well with.

I think one player that makes strong attacks with a more controlled player works well.  Two strong attackers works if they both move well.

A defensive player is better with a good blocker otherwise the attacker get a lot of topspins hit at them that they are not used to.

I doubles it is important to serve short almost all the time.

Players signal to each other what type of serves they are going to do by using hand signals under the table.

Thanks Alois. That's a great advice. Perhaps you could put this in the form of a video for a wider reach. :)

BTW I have seen many doubles match videos where before each serve the server is doing something below the table and I could never figure out what's the purpose of that ritual. That's one of the mysteries solved for me :)