6 Ways to Become a Better Doubles Player

Many tennis players play doubles, but few have truly mastered the art of this game. While tennis is often considered an individual sport, doubles demands a high level of team work and coordination with your partner to be played effectively. In this blog, we’re outlining 6 tips to become a better doubles player so you can become a better doubles player, no matter who your partner is.

1. Support and Encourage Your Partner

A doubles partner is just that – a partner. However, when the pressures of the match begin, it can be easy to forget that the two of you are on a team. Rather than focusing on what your partner may be doing wrong that day, give them some encouragement. A good doubles partner will focus on the positives, knowing that it will help your partner feel more confident, relaxed and ultimately, play better. Players, especially of a weaker level, might be coming onto the court feeling nervous, so it is important for you to be a source of encouragement throughout the match.

2. Talk Strategy, Not Technique

Players often want to give their partners technical advice during a match, but this could potentially do more harm than good. Instead of giving advice on how to hit the ball on serve, groundstrokes or volleys, you and your partner should talk about positioning, targets and general strategy. Tennis technique, as we know, can take months if not years to adjust. Strategy, however, is something you and your partner can adjust immediately to start seeing better results in your match.

3. Communicate with Your Partner

So far, we have shared several ways to effectively communicate with your partner, but we would be remiss to not give communication a slot of its own. Communication is that important! The best doubles players excel at communicating with each other. You and your partner are a team, and effective communication during the match will help you stay in sync. Communicate during the points by saying "yours," "mine," or "I got it." Don’t forget to use the valuable time between the points and during the changeovers to discuss strategy, tactics, and stay on the same page.

4. Maintain Positive Body Language

It can be easy to become negative or hard on yourself when you and your partner are losing. Negative body language significantly impacts your partner because partners feed off each other. If a player is already having a bad day, seeing their partner become upset and frustrated will only worsen things. Instead, fight the urge to lapse into negativity and try to stay positive and provide encouragement. This is even more important if you are the stronger player on the team.

5. Know Your Team’s Strength and Weakness

Each doubles duo has their own strengths and weaknesses. Understanding your team's strengths and weaknesses can greatly help in choosing the right strategy. Before the match, ask your partner which side they feel more comfortable playing on, whether they like playing at the net or the baseline, and how confident they are in their serve. Once the match sets in, don’t be afraid to switch up your strategy if the original game plan isn’t working. You and your partner have more than one strength, and you may need to use multiple action plans during the course of a match.

6. Trust Your Partner

As with any partnership, trust is critical. Playing doubles is a team effort and demands trust from both partners in the other’s abilities. That said, trust can look different between teams, or even between matches. Sometimes trust means resisting the temptation to take over the court and hit as many balls as possible and letting your partner cover their side. Other times, trust may mean putting faith in a new strategy your partner wants to try. No matter how it looks on your team, building trust is a must!

While you can’t always control who your partner is or how they’re playing that day, you can control what encouragement, positivity and trust YOU bring to the team. We hope these tips give you some ideas, or perhaps reminders, about ways to improve your doubles game.