Doubles partners must find the style of communication that is most comfortable and most effective for their team. The more experience players have together, the better they know how their partner is going to react to various situations.
It is vital to set up correctly with the more experienced or advanced player playing the ad side of the court.
This means all the big points are their priority to return in court. You don’t want to gift your opponents an unforced error on return. Make them earn it!!
I believe it’s best to communicate all the time regarding tactics and positions during the game. There are many different ways to approach team communication and I suggest initially erring on the side of over communication and over encouragement and see how that works. As you play together, you will be able to tell if changes are in order.
Verbal cues –
Remember your partner is not missing the shots on purpose. Make it a rule to not say sorry!! It’s a given. The next time it may be you having a stinker. I might make a comment after my partner misses a sitting duck such as, no problem, we’ll get the next one or we can break here and still win this match. These comments are positive and keep both partners looking towards solid future play rather than reflecting on past mistakes.
In my experience if you are playing badly you become uptight.
So if your partner is relaxed enough to allow you to feel comfortable making mistakes you will settle down and eventually produce the type of tennis you know you are capable of. Had the partners attitude been different, your experience of playing badly could have got worse and as a result your game could have disintegrated.
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