We believe that there are two different types of players: singles players vs doubles players. If you find a player who excels at both - and there is a long list of these players - they will share that two different skill sets are required to excel at each game.
Singles: You must have a mental ferociousness, exceptional footwork, willingness to work alone on fitness, form and agility, and the commitment to win, even against your close friend and doubles’ partner.
Doubles: You must have a deep understanding of your personal strengths and weaknesses vs. your partner’s strengths and weaknesses and a willingness to be honest and humble in this assessment. You should have or willingness to have a passion for team sports, as tennis doubles is a team sport. Know all the doubles formations so that you can utilize a range of formations to overcome a much stronger team going from imminent loss to surprising upset.
Singles
Know you leverage shots and physical assets - do you have strong groundstrokes? a good serve? are you tall? are you fast?
Assess your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses during warm up to determine your approach. Are they slow or fast? how strong are their groundstrokes and which stroke is stronger?
Develop your approach, implement, then reassess after 4 games if your strategy is not effective.
If you feel nervous, try laughing, sprinting to net, and or taking three deep breaths - 5 seconds inhaling and 10 seconds exhaling.
Within an hour after your match, record what you learned - what worked, what didn’t and what you want to work on..
Doubles
1. Doubles isn’t about hitting winners but hitting angles and outplaying the other team;
2. Set your partner up for success, communicate during and in-between points;
3. Doubles is a cross court game, focus on consistency;
4. Backup your partner and be ready for every ball, even if it goes to your partner;
5. Don’t be afraid to go double back or try different techniques (Australian see below) if things aren’t going your way;
6.Send an early warning shot down the line to keep the net player alert;
7. Move forward to be up to net when facing a weaker second serve;
8.Be ready for drop shot on long cross court rallies.
Here are some tennis doubles formations that intermediate players can use:
I-formation: The server stands near the baseline's center point, while their partner crouches at the center service line's midpoint. After the ball passes over the partner, they should cut diagonally toward the ball, while the server runs toward the open court.
Australian formation: The server and volleyer stand on the same side of the court, with the server close to the T and the volleyer slightly right of center.
Eye formation: The server and their partner stand close to the center of the court.
One up and one back: Players are positioned one up and one back. Two baseliners: Both players on baseline
Two net rushers: Two players rush to the net.
Staggered formation: Players are positioned in a staggered formation at the net.
This link provides a great visual for formations:
https://ausapproach.wordpress.com/2016/05/05/doubles-formations/
