OOAK Table Tennis Forum

For something that makes up 1/5 or 3/11 (i.e., 20 to 27%) of any given teams pennant result at our club, doubles doesn't get a lot of attention at the low grades which I play at (and I suspect most of the way up the grade hierarchy). Hasn't yet been covered at any group coaching sessions that I've been to, either.

You can see this in typical club results, where teams who normally do well in singles, have doubles results that don't correspond with their abilities. Weaker singles teams also get to use doubles as a kind of equaliser. It ends up looking very random.

What advice would you give for doubles practice and doubles play in general? Any good drills or instructional videos to recommend?

Also, what are constructive ways for the 2-person side in a 1-against-2 warmup to work on their doubles skills?

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"Once you get past a certain threshold, everyone's problems are the same: fortifying your island and hiding the heat signature from your fusion reactor." –Doctor Impossible

In Double matches, one good tactic is to "usually" return the ball towards the person that hit it to you.

For me in my pennant, with me being the strongest player in my team, I am given the task of educating the 2 others in my team on some basics.

I usually get the other to return serve down the line or centre. This shot means that the percentage 3rd ball is cross court where I am standing to make my play. Or alternatively there is less angle to come back down the line away from me. I say this as my partners are not the most agile players and I am much more mobile then they are so it also helps with the next few balls as well if they don't have to jump about the court as well. If I cannot make a winning shot I try to play a ball that the opponents highest percentage play is towards my partner, so they have the best chances of returning that ball.

I also only serve a few types of ball. Back spin heavy and light, short and long. No spin short and long and very rarely add in sidespin just as a variation. I do this so the returned ball is more consistent for my weaker partners to play and I also let them know what to expect before the game and signal during the match if needed.

Now I know that this is not perfect but it nets my team at least one of the two doubles matches a round and regularly we get both taking a lot of pressure off the singles.

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CORNILLEAU Hugo Calderano FOCO OFF+
FH: ANDRO Hexer Powergrip 2.1
BH: ANDRO Hexer Powergrip 2.1

Thanks for the tips. Typically we return to the server if either opponent can't move fast, but I'll definitely try down-the-line or middle to make the 4th ball easier.

I take what you mean about keeping the serves simple as well. If I do a backhand swipe serve, the spin on the return often backfires on my partner. I've decided it's not worth doing in a doubles match unless the serve receiver is really bad at dealing with it.

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"Once you get past a certain threshold, everyone's problems are the same: fortifying your island and hiding the heat signature from your fusion reactor." –Doctor Impossible

We've just finished a season where our team was undefeated, and the most significant factor was that we did not lose a single doubles match. We topped the comp. even though our singles results were inferior to a number of the other teams, our team scraping home 6-5 on a number of occasions. With two doubles in the bag, it meant we only had to find four singles wins from nine matches. Our comp. is organised so that each team has a number 1, number 2 and number 3 player based on previous seasons' results. As a consequence, to get four singles wins, we really only needed our no. 1 to beat their 2 and 3. our 2 to beat their 3, and our 3 to beat their 3 (we had a strong number 3).

Our secret to winning doubles? Playing as a team. Knowing our no. 1's primary strength is forehand driving (she plays Chinese penhold), we put felt no need to try to win rallies with risky shots but wait for her put away.