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Every doubles player I've ever coached is trying to do something that isn't physically possible: cover the whole court.Y...
07/26/2026

Every doubles player I've ever coached is trying to do something that isn't physically possible: cover the whole court.

Your side of the doubles court is 1,404 square feet. That's the floor plan of a two-bedroom house, and there are just two of you trying to cover it. You cannot guard the short ball and the crosscourt ball and the wide ball and the line ball and the middle ball all at the same time. Something ALWAYS has to be left open, and that's not a failure of your positioning. It's just physics and geometry.

The question isn't how do I cover everything, because that question has no good answer. The real question is which shot should I leave open, and the answer is always the same: the hard one. Leave the low-percentage, risky shot uncovered. Force your opponents to beat you with the shot they're least likely to pull off, and make sure the easy target is the one you're defending.

That shift in thinking, from "cover everything" to "cover the right thing," is where better doubles positioning actually starts.

Most doubles players think a missed poach is a failure.It isn't.If you lunged across the middle and your opponent had to...
07/25/2026

Most doubles players think a missed poach is a failure.

It isn't.

If you lunged across the middle and your opponent had to redirect to avoid you, hit through a tighter window, or generate their own pace on a ball they wanted to float: YOU changed the shot. You didn't make contact, but you made things harder for them.

That's net presence working EXACTLY the way it's supposed to.

You don't have to win every poach attempt to make poaching worth it. You just have to make them think about you every time they hit. The moment they start factoring you in, the court gets smaller for them and bigger for your partner.

A forced error doesn't require your racket to touch the ball.

07/25/2026

Why my backhand is STILL broken.

07/24/2026

Why your forehand has NO power:

Most players decide whether to poach in the moment, when the ball is already in the air. That's too late.The players who...
07/24/2026

Most players decide whether to poach in the moment, when the ball is already in the air. That's too late.

The players who poach consistently don't react faster. They decide earlier. You won't know your opponent's weaknesses until you've seen them hit a few balls — but the moment you do, the checklist goes up. Weak second serve. Tentative backhand cross-court. Short ball to the middle. Once you've seen it, you pre-commit: when that shot comes up, I'm going.

That's what a checklist is. It's not complicated. It's just: this shot, I poach. You build it around their specific weakness, not a general situation. Their second serve is shaky? That's on the checklist. Their backhand is tentative? That's on the checklist.

Pre-deciding turns hesitation into action. You stop asking "should I go?" and start going.

Make the checklist before the point even begins. Then trust it.

07/23/2026

Why tennis players seem CRAZY

Most players at net see a low ball and do nothing.That's a mistake, because a low ball is already working in your favor ...
07/23/2026

Most players at net see a low ball and do nothing.

That's a mistake, because a low ball is already working in your favor before you've moved a single step.

When your opponent has to bend down and dig the ball up, they're fighting the net first. It's in their way. They have to clear it while swinging upward from below, and the percentage of balls that go exactly where they want drops significantly because of it. The net is obstacle one.

You're obstacle two. When you step in and close the angle, now they have two problems to solve at once: clear the net AND get it past you. Most recreational players can handle one obstacle under pressure. Two is a different situation entirely.

So when you see that ball drop low on their side, that's not a moment to stay back and watch. That's your cue. The net already started the job. Step in and finish it.

07/22/2026

Why do I keep playing this game?

Most doubles players love to fake a poach.It feels productive. You're moving, you're active, you're keeping them honest....
07/22/2026

Most doubles players love to fake a poach.

It feels productive. You're moving, you're active, you're keeping them honest. But if you've been faking over and over without ever actually going, you're not a threat. You're a habit. And your opponents have already figured that out.

The fake only works because the poach is REAL. Your opponents have to believe you're willing to go, and that belief only exists if you've actually gone. Fakes backed by zero follow-through stop registering. They stop reacting. They start grooving their cross-court right through you.

The fix isn't to stop faking. The fix is to START poaching.

Once you've crossed a few times and put balls away, every fake you throw after that carries weight again. They don't know when you're going and when you're not. That's the whole point.

07/21/2026

This is why we love tennis.

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