How to Play Doubles Tennis for Beginners
If you are new to tennis than make sure to read my post about how to play tennis.
This will give you a good idea of what you need to know to get started.
If you are just new to playing doubles then this article will help you learn how doubles is different than playing singles.
Here is what will be covered:
- Tennis Doubles Rules
- Mixed Doubles Tennis Rules
- Tennis Doubles Serving Rules
- Doubles Tennis Scoring
- Doubles Tennis Positioning
- Frequently Asked Questions About Doubles Tennis
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Tennis Doubles Rules
One of the first things to be aware of is that the alleys — the long boxes that run along each side of the court perpendicular to the net — are in bounds.
This means that during a volley, the ball is considered in bounds no matter where it lands inside the court.
The service box remains the same as in singles, though, so if a serve lands in the alley, it is out of bounds.
Doubles partners do not have to take turns hitting the ball during volleys.
There are a number of ways to divide the court between the two partners, and you may choose to shift multiple times during a volley depending on the situation.
There are also no hard and fast rules for this, but the player serving or receiving a serve will always start at the baseline on either the left or right side, and the other teammate will start in the service box diagonal to their partner, either centered in the box or close to the net.
Mixed Doubles Tennis Rules
Mixed doubles games have teams with one male and one female partner.
The rules of the game are the same, but it is important to have the right attitude.
Since it is often couples looking for something to do together, the partners may have varying levels of experience or athletic ability.
It is important for more experienced players to be patient but not patronizing on the court, and for beginners to be patient with themselves.
Tennis is a difficult sport, and even the basics take time and repetition to master.
When starting out, a player may swing and miss.
It may be difficult to control where the ball goes, to have power in the swing, or both.
The most important thing is to enjoy time spent with others while getting some good cardio and laugh off the inevitable mistakes.
There are so many great benefits to playing tennis!
Make sure you’re well-fed before you start, take a break when you feel winded, and stay hydrated to keep your spirits up!
Keep yourself cool on the tennis court so that you don’t overheat and pack a few tennis snacks just in case.
Doubles Tennis Serving Rules
Once it is decided which team is serving first, the serving team chooses which player will serve for the first game of the match.
Likewise, the receiving team will decide which player receives serves for the first game.
The doubles team who received during the first game will be serving during the second game.
The role of serving switches again for the third game, but the other teammate will be serving this time.
The fourth game will be served by the team who served second, but once again by the other player.
This cycle repeats for the duration of the match.
The server will hit from the right side of the court for the first point of each game, and must switch sides for each point.
For each point, there are two chances to serve.
Feel free to use some power on your first serve — if it goes in, there is a good chance that your opponent will not be able to return it, or will make a weak return.
If your first serve hits the net or lands out of bounds, use less power on your second serve to make sure that it lands in the service box.
If you fault on both of your serves, you lose the point.
Doubles Tennis Scoring
There are four levels of scoring in tennis: points, games, sets, and matches. Points are awarded each time someone serves.
You win a point if your opponent’s shot hits the net or ground without going over, or if their shot goes out of bounds. (If a serve clips the net and lands in bounds, that is called a “let” and the serve is simply redone with no points awarded).
If the ball strikes the opponent’s body instead of their tennis racket, you are also awarded a point.
If the person serving hits their teammate with the ball, then the opposing team is awarded a point. Points are counted differently in tennis than in other sports. “Zero” in tennis is called “love.”
If a team has won one point, that is scored as 15. Two points is 30, and three points is 40.
So if your team is serving and has three points while your opponent has one, the serving partner will call out, “40-15.”
If a team earns four points while the opposing team has 2 or fewer, that is the end of the game.
If the two teams are tied at 40, that is called “deuce.”
In order to win a game in this situation, a team must score two points consecutively. Instead of counting numbers, this is usually tracked by calling “advantage in” if the serving team is one ahead, or “advantage out” if the receiving team is one ahead.
If, for instance, the serving team loses a point after calling “advantage in,” then the score returns to “deuce.”
This process is repeated until the end of the game. Teams switch sides after every odd-numbered game.
Sets are made up of games. Sets go to 6, but much like games, you must win by at least two.
This means that 6-4 is a winning score for a set, but 6-5 is not.
If the score is 6-5, another game is played.
Either a team will win 7-5, or if it gets tied at 6-6, then a tiebreaker game is played which determines the result of the set.
Finally, a match consists of at least two sets. If one team wins two sets consecutively, then the match is over.
If each team wins one set, then a third set is played to determine the winner of the match.
Doubles Tennis Positioning
If you’re at the net while your partner is serving or receiving a serve, start at the center of the box.
Stand slightly closer to the net on the first serve because your opponent is less likely to have a good return.
You may want to start a little further back on the second serve because your opponent’s return is likely to be stronger.
During the volley, the center of the service box is a good home base because it positions you to return shots up the middle or in the alley.
As you gain confidence in your racket skills, try to get as close to the net as you can when your opponent makes a weak shot.
When you’re right at the net, you can spike the ball, angle it so it goes out of reach quickly, or aim your shot at your opponent’s feet to make it difficult to return.
In doubles, it works best to make your serves from about halfway between the center of the baseline and the inner border of the alley.
When receiving a serve, a good place to stand is just to the inside of the alley just behind the baseline.
Serves in doubles tend to go wider than in singles.
Communication is crucial for making quick adjustments to positioning.
Many times it is easy to tell which shots should be returned by the net player, and which ones can be returned from the back of the court.
When there is doubt, simply call, “Mine!” if you think you can return it.
If you hear your teammate call it, keep it simple and let them take the shot, even if you think you’d handle it better.
It is even riskier to fight over the ball than to make a difficult return!
If you are at the net, trust your partner when they are making a return and keep your eyes forward.
Even a quick glance back can make it easy to lose track of the ball when your opponents take their shot.
Frequently Asked Questions About Doubles Tennis
One of the best ways to improve your doubles tennis game is by creating an open communication line with your doubles partner.
You need to pay on the same page when it comes to strategy and be supportive of one another on the court.
Yes it is completely legal to serve from the alley when playing doubles tennis.
I do this all of the time in my own play to switch up the angles I get on my serve.
There would be 4 players on the court during a standard doubles match.
Two people on each team.
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