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University of Waterloo Badminton Club
O.B.A. Mixed Doubles Strategy
This document was prepared for the O.B.A. by Mr. John Gilbert, Level
III Coach
1. Introduction
2. Service (a) Woman (b) Man
3. Reception of Service (a) Woman (b) Man
4. Offensive Play, Role of (a) Woman (b) Man
5. Defensive Play, Role of (a) Woman (b) Man
6. Conclusion
1. Introduction
Men, if you want to play singles, play singles; if you want to impress
the girl, take her to dinner or a movie; but, if you want to play mixed,
play mixed. You will note that all three are alternatives and do not
necessarily co-exist. In this discussion of mixed doubles, I am assuming
both men and women wish to play mixed doubles and are prepared to accept
their proper responsibilities. For purposes of organization, I am going
to discuss mixed doubles under the following headings:
I. Service (a) Woman (b) Man
II. Reception of Service (a) Woman (b) Man
III. Offensive Play, Role of (a) Woman (b) Man
IV. Defensive Play, Role of (a) Woman (b) Man
2. Service
(a) Woman
Many men in mixed doubles have a habit of intimidating the opposing
woman by smashing her serve directly back at her. This tends to have
a compounding effect as the fear of the smash leads to a poorer service.
The consequent effect is an intimidated woman and her irritated partner
because of her inefficient service. Therefore, the woman in mixed must
practice
(1) a short service which is very low to the net. What is important
is that the serve is close to the top of the net, how far back it lands
in the court is largely irrelevant.
(2) The woman should also develop a second serve - either a flick or
a flat drive service - which is disguised until the point of contact
to appear as a short serve. A judicious mixture of these serves should
keep the opposing man off balance so that his rush loses its effectiveness.
Try not to show you are afraid of the rush - look him in the eye before
service and then calmly decide on your service. After short service,
keep your racket up and follow your serve part way to the net until
your position is roughly at the "T" formed by the centre court
line and the front service line. After a long service, take the defensive
action described under "Defensive Play, Role of Woman".
(b) Man
Since the man in conventional mixed covers the court area bounded by
the front service line, the side lines and the back line, he must serve
from the centre of this area so he will be in position for the ensuing
return. This will seem more apparent when it is remembered that the
service being struck below the waist is therefore a defensive stroke.
The man should serve, therefore, from about four or five feet back from
the front service line and standing very close to the center court line.
Since he is further back, his serve takes longer to cross the net and
thus allows the opponents more time to rush in and smash it down. Therefore,
the man's service must be particularly close to the net and should be
hit fairly quickly to obviate the speed question already mentioned.
Again, it is largely irrelevant how far back of the front service line
the bird lands, provided it passes close to the top of the net. Like
the woman, the man should practise variations of service disguised as
much as possible and should mix these serves in a game. Of course, both
women and men should consistently exploit any obvious weakness in their
opponents' reception of serve.
3. Reception of Serve
(a) Woman
If short served, a woman should vary her return, using the following:
1. net dribble to the alley closest to her
2. net dribble to the alley furthest from her
3. push the bird directly back at the server You should then follow
this return in to the net with your racket up and either force the opposing
woman to lift the bird or, if she net drops the bird back, you can pounce
on it and knock it to the floor. Note this shot should be hit as steeply
as possible to the floor.If long served, a woman should smash the bird
as follows:
1. at the opposing woman
2. straight down the sideline You should then follow the bird to the
net as soon as possible. Your partner should cover everything except
the bird hit directly back to you.
(b) Man
If the man rushes the serve well he should have his partner straddle
the centre line about half court. If she takes this position, he must
rush the serve to either alley or the opposing man's body forcibly enough
to make the opposing man return it weakly either to him at the net for
an easy put away or half court to the lady where her smash well placed
should be most effective.If the man does not rush serve well, he should
leave his partner in her normal position and should use the returns
recommended for the lady. Immediately after hitting such a shot he should
return to his position at three quarter court. If the opposing man attempts
to anticipate these returns and moves too far forward, you should hit
the occasional lob to the backhand deep corner.
4. Offensive Play, Role of:
(a) Woman
In conventional mixed doubles the offensive court is divided into two
zones with the woman responsible for the up zone from the net to about
a foot behind the front service line. I would suggest that women encourage
their male partners on occasion to gain respect for the difficulties
of this position by playing it themselves in practice. It is difficult
position and involves almost endless crouching, anticipation and quick
movement and is a suicidal spot if the bird is unexpectedly lifted.
In this "up" position, the woman is responsible for all net
shots and cutting off as many flat shots as possible, especially the
cross court ones. She must avoid lifting the bird at all costs. Therefore,
she must become very proficient at net play and blocking drives. Keep
your racket up and angled slightly forward so any shots hitting it will
fly in a flat or downward trajectory. Take all net shots as high as
possible, preferably with overhead strokes. When blocking flat shots,
block: do not swing at them to any noticeable degree, it will cause
faulting. Remember, your job is to set up your partner by forcing your
opponents to lift, and to finish some rallies off with put always from
the net. A put away is just that, it must never come back. Be certain
you are able to smash that bird very sharply downwards to the floor
rather than hitting it towards the floor at three quarter court where
the opposing man easily handles it. The result of this premature "smash"
is often to lose the offensive advantage you had been developing. In
fact, it would be a good idea for a woman to play mixed without ever
hitting a bird to the opposing man.
(b) Man
The man is responsible for the rest of the court not assigned to the
woman (see above). Let me suggest, men, that if the women appear to
be weak and thus ineffective (on the court of course!), hit the bird
to them and exploit those weaknesses. Do not hit back and forth with
the opposing man: it may look good but it is not the way to win mixed
doubles. Play the woman, forcing the opposing man to come closer to
the net to help her out. As he comes closer to the net, he will be increasingly
out of position. Then hit quick, flat, straight drives down the sidelines,
preferably down the backhand. Be careful with crosscourt drives: a good
opposing woman will cut there of and almost inevitably they are winners
or lead to winners. Once you have the opposing man in the backhand corner,
leave him there. There is very little he can do from that position and
you should definitely be able to win the rally.
5. Defensive Play, Role Of:
(a) Woman
Defensive play in mixed doubles is defined as whenever the opposing
team is in a position merely to push the bird downwards from the net.
The latter situation results instantaneously from the net play and a
woman is in position to do anything other than protect her face of flail
blindly at the bird.The bird should never be lifted in mixed except
in emergencies. If you do lift, try to lift it as high and deep to a
back corner as the gym permits. The woman should position herself a
few feet back of the front service line diagonally to the smash. Because
of the greater distance on the diagonal, her position now is the same
distance as her partner is:
If she is capable, she should crouch and return the bird by overhead
blocking. If she is not quick enough for this, she should retreat further
down the crosscourt sideline and square off with her back to the sideline
and retrieve entirely with a backhand or forehand, depending on the
side of the court she is on. If she is in the further up position, she
is responsible for the smash and as much of the possible drop shot area
as she can. If she is in the further back position, she is responsible
for the smash, the drop in front of her and a flat clear in her direction.
For all intents and purposes, a long service should be treated as a
deep high lift. Whatever the case, always cover as much court from a
side line in on a smash and drop as possible and return the bird with
a net drop or flat push.
(b) Man
For the man, the defensive court if obviously the area not covered by
the woman. As well, the man is responsible for a high clear hit over
the woman's head. Because of the time factor in its trajectory, the
woman should be able to move back into her offensive position and the
man should be able to move quickly enough to smash the bird. Note that
when the bird is lifted in mixed, both the woman and the man have a
very difficult job ahead of them. Therefore, avoid lifting and, if necessary,
attempt to flatten your return of the smash.6. Conclusion
Here are just a few final reminders. The woman at the net in mixed is
in a very vulnerable position. She cannot see the play developing as
can the man from the back court. She is almost always in a crouch. The
man in mixed should be considerate in this regard and avoid a style
of play which will make her task more difficult. Like men's or ladies'
doubles, mixed is a team game. Partners must complement each other and
work to be greater than the sum total of two individuals. There is no
room for the women's libber or the male chauvinist on the mixed court.
