Moving as one unit
Fitness · Advanced
Explanation
openTwo players who move well are not yet a good doubles pair. Only when you move in coordination with each other — as one unit, not as two individuals — do you really cover the court. That is the athletic side of doubles.
The basic rule is: you are connected, as if an invisible band hangs between you. If one moves left, the other moves along to close the gap that opens. If one goes forward to the ball, the other covers behind. You always keep a sensible distance from each other — close enough to complement one another, far enough to cover the area.
From this follows the most important movement discipline in doubles: never both run to the same ball. That is the most common and most expensive mistake. When both chase the same Speeder, half the area stands open, and the opponent's next ball is guaranteed to land there. Whoever takes the ball calls it; the other stays and covers.
The paths are no accident here. After every stroke you realign together, so that you stand balanced again. This constant joint reordering is work — it costs fitness and attention — but it is the difference between a pair and two players running alongside each other.
You are like two windshield wipers on a windscreen running in sync. When they move in coordination, no spot stays dry. When they run against each other, they jam and the windscreen stays dirty.
Exercise
openOn the invisible band
Goal
Move in coordination as a pair, close gaps, never both to the same ball.
How to do it
- Move across the court as a pair and imagine a band connects you: if one goes, the other moves along.
- Have balls played into different areas and practice that one always goes and the other secures the gap.
- Call on every ball who takes it, so that both never set off.
- Realign together after every stroke, so that you stand balanced again.
- Increase the pace only once the coordinated movement is in place.
Self-check
Does the distance between you stay sensible, or do you clump together and leave one half open? Do you ever both run to the same ball? Watch whether you realign as a pair after every stroke. The coordinated movement is strenuous, and that is exactly why it's a training goal.
Wrap-up
Moving as a unit is the athletic foundation of doubles. Once it's in place, the two of you cover more than two individual players ever could.
Classification
- Playing goals
- Doubles-specific solutions, Repeated acceleration speed
- Prerequisites
- Doubles as its own game