From treating them the same to understanding they're completely different games
I was decent at singles. Then I'd play doubles and my partner would glare at me after the third time I hit a high clear that got smashed back at us.
"Stop lifting!" they'd yell. But lifting worked fine in singles—why was it killing us in doubles?
Took me two years to understand that singles and doubles are fundamentally different games that happen to use the same court and shuttle. Here's what I wish someone had explained to me on day one.
My first year, I played doubles exactly like singles. Hit high clears to push opponents back. Played long rallies. Focused on outlasting them.
Result? Got destroyed. Every clear I hit became a free smash for the front player. Every lift became an attack opportunity. I was basically feeding them winners.
The problem: in doubles, you have TWO players covering the court. Hitting it deep doesn't tire them out—they rotate and stay fresh. You need SPEED and ANGLES, not just placement.
Singles is about making your opponent run. You have the whole court to yourself, so the goal is to move them around until they're too slow to reach a shot.
Base position: Center court, slightly behind short service line. After EVERY shot, I sprint back to base. This lets me reach any corner in 2-3 steps.
Shot pattern: High clear to back corner → they clear back → I drop to front corner → they lift → I smash. Notice the pattern? Long, short, long, short. Dragging them front-to-back until they're gasping.
When to attack: Only when they're out of position or late recovering. Smashing when they're ready wastes energy. I wait for weak lifts or when they're caught flat-footed.
Singles matches at my club usually go 45+ minutes. If you go full power from point 1, you're dead by game 2. I pace myself early, build rallies, then crank up pressure when I see them slowing down.
💡 What Actually Helped: I stopped smashing every high ball. Started using smashes as a finishing shot, not a rally shot. Saved way more energy and won longer matches because I wasn't exhausted.
Doubles is the opposite. Rallies are short (3-10 shots), pace is fast, and lifting = death.
Formation: We rotate between side-by-side (defense) and front-back (attack) constantly. When opponents are smashing, we go side-by-side. When WE'RE attacking, front player at net, back player smashing.
Shot selection: Drives (fast and flat at chest height), push shots to the back line, net kills when they lift. I NEVER clear high unless I'm in desperate trouble—it just gives them a free attack.
Communication: My partner and I call everything. "Mine!" "Yours!" "Middle!" "Switch!" Silence = confusion = points lost. Good doubles teams sound like they're having a conversation mid-rally.
⚠️ Mistake I Made: Trying to cover the whole court in doubles like I was playing singles. My partner would just stand there while I scrambled everywhere. You need to TRUST your partner to cover their area. Split the court and stick to your zones.
This killed me for a full year. Shots down the middle would either have both of us going for it (leaving half the court open) or both of us assuming the other person would get it (and nobody moves).
Solution: We pre-decided. Player on forehand side takes middle shots. Why? Forehand is faster than backhand for most people. Simple rule, no more confusion.
Since implementing this, we've lost probably 80% fewer points to stupid middle-shot confusion.
In singles, I'd hit cross-court all the time. Creates wider angles, makes them run farther. Great strategy.
In doubles? Cross-court gets intercepted by the front player before it even reaches the back. I learned this the hard way after getting my shots killed probably 50 times in my first month.
What works in doubles: Straight down the line (avoids interception), down the middle (creates confusion between opponents), sharp angles AT THE NET (pulls them wide before they can intercept).
💡 Real Talk: The best doubles shot? Down the middle at their bodies. They have to decide who takes it, by the time they figure it out, the shuttle's past them. Use this probably 40% of the time in club doubles.
I see this at my club constantly. Good singles players come to doubles and struggle. Here's why:
They lift too much: In singles, lifting buys recovery time. In doubles, lifting = getting smashed.
They play too deep: Standing way back works in singles. In doubles, you need to be ready at mid-court for drives and flat shots.
They don't communicate: Singles is silent. Doubles requires constant talking. Silent partners lose.
They try to do everything: In singles, you ARE everything. In doubles, you're 50% of the team. Trust your partner.
Other direction has problems too. I've seen great doubles players struggle in singles:
They play too fast: Doubles pace in singles burns you out in 10 minutes. Singles needs endurance pacing.
They don't return to base: In doubles, you stay in your zone. In singles, you need to sprint back to center after EVERY shot.
They attack too early: Doubles rewards fast attacks. Singles punishes early attacks when opponent is still ready—wastes energy.
They neglect back corners: In doubles, your partner covers some corners. In singles, YOU cover all six corners. Fitness demands are way higher.
Honest answer? Most club players should focus on doubles first.
Why? Doubles is more social (you have a partner), less physically demanding for beginners, more forgiving of individual mistakes, and more common at clubs.
Singles is brutal. You need serious fitness, mental toughness, and willingness to suffer through 45-minute battles. But it gives you complete control over results—no bad partners to blame.
I play both now. Doubles for fun and social games. Singles when I want a fitness challenge and complete control over my performance.
After 10+ years of playing both formats, here's what I know: stop trying to play them the same way.
I wasted two years playing doubles like singles. Hit high clears, built long rallies, tried to outlast opponents. My partners hated playing with me because I kept giving opponents easy attacks.
Once I learned the strategic differences—keep it flat in doubles, hit high in singles; attack fast in doubles, attack patient in singles; trust partner in doubles, trust yourself in singles—my doubles win rate jumped from maybe 40% to 65% in about 3 months.
Learn both formats, but learn them DIFFERENTLY. The racket's the same, the court's similar, but the strategy is completely opposite. Respect that, adjust your game accordingly, and you'll improve at both.
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