Court Positions for Doubles Tennis

Now that you have found the right partner and worked on the first ball (serve and return), it's time to talk about court positioning.

There are three basic court positions for doubles tennis: two up, two back and one up, one back.
Two Up

Two up means that both players are positioned at the net. This is the best of the three because you are offensive and can cover most of the court from this configuration.

The one wild card is the lob. Because there is nobody there to back you up, covering the lob can be tricky for the weekend warrior. You must learn to recognize the lob earlier by watching the opponent’s court position and racket face.

For example, if you've come in behind a deep approach shot or hit a deep first volley and you see your opponent back up, odds are you will see a lob. Anticipation is the key to covering the lob effectively.