Here’s a quick test that will help you improve your net game instantly: next time you play doubles, notice where you stand when your partner is rallying from the baseline.
If your typical spot is close to the service line, you have found the single biggest fix available to your game: requiring no lessons, no new technique, and no athletic improvement whatsoever!
Will Boucek, founder of Tennis Tribe and a doubles strategy analyst for ATP and WTA tour players, identifies standing too far back at the net as the most common and costly positioning mistake he sees at the 3.0 to 4.5 club level.
Here’s why…
When you’re near the service line, volleys are typically dipping, requiring you to bend and lift to make contact with the ball and get it back over the net.
Because of the difficulty of the volley, players often “pop it up” from the service line, giving the other team an easy put-away.
It’s tough to create angles so far back from the net—meaning it’s harder to finish the point with a solid, well-placed volley.
So, when should you move closer to the net?
On your partner’s first serve;
During a baseline rally (especially when your opponent is hitting from a defensive position), and
When both opponents are at the baseline.
These scenarios all offer you opportunities to poach aggressively and win the point. Your volleys will be better (and easier!) if you are close to the net.
The mental shift required is as important as the physical one. Many players drift toward the service line because it feels safer, giving you more time to react and more court to cover.
But what actually does is make every volley harder while removing the threat that an active net player can create.
An opponent who sees you camped near the service line is not afraid of you.
An opponent looking at a player positioned properly at the net and looking for a poach? That is a different calculation entirely!
Move up. It will feel uncomfortable at first. That discomfort is the point — it means you are actually at the net.
