On-court communication

In a pair on a doubles team, good communication can make the difference between winning and losing games. 

Good communication habits will allow you to more easily adapt to changing between partners, and beat better players who are not communicating.  

However, you must still adhere to the practicality of the sport, so communication between partners must be brief, efficient, and within the rules.  

Hand signals

Typically for telling your partner what serve you are going to make. You can do this verbally (hide your mouth and speak quietly) or using a hand signal behind your back:

👇 - short serve - be ready to attack the lift return, move immediately to a front and back position 

👍- flick serve - be ready to immediately go to side-by-side position

✊ - punch / drive serve - be ready to attack a loose return

👈 - side / slice serve - be ready for a return to the opposite corners

Your stance and position should be identical for all serves, don’t give away your tactics to the opposition by having a distinct position or pose for a specific type of serve.

Verbal signals

Within the rules, you can talk or call to your partner while the shuttle is in the air, short words can help you communicate quickly and effectively.

Watch it - I think it might be going out, use your judgement

No - I’m sure it’s going out, leave it

Yes - I’m sure it’s going in, return it

Short - I think the serve may be short

Sides - move to side-by-side position (usually when you’ve lifted it to the mid-court)

Mine - I want to take this shot

You / yours - Take the shot, I’ll move away

Go - attack it

In - move toward the net

Encouragement and honesty

The mental game is often overlooked, but can easily be nurtured through repeated use of positive reinforcement, even when things are going wrong, to help your partner maintain focus, or not get too excited when you are getting ahead.

Good - reward for any good shot

Sorry, that was my fault - when your weak return has been smashed at your partner - you don't want them to blame themselves for your error!

Well done, keep going - when your partner is doing well and you don't want them to change anything

Well reached - on big runs and long lunges

Good run of serves, well done - particularly after you’ve gained the lead but just lost a rally

It’s not over yet, keep going - especially when you’ve lost a string of points or a seemingly endless rally

Keep it boring - focus on getting basics right, don’t get distracted 

Tactics

You have only a few seconds between points to identify issues in your game, and opportunities to exploit your opponents. At lower levels where play is less consistent, this is more straightforward. For example:

X seems to have a weak backhand, let’s target that corner when they are at the back

Y seems to be much stronger, let’s try to ignore them and put the partner under pressure

They are serving consistently too high, let’s attack that on the return of serve

Their clears seem weak, let's push them to the back