See where your serves and returns land: a simple sheet for a doubles pair
A way to record where each serve and return goes, using a sketch of the court, so your pair can spot patterns and choose what to practise.
Why record serve and return
The BWF manual says that in doubles, serving and returning serve play a large part in deciding the outcome of a match. Feeling that "my serve is fine" is not the same as seeing where it goes. A written record shows it.
The sheet
Draw the half court that receives the serve, as a rectangle with its service lines. Make four sketches for each player: when serving from the left court, serving from the right court, returning in the left court and returning in the right court. Add one box of notes. This follows the layout of the BWF Level 2 manual's doubles template, which has columns for serving and returning, and for the left and right court, for player 1 and player 2, with space for notes.
How to use it
- A friend or teammate watches a game or a practice and puts a dot on the sketch where they estimate the shuttle landed after each serve or each return.
- After the game, look at the dots with your partner. Ask: where do my serves land most often? Which side does the opponent return to? Where do my returns go?
- Pick two or three points to work on in the next practice. The manual suggests keeping support simple and focusing on two or three important points rather than many.
Things to notice
- Do all serves land in the same place? A receiver who can guess where it lands has an easier job. The manual recommends varying where you serve.
- Do your returns go to the same area? A fast opponent will wait for it.
- Are the returns easier to attack from one court than from the other?
Other quick records the manual mentions
Counting winners and errors is measurable and easy, but it does not show the shots that led to them, and the manual says it is harder to do in doubles. Another method is just to watch the whole game and select two or three crucial things. An abbreviation list (for example LS for low serve, FS for flick serve) shortens notes.
Limits
Dots are estimates, and a friend watching may be wrong by a racket length or more. Use them to find a pattern, not to measure. A small sample proves little: record several games before drawing conclusions. The manual gives no figures for good or bad scores, and we do not either.
General practice advice: play within your limits and stop if something hurts.