The Art of Poaching

By Tom Avery

When playing doubles, as the server’s partner you play a huge part in whether he/she will hold serve.
If you ask doubles players, “what is the one thing that disturbs them most?”, they often respond with, “a net player that is moving around and poaching often.”
When the server’s partner is active at the net it can really shake up the opposing team. They’re always wondering when he’s going to poach or cut across again. This can really wreak havoc on the returning team. Here are a couple of reasons why being active when your partner is serving is so advantageous.

1.) When you’re active at the net and poaching, the returning team loses rhythm, not being sure if you’re going or not. They are forced to make more sharply angled cross-court returns, which often leads to mistakes. On the other hand, if the returning team knows that the net player never poaches, they can relax, knowing their returns do not have to be that good, they do not have to hit their return as sharply cross-court.

2.) Will you win the point every time you poach? Of course not, however, over the course of a match you can totally disrupt your opponents, and the percentages are in your favor. They’ll lose their rhythm and try to make their returns too good causing errors.

The 3 Keys To Becoming An Effective Poacher

1.) Go forward on the diagonal towards the net. This will enable you to cut the ball off and take it ‘early’. If you move too laterally, you take the ball later, which means it takes you longer to get to the ball and the ball could now be dipping lower, which will not be a good opportunity to put the ball away.

2.) Timing your move is critical, yet the easiest to master. Move when your partners serve bounces in the service box. At this moment, the returner must concentrate on the ball to hit an effective return. When you first try this you may feel you’re leaving too early, YOU’RE NOT and you’ll be in excellent position to put the return away.

3.) I saved the most important for last. When you give the signal or tell your partner you’re going to poach on the next serve, you must go 150%. You have to have the mentality that your partner is not there behind to back you up. You have to have the mentality that the returners return is YOUR BALL from net post to net post. If you consistently have this attitude you WILL become an effective poacher and everybody will want you as a doubles partner.
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