Essential Tennis

Essential Tennis Essential Tennis exists to provide tennis instruction, news, and community to tennis enthusiasts everywhere. Improve your game! http://www.essentialtennis.com/
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08/28/2026

How to ATTACK Short Sitters

Tracking the ball in doubles is a habit. Tracking your opponent at the net is a skill.Most players never make the switch...
08/28/2026

Tracking the ball in doubles is a habit. Tracking your opponent at the net is a skill.

Most players never make the switch — and it costs them points they don't even realize they're losing.

The good news? Once you know what to look for, it becomes second nature fast.

What cues do you track when you're returning in doubles? Tell me below.

08/27/2026

How to NOT MISS down the line:

Their eyes go up. Their racket raises. Their weight shifts.That's your warning.Doubles isn't just about where the ball i...
08/27/2026

Their eyes go up. Their racket raises. Their weight shifts.

That's your warning.

Doubles isn't just about where the ball is going — it's about reading what the other team is about to do. The sooner you learn to see those tells, the sooner you start making moves before they make theirs.

What do YOU look for to anticipate at the net? Drop it in the comments.

08/26/2026

How to FIX Your Unreliable Forehand

There's a habit most doubles players have that costs them points before the ball even comes to them.When the ball goes t...
08/26/2026

There's a habit most doubles players have that costs them points before the ball even comes to them.

When the ball goes to your partner, you watch them hit it. Seems reasonable. But the moment your eyes follow the ball behind you, you've gone blind to everything happening on the other side of the net. The net player is reading your partner's shot. Deciding whether to poach. Shifting their weight. Cheating toward the middle. All of it is happening right in front of you and you're not looking.

By the time the ball comes back and you're watching the court again, whatever they were going to do is already in motion. You're reacting to a move that started while you weren't paying attention.

Watch your partner long enough to see if they're in trouble. Then get your eyes on the opponent across the net BEFORE they hit.

08/25/2026

How to control forehand DEPTH and SPIN

Most doubles players are watching the ball when the most important thing on the court isn't the ball at all.When the bal...
08/25/2026

Most doubles players are watching the ball when the most important thing on the court isn't the ball at all.

When the ball moves past you and heads back toward your partner, your instinct is to keep tracking it. Watch it travel. See what your partner does. But while you're doing that, the net player across from you is moving, reading, deciding. And you have no idea.

The shift is simple but it changes everything. After the ball passes you, take a quick look at your partner to check their position. Then, before they hit, move your eyes to the opponent across the net. That's where your information is. That's where the point is being decided.

The ball will come back but the net player's MOVE won't wait.

08/24/2026

How to train tossing out in front:

The most counterintuitive thing about doubles: the most important player to watch sometimes isn't the one hitting the ba...
08/24/2026

The most counterintuitive thing about doubles: the most important player to watch sometimes isn't the one hitting the ball.

Every instinct you have says track the ball. You've been told your whole tennis life to keep your eyes on it, and in singles that's basically right. But in doubles, there's someone standing at the net who can end the point before the ball ever reaches you.

When your partner is in a crosscourt rally, the net player on the other side is threatening to poach, covering angles, and communicating exactly what they plan to do with their body position before they do it. None of that information is available if you're locked on the ball.

Watching the net player doesn't mean ignoring the ball. It means reading them between shots. When they're drifting toward the middle, go behind them. When they're frozen, play your normal shot. The ball tells you WHEN. The net player tells you WHERE.

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