Tennis Doubles: Start With Clear Roles and Controlled Contact

Tennis doubles is two players against two players. Your first task is not to cover every possible shot: it is to know whose serve or return it is, start in a useful position, and make a clear decision about the next ball.

Begin with a simple pattern: one partner plays from the back of the court while the other prepares to volley—a shot hit before the ball bounces.

Know the rules before the first point

The doubles court includes the narrow strips outside the singles sidelines, often called alleys or tramlines. Those strips are in during rallies, but not for serves: the serve must still land in the usual service box diagonally opposite the server. A ball touching the relevant boundary line is in. These boundaries follow the ITF Rules of Tennis reproduced in the 2026 USTA Friend at Court handbook.

Before starting a set, settle two orders:

• Serving order: If your team serves first, choose who serves game one. An opponent serves game two, your partner serves game three, and the other opponent serves game four. Repeat that rotation for standard games throughout the set; tiebreaks use a different sequence of service turns.
• Receiving order: Choose who receives on the deuce side—the right half when facing the net—and who receives on the ad side, the left half. Keep those return assignments throughout the set.

In each standard game, the server starts behind the right half of the baseline and alternates halves after each point. The designated receiver must let the serve bounce before returning it. After the return, either partner may hit the next ball; you do not have to alternate shots. Both partners touching the ball on the same return loses the point. See ITF Rules 14, 15, 17 and 24 in the 2026 handbook.

Standard games use love, 15, 30, 40 and deuce, just as in singles. Before a match, check whether you are using advantage scoring or no-ad scoring, and whether a match tiebreak replaces the final set. Our tennis scoring guide explains those formats and the tiebreak serving sequence.

Give each partner a starting job

For your first games, use these starting positions:

Player	Starting position	First job
Server	Behind the baseline on the correct serving half	Serve into the diagonal service box, then prepare for the return
Server’s partner	On the other half, near the net and inside the singles sideline	Watch the receiver and prepare for a volley
Receiver	Diagonal from the server, around or behind the baseline	Return the serve after its bounce
Receiver’s partner	On the other half, around the service line	Read the return, then adjust forward or back

These are beginner starting positions, not places you must remain. They follow the LTA’s beginner doubles guidance. If the serve is pushing your return late, give yourself more room behind the baseline. If your partner’s return leaves an easy attacking ball, be ready to defend rather than automatically moving closer to the net.

Start returns and baseline rallies with a generous crosscourt target, diagonally toward the opposing back-court player. The LTA recommends this pattern to help keep the ball away from the opposing net player. Aim comfortably inside the lines rather than trying to use the extra alley width immediately.

For more on adjusting after contact, see where to stand and recover.

Prepare the volley: grip, contact, feet

At the net, start with a continental grip. Use our continental grip guide to find it; keep your familiar groundstroke grips for baseline shots.

Hold the racket in front of you while waiting. As the ball approaches, turn slightly and meet it slightly in front and off to the side rather than directly in front of your torso. Keep the action compact: a short block, not a full groundstroke backswing. The USTA’s beginner volley lesson emphasizes the continental grip, side-of-body contact and limiting the swing.

Add the feet before adding pace:

1. As the opponent hits, make a small split step—a light hop that brings you into a balanced ready position.
2. Land with your knees softly bent, ready to move either way.
3. Take adjustment steps to create space for contact, then recover your racket to the ready position.

The split step should interrupt your movement so you can react, not become a large jump. USPTA guidance on Tennis Resources describes this balance-and-timing role.

For a ball between partners, call “mine” or “yours” early, while it is travelling toward your team. Agree before play that the net player takes a reachable volley; a ball beyond that player’s comfortable reach belongs to the back-court partner. Treat this as your starting agreement, not a universal rule.

A cooperative doubles drill

Setup: Four players, a few balls, and one player near the net and one near the baseline on each team. Keep spare balls out of the playing area. Use gentle feeds rather than serves at first.

1. Check volley contact

One opposing player gently feeds five balls to each net player. Use the continental grip, make a small split step as the feeder hits, and block the ball toward a large central target. Reset after each feed. Avoid hard feeds at a player’s body.

2. Add the partner

The two baseline players rally crosscourt at a cooperative pace. Net players track the ball and split step at opposing contact. Occasionally, a baseline player sends a gentle ball within the opposing net player’s reach. That player calls “mine” and volleys under control, then everyone resets for a new rally. Otherwise, the baseline partner continues the rally.

Rotate front and back roles after five starts. The goal is a clear decision, not a winning volley.

3. Introduce the serve

When the fed version feels manageable, start with controlled serves and play the point out. Use the correct serving and receiving orders, and keep the same crosscourt return target.

Readiness checkpoint: In a set of ten gentle starts, aim for at least seven in which your team makes a clear ball-taking decision and a balanced return or volley into court. This is a practice target, not a test of ability. If both partners repeatedly chase the same ball, return to the fed version and fix the call before increasing speed.