Because we spend as much time on the court talking about positioning I haven’t put it down in writing, so now I will.  The positioning in doubles is most important in being able to get an advantage over the other team.  As a matter of fact, consistently having the best positions will lead to victory more than being a better hitter.  Why?  Because being in a better position means having easier shots and more opportunities to end points.  If I’m playing against someone with a higher skill level than myself, but I can arrange to hit easier shots than they do all day long it changes the equation.

Server:  It makes sense to almost everyone to move further out to the sideline since the court is wider for doubles than it is for singles, however, equally as important a reason as that is to allow your net player to move to the middle of their service box and become the threat to the other team that makes real doubles different than a baseline game with 2 players watching.  Moving to the outside opens the angles for the server to hit anyplace in the service box without worrying about hitting the netplayer.

Receiver:   This is the easiest to understand.  Since the server is serving from a wider angle, the receiver needs to move outside a bit also in order to be in the middle of the probable angles.

Netman (Server’s Partner):  Smack dab in the absolute middle of the service box.  Side to side and front to back.  This positioning forces the receiver into a smaller return area as they have to make sure the return goes further crosscourt than if the netman plays too far to the outside or too far back.  This creates errors besides opening opportunities for the netman.  The question that invariably comes up is regarding receivers hitting up the line into the alley.  First of all if the server is hitting a good serve this is a very low percentage play.  Even if they are being given a good chance to hit in the alley it is because the serve itself is wide.  If that’s the case then the netman can see the receiver move to the outside long before the hit and should move to cover the alley and force the receiver to go crosscourt or be in position to hit a winner up the middle.

Hotseat Player (Receiver’s partner):  This player should be within one step of the “T” (intersection of the service line and center service line).  If the opposing netman knows what they are doing they will aim for the “T” about 90% of the time, so the hotseat player needs to be able to reach that shot.  The hotseat player takes their queue from the netman and starts out by facing them.  If the netman makes a move to the return the hotseat player stays at the service line, if the netman doesn’t make a play for the return then the hotseat player moves up to the net himself in order to pressure the server’s first shot.

What this does is turn four players on the court into doubles players rather than four singles players alternating groundstroke rallies until someone misses.  It is faster with more winners and more fun especially if tactically your team is superior.  If your skill levels are equal this is a huge advantage.