Back in the late 1970s and early 80s Peter Fleming won 66 professional doubles tournaments and summed up the secret to his success with the following assertion – “The best doubles team in the world is John McEnroe and anybody else.” There’s no question about that; Fleming was quite fortunate that his partner was arguably the best male doubles player ever. Although winning at doubles is a team effort, sometimes one of the players is clearly better than his partner. This can be a tricky dynamic to overcome if you don’t properly play your part. Here are a couple of mental pointers to remember:
The weaker player needs to relax and play freely: If your partner has the stronger credentials, than you can be loose and just enjoy yourself. In a sense, you’re playing with house money. Don’t get reckless, but play confidently and go for your shots. There’s a real danger in this situation of becoming too tentative and scared to make mistakes. Being overly cautious can result in just as many errors as being reckless. Your partner will not disown you if you don’t play flawlessly.
The stronger player needs to play within himself: It’s obvious you’re the better player, but you don’t have to try to prove it on every point. If you try to cover the whole court and hog too many shots, not only will you make too many errors, but you’ll crush your partner’s confidence in the process. He’ll think you have no faith in his abilities and that you must do everything yourself. That’s not teamwork, and it’s a tough way to win. Be assertive, but don’t feel you need to end the point every time the ball touches your racquet.