In every new doubles partnership one of the first decisions that has to be made is who plays the ad court. You might have heard the typical answer: ‘You have the better backhand so you should play the ad court.’ But that’s not always the right answer. In fact, this line of reasoning has a couple of potential flaws. Consider this:
The toughest backhand returns are from the deuce court: Assuming we’re discussing righties, the partner returning from the deuce court has the task of hitting those difficult inside-out backhand returns needed to avoid the net man. In contrast, the player hitting backhand returns in the ad court gets to hit standard crosscourt backhands. On top of that, most players at the 4.5 level and below can’t consistently hit strong serves out wide anyway. So, for most of us, the person playing the ad court will hit just as many forehands as backhands, probably more.
The steadiest player should take the ad court: This should be your top factor for determining who returns on which side in doubles. Six of the game’s potential game-winning points are started from the ad court: 40-30, 30-40, 40-0, 0-40, ad-in, and ad-out. The only such points begun in the deuce court are 40-15 and 15-40. Therefore, it makes sense to have your most consistent returner in the ad court to increase your likelihood of making successful returns on these important points.