When to and when not to poach

Poaching is a fabulous way to take opposing teams out of their rhythm yet, for many players, it’s a scary proposition. I can’t tell you how often I watch recreational doubles where two players are standing on the baseline exchanging ground strokes while their respective partners remain virtually motionless at the net. The only part of their bodies that move are their heads as they watch the ball go back and forth, hoping that it comes to them, or, in some cases, that it doesn’t.

This is not doubles! It’s singles with two statues. High level doubles is a game of quick movements, fast exchanges and, you got it, lots of poaching!

When you and your partner commit to poaching, your team immediately becomes stronger in two ways. First, you’ll gain the ability to end points in a quick and intimidating manner. Second and, in my opinion, most important, when you’re active at the net, you’ll forever keep your opponents off-balance.

Poaching falls into two categories. The first is what I like to call the “there it is” poach. This is when you see a weak return then cross in front of your partner to go after it. Actually, I don’t really consider this poaching, it’s common sense! If you’re standing at the net and your opponent hits a feeble, floating return, you’re supposed to go after it. That’s your job!

True poaching, in my opinion, falls under the “here I go” category. This means you’ve decided to make a move before your opponent actually strikes the shot. It’s risky, exciting, and, when executed correctly, immediately takes the wind out of your opponent’s sails.

Which Balls to Poach?

Though the opportunity to poach can arise at any moment, the easiest way to get started is when your team is serving because you and your partner can set up the play before the point begins. This is what’s going on when you see the pros using hand signals. They’re setting up a play. They decide where the serve is going and whether the net player is going to poach, fake, or stay.

Actually, I urge my players to avoid using hand signals because I find that far too often, players will either neglect to flash them or forget what they mean. I know, it’s not that complicated: open fist means go, closed fist means stay, etc., etc. However, after thirty years of watching players struggle more to coordinate their hand signals than the actual poach, I tell them to set the play up verbally.

After virtually every point, doubles teams have a brief meeting. The conversation is usually something simple such as “nice shot or good try.” Occasionally it gets nasty as one partner might snarl to the other, “how could you miss that, or that ball was mine.”

Anyway, the point is that more often than not there’s communication between teammates before every point (or at least there should be). That being the case, I find players have more success setting up their plays verbally. For example, “serve down the middle and I’m going to go” or “serve out wide and I’ll fake.” That’s it. It takes two seconds, doesn’t disrupt the flow of play, and both you and your partner are clear as to what’s going to happen.

So you’ve set up the play: your partner is going to serve towards the “T” and you’re going to move across the court and nail the volley. Now comes the tricky part. The key to successful poaching lies in the timing. If you move too soon, you’re opponent will have time to adapt and if you move too late, you won’t be able to catch up to the ball.

When Do I Make My Move?

As your opponent moves towards the shot and you’ve made the decision to poach, begin moving closer to the net. Keep your eyes glued to her racquet head. When you see it begin to move forward into the ball, you know she’s committed to his shot. Now is the time to make your move!

Push off your outside leg and, moving diagonally towards the net, sprint across the court. By moving at a forward angle, you’ll get closer to the net and cut off your opponent’s shot sooner, giving them less time to react.

Where Do I Hit My Volley?

One of the risks in poaching is that, since you are moving before your opponent strikes the ball, you don’t know what type of shot you’re going to have to play. If all goes as planned, you’ve got a nice fat ball to volley. Where are you going to hit it? You’re going to drill it right at the feet of the opposing net player. He’s closer which means that he has less time to react.

I can’t tell you how often I see club players execute a perfectly timed poach only to volley the ball back to the baseline player. That player then, with a huge smile on his face, drives a winner right back down the poachers vacated alley. This is one of those times when the between point meetings might illicit a nasty remark.

If you’ve poached and are facing a strong low shot, have no fear, you still have a play. Since the ball is low, you’ll have to volley “up,” so you want to be sure to keep it away from the opposing net player. To do so, try a soft, angled, drop volley, crosscourt. This is not an easy shot to execute so if you don’t feel you can control the ball, volley back to the baseline player. Yes, your alley is still wide open but, if your partner is paying attention, he has already begun moving to cover it—as he should.

Other Poaching Possibilities

Aside from the return of serve, here are two other scenarios where you can look to poach.

When your opponent is hitting an inside groundstroke. By “inside” I mean a ball towards the center of their court. When they’re hitting from the center, they’ll be swinging away from their body, which for most players will produce a weaker shot.

Plus, from the center of the court, the chances of an opponent being able to create a sharp angle, back into your alley, are slim. You can be relatively certain that they’ll be hitting back to your partner so your poaching antenna should go up.
When your partner is returning serve against a serve and volley player. When facing a serve and volley player, the receiver’s goal is to return the serve down low at the feet. When faced with this difficult volley, the odds are that the opponent will hit the percentage shot, which is back to the receiver. As the receiver’s partner, look for those low returns. When you spot one, take two quick steps forward and then, just before contact, move diagonally across the net, pick off the volley and end the point with a strong volley of your own.
A quick aside: always beware of poaching when your partner hits a shot wide. Wide shots are hit on an angle and angles are often returned with angles. Your opponent’s return will usually be traveling at an angle that will be too difficult for you to reach. Plus, when pulled wide, he also has a straight shot down the line so you must move to cover your alley.

If Disaster Strikes

You’ve picked your ball to poach, made a good move, and the worst possible scenario occurs: your opponent drives the ball behind you, into your alley for a winner. Now what do you do? You feel embarrassed, apologize to your partner, and never poach again, right? Wrong! You say “nice shot,” move onto the next point, and immediately look to poach again.

To be an effective force at the net you must have a thick skin. I tell my players that if they attempt to poach ten times during the course of a set, they’ll probably be a hero 4-6 times and look like an idiot the rest. “So what’s the point?” they frequently ask.

The point is that, by being active at the net, you’ll create an atmosphere of uncertainly with your opponents. Your job is to make your opponents aware, no make that afraid of you. If you play the net like a statue, they’ll have no fear and be much more relaxed and able to swing away.

However, if you’re up on your toes, poaching, faking, and moving as they prepare to return, you’ll keep them off balance. By planting the seed in your opponents’ minds that you might poach, you’ll force them into many weak shots and errors. This is the, not so apparent, benefit of poaching.

Always remember, do not gauge your poaching success by the number of times you hit a winning volley or how often you screw up the point. Until you get to a very high level, those two things may very well balance out.

The next time you and your partner take the court, commit to trying 1-2 poaches each game. Be patient and, as your poaching skill improves, you’ll see that the true benefit of being active at the net is the pressure you’ll put on your opponents each and every time they take their racquets back.

A drill to Sharpen your Poaching Skills

You’ll need two of your tennis buddies: one to serve and one to return serve. Have the server practice serving to the T, which is probably the most important serve to have in doubles. The receiver practices his inside out return and you practice timing your poach. After 10 serves, rotate positions. Once each player has practiced from all three spots, go around again only this time the person receiving serve has the option of trying to hit down the net player’s alley.