I-formation is a

doubles tennis Men's doubles, Women's doubles or Mixed doubles are sports having two players per side, including; * Beach volleyball * Doubles badminton * Doubles curling * Footvolley * Doubles pickleball * Doubles squash * Doubles table tennis * Doubles te ...

strategy carefully planned to confuse the opponent returning the serve. "The name comes from its resemblance to American football's

I formation The I formation is one of the most common offensive formations in American football. The I formation draws its name from the vertical (as viewed from the opposing endzone) alignment of quarterback, fullback, and running back, particularly when ...

, in which the

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

positions right behind the halfback, who positions right behind the

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

." "The net player on the serving team crouches down (so they do not get hit by the serve) on the centre service line. The server hits the serve from directly behind her on the baseline". The net player then indicates (privately), typically with their hands behind their back, which side of the court they will move to as the return of serve is hit. These hand gestures let the server at the baseline know which side of the court they are to serve to, and then move to. For intermediate players, such as league or club players, it is recommended that the server head to the opposite side to which the net player is headed so that maximum court coverage is obtained. Advanced competitors, such as professional and tour players, are known to use other combinations (for example,

Australian doubles Traditionally, tennis is played between two people in a singles match, or two pairs in a doubles match. Tennis can also be played on different courts, including grass courts, clay courts, hard courts, and artificial grass courts. Standard types ...

) which deliberately expose one side of the court to entice the return of serve to be hit into the open space. The ultimate aim is for the net player to cut off the return of serve, hopefully ending the point.

Why I-formation is effective

In doubles

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, it is beneficial to keep the ball away from the opposition net player, because it is easy to hit a point-winning shot from closer to the net than any other position on the court. This tactic has the player returning the serve guess which side the opponents net player will be on. Therefore, there is a 50–50 chance that the person returning the serve is going to hit the ball right into the opposing net player, which can be the worst place to return the serve in doubles.

Why I-formation is effective

See also

References

Further reading