By Coach Bo Alburo — ITF Men’s 35+ World #2 ranked singles player (official ITF profile) and doubles coach at TAG International Tennis Academy, Singapore. Reviewed by the TAG coaching team.

Most club players in Singapore lose doubles points long before they miss a shot. They lose them with their feet. After years competing on the ITF veterans’ circuit and coaching hundreds of players across Singapore, I can usually tell a team’s level within two service games — not from how hard they hit, but from where they stand and when they move. Here are the three positioning mistakes I correct most often, and the fixes you can apply in your very next social game.

Mistake 1: Living in One-Up-One-Back

The most common formation on Singapore club courts is one player at the net and their partner pinned on the baseline. It feels safe, but it hands the opposing net player a huge diagonal target and leaves a lane straight down the middle. Good teams simply hit through the gap between you.

The fix: move as a two-player wall. When your partner is pulled back to defend, you come back level with them; when you attack and take the net, they follow you forward. Both up or both back — you shift together like the two ends of a rope. The moment your positions split diagonally for more than a shot or two, you are exposed.

Mistake 2: Leaving the Middle Open

In doubles, the ball down the middle wins more points than the ball down the line — it splits the team, creates hesitation over whose ball it is, and removes the angle from your reply. Yet most club teams guard the alleys and leave a canyon up the centre.

The fix: default to protecting the middle, not the lines. As a pair, keep the distance between you smaller than you think — roughly the width of the service box. Agree in advance that the player on the forehand side takes anything ambiguous through the centre. A quick word between points — “middle is mine” — prevents the freeze that gives away easy points.

Mistake 3: Never Closing the Net

Plenty of players get to the net and then stop — parked a metre behind the service line in no-man’s-land, where they are too far back to volley aggressively and too far forward to defend the lob comfortably. That half-step short is where volleys get dumped into the net.

The fix: after your team hits a strong, deep ball, take two aggressive steps forward and split-step as your opponent strikes. Closing tight to the net turns a defensive half-volley into a put-away, and the pressure alone forces errors. Yes, you will occasionally get lobbed — that is a price worth paying, and your partner covers it by shifting back with you.

How to Groove These Habits in Singapore

Positioning is a physical habit, not a piece of knowledge — you cannot read your way to it. The fastest way to build it is repetition under a coach’s eye, which is exactly what our structured doubles and match-play sessions are built for. If you want dedicated tactical work, our private tennis lessons let us rebuild your movement point by point, while group tennis lessons give you live partners and opponents to drill against. Competitive juniors chasing tournament results should look at our competitive junior pathway, and adults returning to the game can start with adult tennis lessons at any level.

You can train these patterns with any of our certified TAG coaches, several of whom actively compete in the Singapore Open and STA Inter-Club A Division. For high-performance players, the elite coaching track led by Coach XT — tennis coach Singapore takes this tactical detail to the tournament level. Doubles specialists can also train with Japanese professionals at our partner academy Sanwa X, including former ATP #378 and All Japan Champion Coach Kento Takeuchi.

One last tip: if your reflexes and hands at the net need sharpening, the fastest-growing racquet sport in Singapore is a brilliant cross-trainer for exactly that. A few weeks of pickleball — or open play at our sister brand’s PickleChoo courts — will noticeably speed up your volley reactions on the tennis court.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should club players use one-up-one-back at all?

It has its place — mainly as a temporary defensive shape when your team is scrambling. The mistake is treating it as your default formation. As soon as you can, recover to both-back or both-up so you are moving as a unit rather than offering a diagonal target.

How close should I stand to my partner?

Closer than most players expect — roughly the width of a service box between you. That spacing protects the middle, where the most damaging doubles balls are hit, while still letting each player cover their outside shoulder.

Where can I take doubles coaching in Singapore?

TAG International Tennis Academy runs private and group sessions island-wide and indoors at Winchester Tennis Arena, with certified, tournament-proven coaches. See our tennis coaching programmes or reach us on WhatsApp at +65 8962 8400.

About the author: Coach Bo Alburo is the ITF Men’s 35+ World #2 ranked singles player and a nine-time Singapore Open champion, coaching competitive and recreational players across Singapore’s East region with TAG International Tennis Academy. Explore the full TAG coaching team.