If your doubles game is hurting, you might be wondering why, but the answer might be something you don’t expect. As it turns out, communication is important in every context, but it’s especially important in tennis. It’s pretty hard to play a good round of doubles if you and your teammate don’t know what each other are doing, after all. Here are some great tips that will improve your communication and your game!

On-The-Court Communication

When you’re on the court, communication is key, but it’s sometimes one of the most annoying things. It’s best to keep it short and sweet, and use as little words as possible to get your point across. After all, those few split seconds where your teammate is listening to you talk instead of going for the ball- that can make all the difference. So keep it concise, and down to one word if you can- just use ‘up’ or ‘back’ or ‘you’. Make sure that you’ve agreed on a vernacular beforehand- if you call out a play that your teammate doesn’t know, that can cause you to lose possibly even more time than if you had just said it longer.

Chatting Between Matches

Between matches is a great time to have a longer conversation with your teammate. Plan your attack, and make sure you both understand what you’re doing. Go over where you’ll be serving to, what’s going on right now, what your next reaction should be, and what your backup plan is if everything goes haywire. 

Keeping It Up

Finally, communication can be a great tool simply because it allows both you and your teammate to know where you stand in the match. You know what you’re going to do next, and you know how the other feels about it. If you’re both confident about your plays, and how the match is going to turn out, you’re more likely to play well. If one or both of you are struggling to see how you can win, just through communication, you can find a new route to try.