Do You Take This Partner?

It’s really hard getting the right partnership in doubles tennis. It’s not like a marriage where you date for a while and see if you really get along. Sometimes, partners are literally thrown on the court and see what happens.

Captains do struggle trying to put the right partnerships together. It’s a long, tedious thought process to figure out who plays well with whom. This person can put the ball away while the other person just keeps getting the ball back.

There are different kinds of partners out there. There is the one that is always offering “suggestions” to make you a better player. Yeah, well, sometimes, those suggestions are not meant to be made on the court while the ball is screaming across the net from the net person – at your face mind you!

Every now and then, partners will be seen fighting with one another. When the opposing team sees that going on, they know they are good to win the match. Just go down the middle!!

Then you get your partner that seems to already be having a bad day and just seems to be taking it out on everybody on the court. That’s when you do your best to be so icky nice that it makes everyone want to just scream.

Partnerships can go on for years, but sometimes they do fall apart. That’s when it’s time for the divorce. It’s tough to go through a tennis divorce. You are always going to see your former partner on the court and you are never going to want to play them. Or.. you want to beat them so very badly that you can’t even hit a ball. And what team gets you when you go through the divorce?

It’s always good to have that set partner though. When you have two people on the court that don’t have to talk to one another but just “know” where the other person on the court is, that’s the perfect marriage. And you know it’s good when the opposition has to talk at least 1-2 minutes in between points to figure out where to go.

One thing about doubles – it is a team. It takes two people to win a doubles match. One person may have to keep the level head while the other one is screaming profanities all over the place, but you gotta keep a level head.

Love your partner on the court. You need them as much as they need you!

Let’s take it to the net ladies.