Doubles attack and defence formations

Setup

1. Two pairs on a doubles court. The coach stands off court beside the net post with spare shuttles.
2. Explain the rule of thumb first: hit down, go front and back; lift, go side by side.
3. Any extra pair waits off court and rotates in after each game.

How it runs

1. The coach feeds a lift to pair A, who start front and back to attack; pair B defends side by side.
2. Rally out. Whenever a pair lifts, they call 'side' and move into side-by-side defence; when their opponents lift, they call 'attack' and go front and back.
3. Every so often the coach calls 'freeze'. Everyone stops, and the coach checks each pair's shape against the shuttle's position before restarting with a feed.
4. Play rally-point games to 11 from coach feeds, swapping which pair starts in attack.

Coaching points

• Attack: the back player hits down from behind the shuttle, the front player sits near the short service line with the racket up, covering the middle.
• Defence: each player covers their own half, a step back from the short service line, racket in front, weight forward.
• Change shape as the shuttle goes up, not after it lands on the other side.
• Talk: the calls make the change happen at the same time for both players.

Common mistakes

• Both players at the back after a lift, leaving the net empty.
• Staying front and back after lifting, so the smash goes into the open half.
• The front player standing so close to the net that anything over their head is lost.
• Changing shape late, or one player changing and the other not.