Targeting a weaker side and the middle

Setup

1. Two pairs at the kitchen lines, starting points from a dink.
2. Before each game, the coach gives one pair a secret limit, for example 'B1 may only block on the backhand' or 'B2 may not move more than a step left'. The other pair has to find it.

How it runs

1. Scouting, first 3 points: pair A plays the ball to both opponents, both sides and the middle, and watches who struggles with what.
2. After 3 points, pair A calls a time-out of 30 seconds, agrees a target and writes it on the board: a player, a side or the middle.
3. Play to 11. Pair A scores a bonus point when they win a rally that ended on their named target.
4. At the end, pair B reveals the secret limit. Did pair A find it? Swap roles and play again.
5. Without a secret limit, play the same game against real tendencies: a weaker backhand, a player slow to recover, or a pair that leaves the middle open.

Coaching points

• Down the middle is often the safest target: two players have to decide who takes it, the net is lowest there and the angles back are small.
• Target with patience. Two or three dinks to the weaker side, then the attacking ball, not a speed-up on the first ball.
• Ask small questions of the opponents: who takes the middle? who moves late? which side do they lob from?
• Keep watching: if the target starts winning their rallies, change the plan.
• Targeting is about the shot, not the person. Attack balls at the feet or below the shoulders, never at the face.

Common mistakes

• Hitting every ball to the target so it becomes predictable and the stronger partner poaches.
• Choosing the target from appearance instead of what the scouting points showed.
• Going wide to the target and opening angles back for the opponents.
• Forgetting the plan once the score gets tight.