Doubles serve and receive order

Setup

1. Pairs A1 and A2 against B1 and B2 at one table with a centre line. Each pair decides who serves or receives first.
2. A scoreboard by the table helps everyone track whose turn it is.

How it runs

1. Every serve goes from the server's right half court, diagonally, to the receiver's right half. It must bounce once in each of those halves.
2. In the rally, partners hit alternately: server, receiver, server's partner, receiver's partner, and round again.
3. Each server has 2 serves. Then the receiver becomes the server and the previous server's partner becomes the receiver: A1 to B1, B1 to A2, A2 to B2, B2 to A1, and repeat.
4. Walk through one full cycle with no scoring, then play a game to 11 (win by 2). From 10-all the serve changes every point, in the same order.
5. Next game: the pair that received first now serves first, and the order is set from the previous game. Check the ITTF Laws (or your competition's rules) for the exact detail, including the receiving switch in the deciding game.

Coaching points

• Before every point, say aloud who serves and who receives; it catches mistakes early.
• The receiver's partner stands out of the way but ready to hit the third shot for their pair.
• Short serves are common in doubles because the diagonal is narrow and a long serve is easier to attack.
• Pairs often use a quiet signal under the table to agree the serve; this is a tactic, not a rule.

Common mistakes

• Serving from the left half or to the wrong half.
• The same player hitting twice in a row, which loses the point.
• Losing track of the rotation after a change of server.