By Stephen Huss, Program Director, Huss 75 76 Tennis at Crooked Creek
Todd Woodbridge, who won 16 grand slam titles, gave me a great tip that I would like to pass along to the ALTA readers to implement in their own doubles game.
He told me that whenever returning in doubles you are always looking to create space to hit into. That means players should be using all of their options on returns. It is typical of good net players to be close to the net and squeezing the middle to cut off returns. To create more space to play cross court, take some returns down the line early, and also use the lob to deter opponents from getting too close to the net. These different return options ‘freeze’ the active net player more often and create space to hit cross court when you really want to. Cheers to more breaks of opponents’ serve!
About Stephen: Stephen Huss is from Melbourne, Australia. He was an All American in singles and doubles at Auburn University and is a former National Women’s coach. He has coached Sofia Kenin, Jennifer Brady, and Caroline Dolehide. Huss is a former assistant coach at Virginia Tech (men’s tennis) where the team earned a #12 national ranking. He also is the 2005 Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Champion. Huss has competed in 37 grand slams, won 4 ATP titles, 17 Challenger Titles, and 8 Future Titles. Stephen runs his Elite Tennis Program, Stephen Huss 75 76 Tennis out of Crooked Creek. More info: sceneytennis.net/stephen-huss-75-76-tennis.
