Mixed Doubles – Attacking With The Female In The Rear Court

As we’ve already mentioned, the preferred formation for mixed is the female in the front court and the male in the rear court. However, a basic strategy of mixed is to force the female into the rear court. Many people assume (wrongly) that when the female is in the rear court the rally becomes a lost cause.

It is important to note, that even though the formation is not ideal, you are still in the attacking formation and therefore still have the advantage in the rally.

There are two basic options for the partnership in this formation when attacking:

1. Female plays from the back to create winning opportunities for her partner in the front court
2. The partnership works together to move back into their preferred formation.

The majority of the time, the second option is the primary objective. The female player is generally not as physically strong as the male in the rear court. So it is more difficult for the female player to set up the front court player. However, this doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

Female In The Rear Court

Female Plays Downward Attacking Shots

Playing attacking shots helps to maintain pressure on the opponents. Even though the attacking potency is weaker, the opponents cannot risk playing through the frontcourt player. Opponents will continue to lift to the rear court to be patient in their defence knowing that the female’s attack is coped with a little more easily.

Likewise, the attacking female should be patient in her attack. This is important for attacking play in general, but it’s particularly important when the female is in the rear court. It is unlikely she will be able to penetrate their defence with power play.

Her best option is to vary her attack. By doing this, the opponents do not get used to her attack and it keeps them on their toes. When the female plays attacking shots there are more possibilities for moving back into the preferred formation/winning the rally.

When the female plays downward attacking shots there’s several outcomes:

1. Set Up Her Partner In The Front Court
2. Opponents Make A Defensive Misjudgement
3. The partnership can move back into their preferred formation
4. Female Plays Winners

Not every scenario will end as described above. For example, in an attempt to play a winner, the female may set up her partner in the front. Likewise in an attempt to set up the front court player, the outcome maybe that they are able to rotate back into their favoured formation. So these options are not definitive and are more fluid.

Setting Up Her Partner In The Front Court

The variation in the females attacking play can force weak replies which can be finished by the male in the frontcourt. Although this is obviously not as common as when the partnership is in the preferred formation, it does occur. The male will need to have enough confidence in his partner in the rear court to commit to the frontcourt. If the confidence is not there, the male player will tend to back off looking to rotate out. This can open the frontcourt for the opponent to exploit.

Opponent Makes Defensive Misjudgement

Another reason to be patient is that the opponent might make an error in their defence. It happens to the best of us. This is most likely to occur when you give the opponents the least possible time to hit the shuttle. And therefore, this is part of the reason attacking play should still be maintained. Of course, very good players are likely to be extremely consistent in their defence, however, opponents may mishit the shuttle or mistime their shot which could result in a winning opportunity. In addition, they might make an incorrect decision in their defence which can be punished.

Partnership Moves Back Into Their Favoured Formation

It’s easier to move back into the partnerships preferred formation when on the attack. The only other way to do it would to give the attack away to the opponents and then counter-attack in such a way that puts them in their preferred formation. Obviously staying on the attack is more favourable.

There’s two ways this can be achieved:

1. The opponents playing a defensive shot, which creates an opportunity for the partnership to rotate.
2. The partnership works together through attacking play to rotate.

The defensive pair know that they can’t win the rally simply by lifting the shuttle. Eventually, they will have to attempt to gain the lift so they can attack.

Something simple, such as the defensive opponents attempting to play a cross-court lift might facilitate this rotation. The female comes forward instead of going for the cross-court lift, and the male moves out to take that shot. Because of the nature of the lift, there is time for this rotation to occur.

Another situation might be when the opponents play a defensive shot which the male player is able to intercept and drop back to the net. This will force the opponent to come forward to retrieve that shuttle and lift it high into the rear court to recover. In this time the attacking pair can rotate back into their preferred formation.

The second option is for the female and male to work together to rotate. An example might be for the female to play a drop shot and rush forward to the frontcourt, while their partner moves out to cover the rear court. However, more often than not, it’s actually the combination play of both players which creates opportunities to rotate and the female to move in and rush the net. The video above shows how this works in a match.

Female Plays Winning Shots

One last option is for the female to play a winning shot. This outcome is rarer due to the strong defensive play of the opponents and the relatively weaker attack of the female. However, a well-placed smash will often win the point, no matter how powerful it is (within reason!).

Difficult areas to retrieve the shuttle, such as across the body, can result in winning shots. Hitting the outside tramlines is also an option, however, this carries a higher error percentage as your shot has to be extremely accurate.

Female Plays Attacking Clears To The Opposing Female

Attacking clears do not have the same height as a normal clear. They are a little shallower and faster. You could almost think of it as a drive clear. The idea is to unbalance the opponent, forcing them into a weak reply.

In mixed, defensive pair often adopts a wedged defence. This is where the female player stands a little closer to the net when she is crosscourt from the smash. Therefore playing attacking clears to the female forces her to move a further distance and is an attempt to unbalance her and force a weak reply. This will often be in the form of a high clear to buy themselves time to recover. The attacking pair can use this time to rotate the male into the rear court and the female-forward.

She will need to make sure her attacking clear is good. Particularly if her shot is crosscourt. Because it’s a shallower shot, if the opposing female reacts quickly enough to it, she will be able to attack it.

For the same reason, the female should not play this to the male. The male’s attack is more potent. They are also more likely to attack/intercept this shot because of the shallowness of the attack, and their strength to move faster or jump to intercept the shuttle.

Communication

The most important thing when the female is trying to move forward from the rear court is communication. This is particularly true in new partnerships but is important even in established partnerships. The female player can see the male who might be indicating his wish to move back by his position on the court.

However the male player cannot see the female player, so it’s important that she indicates when she’s coming forward to her partner. If she doesn’t and the male moves back, there will be confusion over who’s taking that shot. If she moves forward without any indication, the male will be late to the shuttle in the rear court.

Maintaining communication not only helps the partnership to rotate effectively, but it will also help build chemistry. When there is very good chemistry with your partner, you will both instinctively know when to rotate without saying anything!

Conclusion

When the female is in the rear court, the rally is not lost. In fact, it just means that the partnership might have to work a little harder in their attack to create winning opportunities or to move back into their preferred formation.

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