Are you scared to play mixed doubles?  What should you look for in a partner? 

In this episode, two seasoned mixed players, Cody and Amanda, discuss what they like about playing mixed doubles, give tips on playing mixed doubles, find the right partner, and discuss their best and worst match. 

A Transcript of our Conversation with Cody and Amanda

Carolyn: 0:23
Today we’re going to discuss advice for playing mixed doubles. Erin and I are thrilled to have Cody and Amanda here. Cody is a 4’5 and former college player that has captained several teams that have won states. Amanda is a 4.0 and has played on 40 USTA teams, six world teams and countless social teams in the last four years. So these are two players who have a ton of experience, and I’m really excited to get their advice on playing mixed, because I definitely need it. So, Amanda, what advice would you give for playing mixed doubles?

Amanda: 0:56
For mixed doubles. I think maybe the most important thing is to find a partner that you really jive well with on the court, that your personalities are similar and that your levels of competitiveness are similar, so that you’re not at odds, maybe about who’s going to go where or who’s the stronger player, so that you’re both sort of working together, because it’s sometimes easy, if you have a partner who you’re not on the same page with, to maybe end up at odds about who’s going to take what ball, who’s going to take which side. You really have to work together and mixed as a partnership and make sure that you’re not working against each other.

Cody: 1:32
The biggest thing for me when I approach mixed doubles is to sort of have fun with it and, like she said, pick a partner that you really jive with and just make it a great time on the court. I would say to surround yourself with people that you like spending time with, to make it a very social atmosphere, which I think has made it more enjoyable and competitive for me.

Amanda: 1:54
Yeah, I agree with that. I think the mixed teams that I’ve played on and the groups of people that we’ve had on mixed teams have been some of the most fun teams, because every other season you’re playing with all women or with all men and you just get a completely different social vibe. When you’re playing with couples and with other friends and with both genders, it’s just a completely different atmosphere and a different type of match and a different pace of play and also having a good partner and somebody that you really get along with, it’s really just a super fun format for tennis.

Cody: 2:25
Yeah, and I would also say to sort of establish what the goal of the team is from the very beginning. And if it’s more of a social team for fun, that might be one group of people and it might be another group of people that want to try to do everything in their power to win the local league and go to a state tournament. So I think sometimes you get a little bit of a mix of both on a team and it kind of might create some problems. Some people want extra play time, where you really can’t give it to them if you’re trying to win every match. So I think that’s an important thing to get. I mean, that’s really for any team, but especially with mixed doubles is making sure everyone’s on the same page with that.

Amanda: 3:10
And some players you get and they just want to play as couples. They want to come out and play with their spouse or their dad or mom or their brother or sister or somebody that they’ve brought, and they really only want to play together. Whereas a more competitive team you may have couples on it, but you’re going to split them apart to play with partners who complement them more and you kind of have to make sure everybody’s OK with that.

Cody: 3:26
Or somebody like me who will play with anybody We’ll play with pretty much anybody and make it, make it a good time.

Erin: 3:34
That’s great. This is Erin, so I do not play mixed doubles. I think that I should, but it scares me a little bit. So can you kind of talk to that a little?

Amanda: 3:44
bit. I would say the most intimidating part, probably as a woman playing as the weaker of the rating on the court, would be the man serve. I’ve played against some players that have a huge serve for the most part, unless the game, the match gets really tight and they’re just really trying hard to close out a point or close out a game. I don’t think that most of the men that I’ve played against, even the very high level men have really been that aggressive towards women. Most of the guys are not going to come out there and try to just take your head off with a ball.

Cody: 4:14
No, but I mean it really does happen. Um, I mean there are some guys that hit really hard big balls that their only goal was to hit it as hard as they can at the female player when she’s at the net. You know, and that has happened to to do something with the ball and a lot of times that ball is going to go hard at the girl at the net. I think sometimes you just have to realize you can step back if you need to and make adjustments for that.

Amanda: 4:52
If you have pretty good hands and you don’t feel intimidated maybe by the pace of a ball, you can also get closer to the net and then anything you get a racket on is pretty much going to go back over and you don’t have to be so concerned about, you know, the ball getting behind you. You’ll get some free points just off of you know sticking your racket out there and kind of dropping it back. But if you’re very frightened or they’re really going hard at you and you don’t feel like you can react, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with back to the baseline and taking a more defensive position with your partner.

Cody: 5:22
Yeah, and also the first few balls that come to you are also pretty key in what happens for the rest of the match, that’s true. So like, if they come at you once or twice and you get a really good shot back or put a volley away, then they’re probably not going to go at you as much, and I think that’s happened to us a few times. You know they come at Amanda and she slams the ball away. Well, they’re not going to come back at her again, like the same way.

Amanda: 5:47
Well, and I also will say you know another of my mixed doubles partners who is a teaching pro.

Amanda: 5:53
Uh, when we go out and play together and we’re playing nine, oh, right now, he’ll say, basically, go big, especially in the beginning, you’ve got nothing to lose. And even if you miss the first few balls or you go for a few coaches and miss them, you’re kind of setting a tone that you’re not afraid that you’re going to swing at every ball and you’re not going to be intimidated by their pace or anything like that, and that kind of maybe changes the tone of the match too and makes you less likely to be sort of picked on as a woman. But I do think mixed doubles I can say elevated my game. I mean I played 8-0 as a 3-5. I can say elevated my game. I mean I played 8-0 as a 3-5. I’m playing 8-0 and 9-0 as a 4-0. And it really does the different pace of the ball and playing with the better male players. It really does improve your game if you can get out and just get over that initial fear.

Cody: 6:39
I would say, guys that are just starting, they kind of have to decide what they want their reputation to be as the male player in mixed doubles, you know, are you going to be the one who tries to hit the girls or not? Because that gets around. Everybody knows everybody around here in the triangle in tennis and in every other area.

Cody: 6:59
I’m sure it’s the same way I mean yeah, so I think that’s an important thing is to you know. I mean you can hit balls to the weaker player without trying to hit them with the ball.

Amanda: 7:10
And also as a woman, I would ask the male the new male mixed players, I would say be supportive of your partner and don’t be the partner that everybody jokes about, that like draws the square on the court and says, stand over there in the corner and everything else is mine. Like you know, you’re in it together. It’s going to take both of you to win it.

Carolyn: 7:27
Do you have any tips for finding the right partner? That’s an interesting question.

Amanda: 7:32
I’ve played against couples and some of the couples I’ve played against they’re just awesome. They know each other, they know each other’s game and they’re very patient with each other. I’ve also played against couples who maybe that was not the best person for them to play with. Because they’re so familiar with each other, they feel like they can say anything to each other and they end up arguing by the end of the match. For me, I love to play with Cody, my other partners pretty much.

Amanda: 7:52
For me, I like to play with somebody who I know is not going to be upset with me if I make a mistake or is going to be supportive or able to give good feedback that’s going to help us through the match, as opposed to somebody who’s maybe going to get upset or frustrated if they don’t feel like I’m performing at their level or that we’re getting down in the match. I want somebody that’s going to be positive. Other people are more motivated, I’m sure, by people who are really intense and really want to get into the match and be pumped up, and I’m much more comfortable and I play a lot better when I’m calm and everything’s relaxed and we’re having a good time. So I think the intensity level is maybe the best thing as far as picking a good partner.

Cody: 8:33
Like I said before, I think that a huge part of it is playing with somebody that you’re going to have fun with and you’re on the same wavelength as far as how competitive you’re going to be and just to go out there and have a good time is how competitive you’re going to be and just to go out there and have a good time.

Cody: 8:51
A thing that my partner and I do a lot in ADO is tell each other where you’re going to serve and if you’re going to try to cross the net on the next ball and I know that may not be at lower levels, people don’t really think about it, but you know if you’re going to somebody’s backhand and you have a partner who can hit a volley, you know that’s one to look for it across the middle of the court. So if you can place your serve and decide that you’re just going to go, then they know to cover the other side of the court. So that communication and having that open communication with your partner and kind of running plays, if you will, strategy, that’s one thing that I don’t see a lot that I think is important and probably has helped us win some matches.

Erin: 9:31
Can you tell us your most memorable or fun mix match? Or if you want to take the opposite side of that and tell us about the worst one maybe you’ve had.

Amanda: 9:42
I’ve had a lot of fun mixed matches. I think probably the most fun mixed match I had and I’m not going to say who it was against, because I know some people who will be listening will probably know but I played as a charity event. My partner and I were playing at 8-0. It was before both of us got bumped respectively and there were only a couple of other teams and one of them ended up not showing up. So we kind of got our chance to pick a random team to play and we ended up playing a 10-0 pair and it was super fun and probably the only time I’ll ever be on a 10-0 court. So that was maybe my swan song.

Amanda: 10:16
This is what it would be like, right to play 10-0 tennis. But the people were super fun and, weirdly enough, we ended up winning. It was a super short set, but I’m not going to take any credit for that. The male opponent got an unfortunate cramp in the middle of the match, but I’m going to say I’m undefeated at 10-0. But it was really fun and everybody was super nice.

Cody: 10:37
I’ll go the other route and say my worst match. It was at States last year. We had clawed our way through to the semifinal and we had played every match. I think we played four matches up until then my partner and I and on my first return of the match and I like sprinted to get a far wide ball and I fell and so like I’m bleeding all up the whole right side of my body Like it’s just blood. And the opponent guy was very nice, he had a first aid kit and helped me clean it all up, but then he proceeded to hit the ball, like we were talking about, at my partner every single time and as he did that he would say boom, literally like at her face, and then boom, and she was already so tired she had had it. She’s like Cody, I’m not playing at the net, like I’m just. That was one of those where she went back and unfortunately we did not win that match.

Cody: 11:30
And you know, I was bleeding Like he’s going boom at my partner. I think we lost two players for whatever reason you know, so we didn’t necessarily have the lineup we wanted. It was just one of those that you want to forget about. I get it. If you hit a clean winner, like that’s a, that’s a boom. If you hit the ball and it goes like at the chest or body of somebody at the net, that is not a boom, it’s not a boom.

Carolyn: 11:57
We hope you check out our website, which is secondservepodcastcom. Thanks so much for listening and hope to see you on the court soon.