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First game of the match. What are you actually doing?
The first game is for information. Make them play, watch what they do, and pick the plan from evidence.
It is the first game against a pair you have never played. What should your priority be?
The first game is for information. Make them play, watch what they do, and pick the plan from evidence.
Why
Against an unfamiliar pair you have no idea yet where the points are, so the useful thing to do in the first game is deliberately test both of them: a ball to each backhand, a lob to each side, one serve into the glass. By the end of it you should know who has the weaker overhead, who is uncomfortable off the wall, and which one takes the middle. That is worth far more over a match than the one game you might have snatched by swinging hard.
What this means at your level
Beginner
Just get the ball in play and watch. You will learn plenty simply by seeing which shots they miss.
Intermediate
Agree with your partner at the change of ends: who is weaker, and what you are going to do about it. One sentence each.
Advanced
Test the patterns, not just the players. Whether they cover the intercept, whether their net player crosses, and whether they lob under pressure are worth more than knowing which backhand is prettier.
Common questions
It is the first game against a pair you have never played. What should your priority be?
Find out which of them is weaker and how they lob. The first game is for information. Make them play, watch what they do, and pick the plan from evidence. Against an unfamiliar pair you have no idea yet where the points are, so the useful thing to do in the first game is deliberately test both of them: a ball to each backhand, a lob to each side, one serve into the glass. By the end of it you should know who has the weaker overhead, who is uncomfortable off the wall, and which one takes the middle. That is worth far more over a match than the one game you might have snatched by swinging hard.
Why not play safe and keep every ball in?
Safe is fine, but purely safe gathers no information either. You want rallies that ask questions, not rallies that avoid them.
What should a beginner do here?
Just get the ball in play and watch. You will learn plenty simply by seeing which shots they miss.
How does this change for an advanced player?
Test the patterns, not just the players. Whether they cover the intercept, whether their net player crosses, and whether they lob under pressure are worth more than knowing which backhand is prettier.
Puzzles like this one
Both of them are at the net. What is the highest-percentage ball?
Only the lob moves a net pair backwards. Everything else invites them forward.
intermediateYour partner got pulled wide. Where do you stand?
The pair moves like one body. When your partner is pulled wide, you take the middle.
intermediateWhat do you do with the return of serve?
The return lob is how the receiving pair steals the net. Aim over the player who is still moving.