We’ve all been there. The other team threads a ball right between you and your partner and you either both lunge for it or both watch it go by.
Why “forehand takes the middle” isn’t enough
You’ve probably heard the cliché: “forehand takes the middle.” It’s not wrong, but it’s incomplete—and it breaks down in three common situations:
- You’re playing with a lefty.
- You’re both comfortable using your forehand in the middle.
- One of you is out of position or stretched wide.
In those moments, “forehand takes it” can give you two people charging the same ball, two half‑swings, or both players looking at each other while the ball skids through.
The fix is to stop thinking in clichés and start thinking in lanes.
Step one: decide who owns the “middle lane”
Imagine a narrow lane running from the net to the baseline, centered between you and your partner. If nobody owns that lane, everyone hesitates. If one person owns it, the game gets much simpler.
Before you serve or receive:
- With two righties: the player on the left side usually owns the middle lane with their forehand.
- With two lefties: the player on the right side usually owns the middle lane with their forehand.
- With righty–lefty: you have two forehands in the middle, so you must choose:
- Either the person with the stronger, more reliable forehand owns that lane, or
- You split it: one player owns “short‑middle” at the kitchen, the other owns “deep‑middle” off the bounce.
The key is that you decide this once and keep it the same for a whole game, not point by point. Your default can temporarily “pause” when someone is pulled off the court, but it always comes back as soon as you’re both reset.
How lefties change the picture—in a good way
A lefty isn’t a problem; they’re an opportunity. A righty–lefty team can create a massive forehand wall through the center—if you’re clear on the rules.
Here’s a clean structure many strong mixed‑handed pairs use:
- When the lefty is on the left side:
- The lefty owns most balls that travel through the middle in the air (volleys, speed‑ups, counters) with their forehand.
- The righty pinches slightly wider and focuses more on their sideline and cross‑court balls.
- When the lefty is on the right side:
- The righty’s forehand now sits in the middle; the righty becomes the default middle‑lane owner at the kitchen.
- The lefty pinches toward their line and looks to poach when they recognize a pattern.
The takeaway: instead of “forehand takes the middle,” think “we decide which forehand owns which strip of the court, and we hold that line.”
A simple three‑part hierarchy you can use in real time
During points, you won’t have time to think through every possible scenario. You need a default that runs in the background. Use this hierarchy, in order:
- Planned lane owner.
If the ball is in the agreed‑upon middle lane, the lane owner should assume it’s theirs unless they’re clearly burned or stretched. - Better balanced player.
If the lane owner is off the court, reaching, or recovering, the more balanced player steps in—even if that means taking a backhand. - Closer to the net.
In scramble points, if all else is equal, the player closer to the net should own the next middle ball. They have better angles and more options.
You’ll notice “forehand” is not even on that list. Forehand is useful, but often position and balance win more points than raw stroke preference.
A short “mine” call or a confident early move from the lane owner helps your partner relax and commit to their own zone.
Two middle‑coverage patterns strong teams use
If you watch good local players or mid‑level tournament teams, you’ll see the same patterns over and over again in the middle:
1. The poaching lane
The stronger player (often the left‑side player in righty–righty, or the lefty in righty–lefty) owns a slightly wider lane through the center.
- They lean in just enough that anything lazy through the middle gets attacked by their forehand.
- Their partner knows this and slides a touch wider to cover the line.
2. The wall
Both players are at the kitchen, both paddles are up, and there is no visible “gap” between them.
Even when the ball goes between their bodies, there’s an understood order:
- “If it’s under your outside shoulder, it’s yours. If it’s under my inside shoulder, it’s mine.”
You don’t need pro‑level hands to copy these patterns; you just need to agree who is the poacher and what “your shoulder vs my shoulder” means on your team.
A quick drill to test if your plan actually works
Here’s a simple way to see if your middle‑coverage rules are doing their job:
- Start both players at the kitchen, with a feeder cross‑court.
- The feeder hits 10 balls: some to the left, some to the right, and 6–7 right down the middle at different speeds and heights.
Your job isn’t to “win” the rally. Your job is to:
- Have exactly one player commit early on every middle ball.
- Keep the ball in play with a controlled volley or dink, not a bailout swing.
If you’re still seeing double movements, late “mine!” calls, or balls sailing through untouched after three or four rounds, your rule is still too vague. Tighten it: shrink or expand the middle lane for one of you, or give the lefty/righty a clearer priority.
A 10‑second conversation you can have before the game
You don’t need a clinic between games to put this in place. Something this short works:
- “Let’s have you own the middle at the net. I’ll slide a little wider.”
- “Since you’re the lefty, if it hangs in the middle in the air, attack it. I’ll cover the wide stuff.”
- “If either of us is pulled off the court, the other owns the next ball through the middle until we’re both back.”
When you and your partner both know, before the point even starts, who owns the lane between you, the “easy” balls finally start feeling easy again.
