Doubles Only Tennis Podcast

Dan Kiernan is the coach of Gaby Dabrowski who just won the 2024 WTA Finals alongside her partner Erin Routliffe.

I spoke with Dan a few days after winning the title in Riyadh. He shares:

• Behind the scenes stories from the Finals.
• How his coaching process has changed over the last 18 months with Gaby.
• What types of adjustments the team made from 1st to 2nd set in different matches.

Dan is one of my favorite guests because of his ability to share messages through stories. Doubles fans and players of any level can benefit from listening to Dan's advice.

The membership is live and discounted through this Sunday only.
**Sign up here**


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**Join the #1 Doubles Strategy Newsletter for Club Tennis Players** 

• New doubles strategy lessons weekly straight to your inbox

**Doubles Strategy Courses** These video courses will help you play smarter doubles and make winning easier.

• Net Play Strategy for Doubles - The Masterclass
• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics Video Course
• Mental Game Masterclass
• League Doubles Training Masterclass Video Course

**Doubles Ebooks** These guides offer proven advice to improve your doubles strategy.

• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics
• Return Strategy for Doubles
• Serve Strategy for Doubles
• Net Play Strategy for Doubles

Do you prefer to play doubles from the baseline or net? I'm better at the net but often get lazy and have to remind myself to get up there and quit hanging out in the back of the court.

This episode reminds the baseliners (and me) the benefits of getting to the net.

You'll learn:

• Three reasons to move forward
• Why I think many people aren't comfortable at the net (but should go anyway).
• What the win percentages say about the net vs the baseline.

The Membership launches next Tuesday, November 19. Stay tuned for updates!

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**Join the #1 Doubles Strategy Newsletter for Club Tennis Players** 

• New doubles strategy lessons weekly straight to your inbox

**Doubles Strategy Courses** These video courses will help you play smarter doubles and make winning easier.

• Net Play Strategy for Doubles - The Masterclass
• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics Video Course
• Mental Game Masterclass
• League Doubles Training Masterclass Video Course

**Doubles Ebooks** These guides offer proven advice to improve your doubles strategy.

• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics
• Return Strategy for Doubles
• Serve Strategy for Doubles
• Net Play Strategy for Doubles

Do you use different serve and return formations? You should be! This episode will cover the pros and cons of each formation.

• When to NOT use regular formation while serving.
• What is the best formation against BIG returners.
• When should I play 2-back while returning?

This is a preview of my presentation from Tennis Con 8 which goes live today. To watch the full presentation, sign up here before 10/31.

Get lifetime access to all 40 presentations here.

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**Join the #1 Doubles Strategy Newsletter for Club Tennis Players** 

• New doubles strategy lessons weekly straight to your inbox

**Doubles Strategy Courses** These video courses will help you play smarter doubles and make winning easier.

• Net Play Strategy for Doubles - The Masterclass
• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics Video Course
• Mental Game Masterclass
• League Doubles Training Masterclass Video Course

**Doubles Ebooks** These guides offer proven advice to improve your doubles strategy.

• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics
• Return Strategy for Doubles
• Serve Strategy for Doubles
• Net Play Strategy for Doubles

Peter Freeman hosts Tennis Con 8 starting next week. It's a free event where some of the best online tennis coaches present on different topics to help you improve your game.

I asked Pete to share the best doubles lessons he's learned over the years from Tennis Con. We discuss eight lessons.

1. Gigi Fernandez's 123 Poaching Formula
2. Jorge Capestany's Doubles Dance
3. Ian Westermann's Angels in the Outfield
4. Roy Emerson's Play for your Partner (Bonus Never miss a return)
5. Will Boucek's It's not you, it's me approach
6. Gigi's Stagger formation
7. Will Hamilton's Racket Below Wrist Poach Tell
8. Gigi's Singles Approach Strategy for Doubles

Pete and I always have great strategy discussions so I know you'll enjoy this one.

Sign up for Tennis Con 8 here.

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**Join the #1 Doubles Strategy Newsletter for Club Tennis Players** 

• New doubles strategy lessons weekly straight to your inbox

**Doubles Strategy Courses** These video courses will help you play smarter doubles and make winning easier.

• Net Play Strategy for Doubles - The Masterclass
• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics Video Course
• Mental Game Masterclass
• League Doubles Training Masterclass Video Course

**Doubles Ebooks** These guides offer proven advice to improve your doubles strategy.

• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics
• Return Strategy for Doubles
• Serve Strategy for Doubles
• Net Play Strategy for Doubles

Bob Bryan is a 23-time doubles grand slam champion (16 men's, 7 mixed), and Captain of the US Olympic and Davis Cup team. Bob and his brother, Mike, known as the Bryan Bros, are widely regarded as the greatest doubles team of all time.

In this conversation with Bob, you'll hear us discuss potential rule changes that could help doubles, how he's transitioned from player to coach, his experience captaining at the Olympics where his US doubles teams beat Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Andy Murray, and won Silver and Bronze Medals, and more.

Bob also shares how the game has changed over the last 20+ years and how he would train differently if starting his doubles career tomorrow. At the end, he shares one of his and Mike's favorite doubles strategies that club-level players should absolutely use.

I hope to have Bob (and Mike) on more in the future as the show continues to grow and we try to help grow doubles. They've done more for doubles than anyone and it's inspiring to see them continue to be involved in our sport.

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**Join the #1 Doubles Strategy Newsletter for Club Tennis Players** 

• New doubles strategy lessons weekly straight to your inbox

**Doubles Strategy Courses** These video courses will help you play smarter doubles and make winning easier.

• Net Play Strategy for Doubles - The Masterclass
• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics Video Course
• Mental Game Masterclass
• League Doubles Training Masterclass Video Course

**Doubles Ebooks** These guides offer proven advice to improve your doubles strategy.

• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics
• Return Strategy for Doubles
• Serve Strategy for Doubles
• Net Play Strategy for Doubles

We celebrate Episode 200 of the Doubles Only Podcast with a live webinar where I answered your questions. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions and joined live 😀

Topics covered included...

• Offensive vs defensive court positioning at the net.
• How to end or win the lob wars.
• Differences between volleys in singles & doubles.
• How to best train volleys for doubles.
• Why you shouldn't necessarily volley with "the edge of your racquet leading."
• and more...

Thanks again to everyone who attended! I'm excited for the next 200 episodes.

You can leave a review of the podcast here. This is one of the best ways to support and help others find the show. Thank you!

Mentioned in this episode:

• Fence Mount
• Functional Tennis Saber

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**Join the #1 Doubles Strategy Newsletter for Club Tennis Players** 

• New doubles strategy lessons weekly straight to your inbox

**Doubles Strategy Courses** These video courses will help you play smarter doubles and make winning easier.

• Net Play Strategy for Doubles - The Masterclass
• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics Video Course
• Mental Game Masterclass
• League Doubles Training Masterclass Video Course

**Doubles Ebooks** These guides offer proven advice to improve your doubles strategy.

• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics
• Return Strategy for Doubles
• Serve Strategy for Doubles
• Net Play Strategy for Doubles

I recently released a 3-part doubles lesson on the most important volley in doubles... the Serve +1 volley. You can watch all 3 lessons below.

This episode covers the serve +1 volley in even more detail, including my response to several Facebook and Instagram comments on the lessons. You'll learn how to practice the serve +1 volley, the different types of this volley, and several rules to follow to make it easier.

Master this shot and everyone will want to be your doubles partner because they'll hold their serve so much more easily!

Don't forget to join me for Episode 200 LIVE! Sign up here.

Watch all 3 lessons on the Serve +1 Volley below.

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

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**Join the #1 Doubles Strategy Newsletter for Club Tennis Players** 

• New doubles strategy lessons weekly straight to your inbox

**Doubles Strategy Courses** These video courses will help you play smarter doubles and make winning easier.

• Net Play Strategy for Doubles - The Masterclass
• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics Video Course
• Mental Game Masterclass
• League Doubles Training Masterclass Video Course

**Doubles Ebooks** These guides offer proven advice to improve your doubles strategy.

• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics
• Return Strategy for Doubles
• Serve Strategy for Doubles
• Net Play Strategy for Doubles

Ellen Perez is world number 11 on the WTA Doubles Tour, with seven career titles. In this interview, Ellen shares her tennis journey, WTA doubles serve, return, volley, groundstroke, rankings, and more.

Here are a few topics we dive into:

• Learn the benefits of returning with backhands in the middle, which Ellen and her partner, Nicole Melichar-Martinez, do.
• Racquet customization.
• Ellen explains how she got her athletic prowess.
• Advice for left-handed players.
• Known for her speed and epic slides, Ellen explains the keys to a good slide on any surface.
• How she made the transition from singles to nearly full-time doubles.
• College tennis at the University of Georgia.
• Your questions from Twitter & Instagram including mixed doubles, her favorite potato style, the player's council, and more.

At the end, Ellen shares what she would change to grow doubles. Whether you're a doubles fan or just curious about the world of professional doubles, this episode offers a comprehensive glimpse into the life and strategies of one of the best in the world.

• Follow Ellen on Twitter | Instagram
• Ellen might partner with Max Purcell for mixed doubles at the Australian Open.
• Favorite tournament: Italian Open
• Books: Open by Andre Agassi

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**Join the #1 Doubles Strategy Newsletter for Club Tennis Players** 

• New doubles strategy lessons weekly straight to your inbox

**Doubles Strategy Courses** These video courses will help you play smarter doubles and make winning easier.

• Net Play Strategy for Doubles - The Masterclass
• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics Video Course
• Mental Game Masterclass
• League Doubles Training Masterclass Video Course

**Doubles Ebooks** These guides offer proven advice to improve your doubles strategy.

• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics
• Return Strategy for Doubles
• Serve Strategy for Doubles
• Net Play Strategy for Doubles

Tony Huber is the former coach of multiple doubles world #1 players including Liezel Huber, Martina Navratilova, Cara Black, Lisa Raymond, Ai Sugiyama, Latisha Chan, and Sonia Mirza. Today he coaches adult club-level players and I absolutely love his approach to the game.

This is one of those conversations that you'll want to listen to multiple times. I believe it will change the way you practice and play. We cover:

• Tony's favorite doubles drills to help adult players better understand how points are won and lost in doubles.
• The one error you must avoid to improve.
• How to level up from 3.0/3.5 to 4.0/4.5.
• What most player get wrong about how they win or lose.
• The 3rd String Theory (this will help your volleys a ton!)
• The most important shots in doubles.
• How to captain a winning USTA team
• and more...

I expect this to be one of our most popular episodes and will have Tony on again.

Mentioned in this interview:

• Baseline Vision Camera
• The Bolt Tennis Racquet
• Australian Open & Cincinnati Open
• Pressure Tennis by Paul Wardlaw
• Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt

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**Join the #1 Doubles Strategy Newsletter for Club Tennis Players** 

• New doubles strategy lessons weekly straight to your inbox

**Doubles Strategy Courses** These video courses will help you play smarter doubles and make winning easier.

• Net Play Strategy for Doubles - The Masterclass
• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics Video Course
• Mental Game Masterclass
• League Doubles Training Masterclass Video Course

**Doubles Ebooks** These guides offer proven advice to improve your doubles strategy.

• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics
• Return Strategy for Doubles
• Serve Strategy for Doubles
• Net Play Strategy for Doubles

This is an AMA episode where I cover three questions from you. I chose these doubles topics because they haven't been covered on the podcast before.

• How to use the swinging volley in doubles.
• What is the proper technique when faking at the net?
• How can you improve at doubles when most coaches focus on singles?

If you have other questions you'd like me to answer on the podcast, email me: [email protected]

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**Join the #1 Doubles Strategy Newsletter for Club Tennis Players** 

• New doubles strategy lessons weekly straight to your inbox: https://www.thetennistribe.com/join-the-tribe/

**Doubles Strategy Courses** These video courses will help you play smarter doubles and make winning easier.

• Net Play Strategy for Doubles - The Masterclass: https://the-tennis-tribe.teachable.com/p/net-play-strategy-for-doubles
• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics Video Course: https://the-tennis-tribe.teachable.com/p/25-winning-doubles-tactics
• Mental Game Masterclass: https://the-tennis-tribe.teachable.com/p/the-mental-game-masterclass
• League Doubles Training Masterclass Video Course: https://the-tennis-tribe.teachable.com/p/league-doubles-training

**Doubles Ebooks** These guides offer proven advice to improve your doubles strategy.

• 25 Winning Doubles Tactics:  https://www.thetennistribe.com/25-winning-doubles-tactics/
• Return Strategy for Doubles: https://www.thetennistribe.com/return-strategy-for-doubles-ebook/
• Serve Strategy for Doubles: https://www.thetennistribe.com/serve-strategy-for-doubles-ebook/
• Net Play Strategy for Doubles: https://www.thetennistribe.com/net-play-strategy-for-doubles-ebook/