Stacking Instructions

Update for those who have read the original post: I talked Randy and Lefty Lori into stacking today.  It was a bit difficult to keep track of stuff, I have a minor problem knowing the score a lot of the time, and you need to know it to stack with elan.  But I see the value of this and getting used to doing it is a nice additional skill to have.  Thus I reaffirm the following post.  :-)

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 When I play with a lefty, I've come to the conclusion that stacking makes a lot of sense.  A majority of all balls come down the middle of the court and having two backhands there for an extended period is not a good way to play.

It's easy to lose your way with the stacking it seems, so I wanted to figure it out for myself, there have to be easy methods to determine who is where, and as long as I'm figuring it out, it makes sense to share with you all.  

If you're a lefty, I think you have a responsibility to learn this, to be the best partner you can be.  :-)

Let me write in second person, it hopefully make the conversation easier.  So I'm talking to the lefty.  (The righty just needs to follow directions.)

So we have a righty and a lefty.  We want to the lefty to start on right hand side of the court so the forehand is on the middle. 

- Lefty will always serve first and when your score is even will always be on the right side.

- Lefty will always start/be on the left side with an odd score.

- All the shifting around comes when your score is odd.  And it happens for all odd points.  Note that if you are returning serves, you will be at an odd point for a long time. 

- The lefty always needs to cover the right side of the court.  If it's an odd score, then the shift always happens.  Make sure you return to the left hand side for the next point -- basically unstack for each new point.

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On serve with an odd score.  Have a clear path to the right side and don't run into partner.  You are going to shift, so be ready.  You will serve first when the side out score is even - just like the start of the game.  If the score is odd, it will be backwards from the start of the game.

When receiving:  1) if you have an even score, then it's just like the start of a game and there is no switching.  

2) If an odd score, always switch.  Note that half the time you will be starting from the KL, not returning the serve, but must cross to the other side, or at least get to the middle area.

The returner starts at the baseline, hits the return, and then must move diagonally to the other side of the court and get up to the KL.  So there is more movement if you are stacking and you can't sit back and admire your shots, you have to move.  Note that a softer, more lobby type return will gain you time to get in position.  Also where you return the serve will help or hinder the positioning of your team.

 

I think that's it.  Not too difficult after the smoke cleared.  I think it has to be done a bunch so that it makes sense.  The biggest problem is keeping track of your score.  (As an added zen thought moment, I find the better I play, the less I can keep track of the score.  The joy of being in the moment and losing the big picture.  I do it in golf too, so I think it is the sign of "the zone" and should be encouraged.)

So get out there and stack!