Middle coverage has been an ongoing topic in the blog. I make most of my PB money by hitting the ball in the middle. Someone on your team (making it more personal, ;-)) has to be prepared for the middle ball at all times.
However, there are times when you don't want to cover the middle. As a partner of mine said during a point last week, "Sorry for that, I forgot who (sic) I was playing with."
We shall ignore case and word order for the moment and talk about the "that" portion of the quote.
The main idea is that there is responsibility for the middle and there is an important case that's not been mentioned in the blog and I've not seen it anywhere else. If both partners are at the same depth in the court, then middle responsibility depends on from where the next ball will be coming. For example, if the ball is on your right side of the court, both players should (must) shift towards the right and the middle of the court should be covered by the team mate on the left. If the ball comes into the middle and is easily in reach of the right most person, then they should both feel free to take it on. More on this later.
But the case where the team is split, one up and one back, is different. Assume we still have a shot to the right. let me talk about something else here. If you as a team are split, then you want to play the ball towards the opponent who is in front of the forward team mate -- don't hit it cross court! So if your side is staggered with the forward player on the right, then you really, really want to only play to the right. Because if you play left, the broad alley between your side is exposed to a cross court shot -- point over. This is important.
Assume you've done this correctly, so the ball will be returned from in front of the forward player (FP). The FP should slide some to cover the down the line shot. And the back player, BP, needs to cover the middle. However, due to the angles involved, the BP usually doesn't need to move much to the middle, though may need to move more into the court. Note that there is a coverage angle (or shadow) from the FP that is in play.
Now, we come to the important bit. The FP should be very leery of stretching to hit a middle ball. Let the back player handle it. Because of the BP's location, they have more time to properly return that ball. The rule is: do not stretch in front of your partner.
When you've reached a certain level of play, you will have the ability to stretch those arms, move the feet a bit and can reach shots that beginners will just watch fly by. The next skill to develop, is when not to go for those marginal shots. And that is when partner is/will be/should cover the ball. And to be redundant a bit, it's usually when you've advanced ahead of partner.
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Bonus feature, super foods! I've been avoiding carbs for a few years and snack foods can be a challenge. One of the items I've tried and found to be pretty good is pork rinds. They have the light airiness of Cheetos, but lack the needed ingredients to stain your fingers. They come in various flavors. Barbeque is a favorite flavor, though I'm partial to "Nashville Hot" and other spicier variants. They don't have a lot of heft or calories and are quite crunchy. Various brands have different textures and flavors. They vary a bit in price too. It seems are artisional brands with small batches, etc. Also the bigger bags are cheaper per ounce, so if you find a brand you like, you can scale up your purchasing power. Give them a try!
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