Earn the line together

Getting to the kitchen line is something a pair does together. One player charging ahead while the other stays back leaves a hole the opponents aim at. Three players are enough to practise it: two to move as a pair, one to feed and test them.

Setup

• The feeder at the kitchen line, with a handful of balls.
• The pair at the baseline on the other side, side by side, as if they had just served.
• Once the point is on, the feeder covers only half the court: agree which half before you start.

How it works

1. The feeder hits a deep ball to either player in the pair.
2. That player drops it into the feeder’s kitchen, and both walk in behind it, level with each other.
3. The feeder keeps them honest: soft balls at the feet of whoever is behind or ahead.
4. Once the pair reach the line level, the point is on: play it out, two against one, the pair hitting only into the feeder’s half.
5. Ten balls, then rotate: the feeder joins the pair and someone else feeds.

1 / 6Open in whiteboardOpen ↗

1. 1P3 feeds from the kitchen line. P1 and P2 are a pair at the baseline, with the line to earn.
2. 2A deep feed to P1.
3. 3P1 drops it into P3's kitchen, and both walk in behind it, level. Nobody runs ahead.
4. 4P3 dinks it at P2's feet in the transition zone.
5. 5P2 resets it soft, and the pair reach the line together.
6. 6Level at the line: the line is earned. Now play it out, two against one, the pair hitting into P3's half only.

Turn the dial

Easier: the feeder dinks back every ball until the pair reach the line, and never attacks.

Harder: the feeder may speed up any ball that comes back above the net, so a high drop or reset costs the pair the point.