drill
Lone wolf
A regular game for three: two against one. The lone wolf serves twice like a whole team, and the pair may only hit into the half the lone wolf served from.
- Players
- 3
- Time
- 20 min
- Path
- Intermediate
- Topics
- Strategy, Teamwork, Physical
The closest thing to a real game when only three turn up. Everything is normal doubles: the serve, the two-bounce rule, the kitchen. Two rules even it out: the lone wolf gets a team’s worth of serves, and only has to cover half the court.
Setup
- Two players on one side, the lone wolf alone on the other.
- Normal doubles positions to start: the receiving side’s partner at the kitchen line, everyone else back.
The rules
- Play normal doubles: serve diagonally, two bounces, kitchen rules, lobs and everything else allowed.
- The lone wolf has two serves. Serving, they lose a rally and go on to their second serve, just as a doubles team does with its second server. Lose the second too, and it’s a side-out.
- The pair hits into one half only: the half the lone wolf last served from. A ball into the other half loses the rally.
- The lone wolf can hit anywhere on the pair’s side.
- While the pair serve, normally (server 1, then server 2), the lone wolf keeps the half they last served from.
- P3 is the lone wolf, serving from the right. That half is the only half P1 and P2 may hit into this rally. P2 waits at the kitchen line.
- P3 serves cross-court to P1. A normal serve: it has to bounce.
- P1 returns deep into P3's half, the only half allowed, and walks to the line.
- P3 can hit anywhere: a drop toward the middle, then a couple of steps in.
- P2 has to keep it in P3's half, so P3 knows where it is coming.
- P3 resets it soft and reaches the line. One against two at the line now.
- P1 pulls P3 wide, to the edge of the half.
- Stretched, P3 floats one.
- P2 puts it away into the corner of P3's half that P3 just left. P3 loses the rally, but has a second serve: no side-out yet.
Score
Normal doubles scoring: only the serving side scores, to 11, win by 2. After each game, rotate who plays alone, so everyone gets a turn as the lone wolf.
Turn the dial
Easier for the lone wolf: the pair get one serve between them instead of two: lose a rally on their serve and it’s a side-out.
Harder for the lone wolf: one serve only, as in a normal game, and the half switches with every point they serve.
Goes with Moving as a team