If you tune into Pickleballtv or watch the pros live at a tournament, you might see doubles partners aggressively shifting over to their partner’s side to return a ball.

In the mixed doubles clip below, Meghan Dizon and Andrei Daescu play Etta Wright and  Christian Alshon. In this point, Daescu plays the left side and moves so far over onto the right side that it seems like he's handling all of the balls hit in Dizon's direction. 

At first, it looks like Daescu is a ball hog and poaching. And on behalf of Dizon, I get a little annoyed. It's classic mixed doubles where the male is dominating on the court and won’t let the female hit any returns. 

But the same thing also happens in gender doubles. 

In another match with Ben Johns and Collin Johns versus JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier, both Ben and JW appear to take balls that would be their partner’s. Ben is standing on the center line as if he’s ready to take all of Collins’ backhands. 

The left is the more dominating position in doubles pickleball, so is this just a left side player strategy? 

Christian Alshon shared the reasoning and strategy behind the pros playing the middle. And no, it’s not because the pros want to take all the shots. 

At the IHG Hotels & Resorts Bristol Open, Alshon and Quang Duong paired up together in men’s dubs where they took down Ben and Collin Johns in the finals. But right at the beginning of the match, the Johns brothers hit every ball to Duong, isolating and targeting one player on the court.  

“Because they’re hitting every single ball to Quang, that means I can come over, pinch the middle, and bait my opponents to hit a ball behind me,” said Alshon. 

“If you’re playing with somebody and your partner is getting picked on, it doesn’t mean that you’re completely helpless and you just stand there and say ‘good luck.’ What you can do to help your partner out is by creeping over to their side,” advised Alshon. 

Alshon gives insight to pro pickleball strategy. By Alshon hugging the middle, if Johns brothers hit a ball to the middle, Alshon is right there to return it both from the middle and the right side. And, if they hit the ball out wide, Quang can return it with an ATP. 

So, their opponent’s only option is a small target in front of Duong that leads to a dead dink that Alshon and Duong can return, speed up, or put away. 

This strategy worked to win the point, but also lead them to the gold in the match.

So take the advice from the pros, if your partner is getting targeted, you can help by playing the middle. And if you look like a poacher to spectators – oh well. At least it can help you win the point. 

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