This question came to me a few days ago. Coach, which doubles formation is better, side by side or I formation.
Before I answer that, let me remind everyone that doubles played at it’s best is game of constant movement to cover the area your partner cannot cover. One of the ways we teach it at the Elite Camp is to have one player begin walking around the court and the other player moving cover the area of the court their partner cannot.
Side by side is a bad formation. I think what you mean is what I would diagonal coverage. Diagonal coverage is a hybrid of I formation or side by side. One player would be off the wall (very important) and in front of the receiving line (forward player) and their partner would be deeper on the other side of the court, off the wall, and able to cover shots like a ceiling ball hit over their partner’s head. This formation can cover more shots. The side by side is very vulnerable to being wide angle passed. There is no second line of defense. One weakness in this coverage would be covering the side wall pinch shots. The up player has the whole front court to cover.
I formation works if the opponents hit the side walls. Pinch fest artists will have trouble vs this formation because the up player will get tons of opportunities. The deep player must be good on the ceiling and able to move side to side to cover the shots. The glaring weakness of this coverage is the inability to cover good down the lines and wide angle cross courts.
So each formation has its strengths and weaknesses. The real good teams play both coverages, because of the demands of the rallies.
I hope this helps, oh and one more thing. My athletes play a lot of doubles with the local legends. The locals get mad because they do not shoot the serve returns. The consensus is shoot the ball more to win. To me, this could not be further from the truth. Pick and choose your offensive returns carefully, as you have two players in front of you to cover the returns. The good old ceiling ball opens up the defense and allows opportunities on the next shot!