Stacking

I have a confession to make: I’m a stacker. My mixed doubles partner and I always stack. Often when we visit other clubs for the first time, there are players thrown off by us standing in random places around the court. But there is a reason to our random positioning. Stacking provides a stronger play strategy.

One of the best times to stack is when the team comprises of one lefty and one righty. Playing regularly is fine, but when the righty is on the right and the lefty on the left, that leaves both backhands in the middle. Unless you are a very unique player, most players’ backhands are not nearly as strong or quick as their forehand. But when you stack, you always have both forehands in the middle, making your defense strong at all times.

Another time to use stacking is if one player has a much stronger (or weaker) forehand or backhand. It is all about utilizing your strongest points while hiding the weakest. The last thing you want is to be stuck in your weakest position, because that is generally when the other team goes on a big run.

So, there are actually two ways in which you can stack; half or full. Half stacking is when you only apply stacking positioning during the serve or receive, but not both. Although, I would say, 99% of the time, half-stacking is only done during serve. Full stacking, on the other hand, is done the whole time.

The idea of stacking is to stay on one side of the court. For example, I generally play on the right side of the court. Therefore, I am always the first server and am always playing on the right side. However, as every player knows, at some point, I will have to serve and receive from the left side. Which I will do, but then I always run to the right side to get back into the position I want to be in.

So, how do I know when I’m supposed to be on which side? The answer is simple, “What is the score?”. If my team’s score is an even number (0,2,4,6,8,10), then I stay in my position (no stacking). If the score is odd (1,3,5,7,9), then I stack*.

The simplest explanation I give to people on how to stack is to remember that you should always be on the same side of your partner. So, if you are the one on the right, then your partner should always be to your left, stacking or not.

The main thing to know is if you are stacking, but not the person serving or receiving the ball.

When serving, stand beside your partner (who is serving) behind the baseline. Then, they will slide over to their side after making the serve. Just make sure you give them plenty of room for their serving motion. In the example below, player 1 is serving from the left (they have an odd score). Once the serve is made, player 1 slides back over to the right side to hit the third shot.

Stacking in serve

When receiving, there are two options. The first is to stick with my “always on the side” rule. In this case, stand outside of the court on your preferred side near the kitchen line. In this example, player 3 serves it to player 2, while player 1 stands just outside the court, but as close as possible to where they want to be. Once player 2 hits the return, they rush up to the kitchen diagonally and player 1 slides into the court.

Stacking in receive

Notice in both of these examples, whether serving or receiving, the number 2 player is always to the left of the number 1 player.

The other way to stack while receiving is to stand on the court as you normally would, but after the return, switch sides. This is mostly done among the pros, and includes hand signals behind the back to let their partner know whether or not they want to switch. It can sometimes get confusing during this rotation if a player forgets to switch. In this example, player 2 returns the ball, then player 2 runs diagonally to the kitchen and player 1 slides over.

Stacking in receive by switching

There are two benefits to stacking within the court on receive. The first is that if the serve is tough or the return is bad, you both can stay in the position you are in and keep the court covered. It is way more flexible. The second is that the server doesn't have a target. For example, if I am serving at a team that is stacking outside the court, I will serve it at the person out of bounds because if they get it back over, I have the whole court open to hit into.

And that is how you stack. Now there are a couple of strategies that I should note when stacking. Most importantly, when you are the receiver and stacking, you have to run cross court to the kitchen, not straight ahead like usual. Therefore, it is important to make sure your return is both deep and high, giving you plenty of time to get to where you need to be. Hitting on the run is one of the top reasons for an error.

The same applies for serving. So often, opponents of stacking teams will try to put the ball down the open line. And if that is the player’s backhand, then that is a great strategy. Therefore, you need to make sure you can get to your side and planted, ready to take the return and drop it into the kitchen.

Stacking isn’t for everyone, but there are plenty of times when it can be used effectively. Just make sure you have practiced it with your partner before using it in a tournament. It is hard to focus on playing well when you are too busy trying to figure out where you should be standing. Just like every other part of the game, stacking takes practice. Don't give up if it doesn't work the first game.

The main thing to remember is that you are trying to get to your home square. When your score is even (0,2,4,6,8,10) then you don't stack, and you are already in your home. An odd score (1,3,5,7,9) is when this stacking takes place. As long as the correct person serves and receives from the correct side, it doesn't matter where the other player is standing.

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*This is also a great thing to know for games in which you switch sides halfway through so you and your partner aren’t those people pointing to figure out which side they were just standing on, as well as whether or not your opponents are in the correct spot, because if they are not, you get the point.