The Merits of Poaching in Platform Tennis:
To Poach or not to Poach, that is the question.

I always like to start with a comparison to our sister sport tennis. It always brings up some visual differences which can help take your game in paddle to the next level, especially since many come over from playing tennis. Its great in tennis to have a partner who is comfortable poaching and relishes in cutting diagonally toward the net with quick reflexes, interrupting the return of the opponent to put the ball away. Notice however in tennis, particularly on the return of serve poach, the ball is put away 90% of the time, either at the feet of the opponent at net, down the middle between the opposing partners, or, if close enough to the net, angled off to the side.

In platform tennis, however, because of the dimensions of the court, and the presence of the screens, if a ball is powered past the opponent, the ball rebounds off the screen and is still in play. This necessitates control of the point. For instance, if off the deuce court service the player already at the net poaches to cut off the return in the middle and puts it to the opposing backhand player too quickly, it would put the team out of position by creating too many openings, unlike in tennis.

On the other hand, where a poach from this play would work to your advantage in platform tennis is often poaching to help your partner, who is having difficulty getting in for his or her first volley effectively, offering a change of target area. If your opponent knows you like to poach, your movement can create an erratic return. However, your target area for the poaching volley becomes extremely difficult and the technique of the volley differ, to not compromise the servers control of the point. Here, you targets are the reset button, so the ball hits low of the screen, or to the attack button, again hitting the ball so hits the screen low, forcing the opponent to hit a defensive screen shot. This allows the service team time to get set in the shifted over position. Currently in platform, there are many players possessing offensive two-handed backhand drives, so one needs to be careful not to feed the poached shot to the opposing offensive returns with an opening in your shifted over position at the net.

In conclusion, poaching has to be done carefully in platform. When done effectively, you can interrupt the opponent’s control of the tempo, instantly change target openings, and force errors out of the opponent, helping partner on difficult returns to ensure your team stays in the point. However, always assuming the ball is in play in platform, one needs to take care to ensure that the shot be put to an defensive spot, so your team does not lose control of the point. Controlling the tempo and minimizing the offensive returns of the opponent will win you more points in platform.