Coaching Rugby Fives Doubles Tactics for Strong Partnerships
Rugby Fives remains one of the oldest and most distinctive doubles court sports still played across Commonwealth nations. While the sport's roots sit firmly in British schools and clubs, its reach has spread steadily into Australian communities, where fives courts have appeared alongside tennis and netball facilities in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Coaching doubles successfully requires more than teaching the basic handball technique; it demands attention to two players moving as a single tactical unit inside a court designed to reward anticipation, deception and teamwork.
For coaches working with adult club members or school athletes in Australia, the transition from singles instinct to doubles awareness often proves the steepest learning curve. New doubles players instinctively chase every ball, leaving vast spaces uncovered, while experienced pairs operate on shared signals and trusted positional rotations. The challenge for any coach is to compress that learning journey without losing the enjoyment that draws people to the sport in the first place.
Tactics in Rugby Fives also differ markedly from the more familiar doubles frameworks Australians encounter in tennis or badminton. The ball strikes the buttress and often rebounds unpredictably, meaning pair movement, court geometry and the ability to read a partner's position become more valuable than raw stroke power.
Establishing roles and rotations early
A clear understanding of roles removes most of the confusion that affects new doubles pairs. Coaches should assign one player as the "front" — positioned closer to the receiving line and tasked with intercepting short returns — and one as the "back", responsible for depth and recovering shots that fall beyond the front partner's reach. This division mirrors the front-and-back structures used in Australian tennis doubles coaching at academies in Melbourne Park and Brisbane's Tennyson centre, and players absorb the principle quickly when it is framed in familiar terms.
Rotation is where most untrained pairs falter. The front player does not stand still; after every interception, they must reset toward the centre while the back player slides across to cover the wider zones. Drills that force pairs to switch sides, such as the "cross-court recovery relay", build the muscle memory needed for these micro-adjustments during actual match play.
Coaches working in school programmes should keep rotations simple at first, allowing only one swap per rally. As confidence grows, players can be introduced to dynamic switches where either partner may take the front position depending on which side of the court the ball is returned from.
Court coverage and movement patterns
Effective doubles coverage depends on recognising that no single player can defend both wings and the back corner simultaneously. Rugby Fives' court dimensions encourage a diagonal bias: the front player should anchor roughly between the receiving line and the centre mark, while the back player operates across the full width of the back third. Australian pairs sometimes refer to this as the "sheepdog arc", because the back player's lateral movement resembles a working dog sweeping across the paddock.
Drills should focus on covering the three danger zones — short left, short right and deep left, which is the natural blind spot behind many players' dominant hand. A practical exercise is the "shadow doubles" drill, where partners move without a ball while the coach calls out a zone and both adjust to cover it. This builds the habit of anticipating rather than reacting.
Footwork matters more than arm swing in doubles. Players who arrive at the ball with a balanced stance can choose between a controlled placement and a power drive, whereas a player caught flat-footed usually resorts to a desperate lob. Coaches in Queensland and NSW frequently borrow conditioning elements from local cricket nets — short sprints, lateral shuffles and reaction starts — to prepare pairs for the explosive movement that doubles demands.
Serve strategy and receiving formations
The serve in Rugby Fives is the one uncontested moment, and doubles coaches should treat it as a tactical weapon rather than a routine action. Pairs that vary between a hard drive to the buttress and a soft lob begin to manipulate the opposition's receiving position. Coaches might ask partners to agree on two or three serve types before the match and signal the chosen option with a subtle tap of the racquet foot.
Receiving formations shape how the opposition can attack. The most common Australian doubles formation is the side-by-side setup, where both partners stand level with the receiving line to cover short returns on either side. A more advanced alternative — popular among experienced club players in Sydney's north shore leagues — is the staggered I-formation, which sacrifices width for a stronger central presence and helps neutralise an opponent who specialises in hitting the corner.
| Formation | Strengths | Weaknesses | Best against |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side-by-side | Wide coverage, simple for new pairs | Vulnerable down the centre, requires two strong receivers | Sidespin servers who target corners |
| I-formation staggered | Central dominance, stronger interception | Leaves flanks exposed, demands front player agility | Power servers who drive the ball hard off the buttress |
| Front-loaded V | Aggressive interception at the line | High-risk, tiring if unconverted | Lob servers who push the receiver back |
Partner communication on court
Verbal cues remain the simplest way for doubles pairs to stay aligned. Coaches should establish a limited vocabulary — perhaps three or four call words such as "mine", "yours", "switch" and "deep" — and drill them until they become automatic. Australian club coaches often find that pairs who talk constantly win more rallies not because they choose better shots, but because they eliminate the half-second of hesitation that arises when two players reach for the same ball.
Non-verbal communication matters equally. Eye contact before the serve, a slight nod toward the back court, or a racquet pointed toward the intended return zone all transmit information without alerting the opposition. Pairs coached at Geelong Grammar's historic courts, for instance, use a discreet hand signal behind the back to indicate which partner will take the front position after the next point.
Practising silent rallies under stress — where talking is forbidden and only visual cues are allowed — sharpens awareness and quickly exposes partners who rely on shouting rather than looking at each other.
Shot selection and variation in pairs
Shot choice in doubles should always answer one question: which partner is best placed to finish the rally? Coaches can build this habit through "set and finish" drills, where one player plays a deliberately controlled setup shot and the partner attempts to put away the next ball. The drill teaches responsibility — the setter is not trying to win the point outright, and the finisher is not trying to set up.
Variation itself becomes a tactical asset. A pair that hits only hard drives is predictable by the second game. Introducing cut shots, lobs angled toward the back nick, and softly placed returns off the buttress forces the opposition to second-guess their positioning. Many Australian coaches borrow inspiration from the variety seen in elite doubles squash, where straight drives, cross-court drops and boasts are woven together across a single rally.
Junior pairs often benefit from a "three-shot rule": the same type of shot cannot be played three times in a row. This simple constraint encourages variety without overwhelming beginners with tactical theory.
Adapting tactics for conditions and opposition
No tactical plan survives contact with a hot Australian summer afternoon or a rainy Brisbane winter morning. Courts in Melbourne and Adelaide often play faster in cool conditions because the rubber ball holds less sting, while a warm Canberra day softens the impact and gives more time for a deceptive lob. Coaches should treat conditions as a live variable and adjust pair tactics accordingly.
Opposition profiling matters as well. Before a match, pairs should identify whether the opposing front player is a height advantage or prefers to attack the nick; whether the back player returns lobs competently; and which side of the court they favour under pressure. A targeted adaptation — such as avoiding the dominant side of the strongest player and targeting their partner instead — can neutralise superior individual talent.
Practical adjustments coaches can rehearse in training include changing serve depth every two points, rotating the front player mid-set, and deliberately slowing the rally pace when the opposition prefers fast exchanges.
Coaches who blend structured drills with open-ended match play give players the tools to think for themselves while still grounding the partnership in shared habits. A well-prepared pair walking onto court in Sydney, Perth or Hobart knows exactly where their partner will be, what signal means "switch", and which shot finishes the point — and that confidence is what separates a doubles team from two individuals sharing a court.
To deepen your coaching knowledge and connect with experienced Rugby Fives tacticians across Australia and the UK, visit the Rugby Fives Association website for coaching resources, fixture lists and upcoming doubles workshops at therugbyfivesassociation.org.
