DOUBLE FAKE, THE CORRECT WAY: JAMES WILLSTROP vs. THIERRY LINCOU

In our last post we've had a slightly over-confused double fake by Amr Shabana, here we have James Willstrop showing the most classic way to employ it correctly right after a highish counter-drop; after a good drop your opponent digs deep to 'grab out' a counter drop, he is still about to get back from his lounge when you threaten with a big swing and a quick fake swing-through to hit a hard cross-court kill; that makes him stuck or even move back slightly and that's enough for you to execute quiet securely a second drop.On club level you might expect it to be a winner straight off, pros like Lincou might get there again to scrap the ball off the ground, but without the time to recover your next winning shot (volley in the below case). The point is to employ the double fake only when the ball (and both you and your opponent) are pretty close to the front-wall, I think.

DOUBLE FAKEING YOURSELF: AMR SHABANA vs. JAMES WILLSTROP

It has been said a few times, the great thing about Amr Shabana is the mixture, the perfect balance of keeping it simple and being tricky at the right times. However, sometimes it can happen even to the greats that they become confused with themselves, just as it happens to Shabana in the below rally at 0:30. He employs a double fake, I guess as a variation to avoid to proceed to the more usual holding of the shot or just taking the ball as early as possible (which both are better solutions than the double fake when your opponent is so close to you I think).Anyway, some mess will always come with creativity, you just have to make sure that their number remains restricted.


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