One of our opponents in our ladies doubles match was left handed and we had a lot of trouble adjusting to her shots. What's a good strategy for the future?

Playing a lefty can be a very frustrating experience and can take you out of your comfort zone.  The typical cross court doubles patterns of backhand-to-backhand no longer work and, since the spin on most left-handers' serve swings the opposite way, you find yourself stretching and reaching to hit returns from either side. The end result is you cough up a weak return onto their forehand which allows them to dominate the point from the outset.  They start playing their forehand strength crosscourt over the middle/low part of the net to your backhand which immediately puts you on the defensive!  Nadal is a master at this strategy!

Typically, a lefty's forehand is stronger than than their backhand because most lefties have cross-dominated eyesight: their dominant eye is their right eye. Conversely, most lefties have weaker backhands which is why you find players like Nadal with a two hander--the two hander allows them to open up their stance to focus both eyes on the ball and compensate for eye dominance. They also tend to have a more natural service motion resulting in a slightly better serve and can hit groundies down the sideline when playing the 'ad court'. Conversely, most lefties have real problems with slice serves, particularly when playing the 'deuce court' which is why their preference is to play the 'ad court'. 

Here are a few tactics to help you develop this basic information into a simple doubles strategy:

1) Accept the 'mental challenge'. Face it, this is going to be a different game with different shot placements and angles. You'll need to be patient with yourself and your partner if you find your error rate increases!

2) On return of service, your primary objective is NOT to set up the weak return on their forehand. When possible, and particularly when you get a second serve, hit more returns down the middle of the court. You guessed it, the advantage for you with a lefty playing the add court is that your opponents now have two (2) backhands in the middle of the court. Alternately, if your opponents are not rushing the net, a high loopy return which keeps them behind the baseline is a good tactic as is a high defensive lob to drive them back if they do play serve volley.

3) When serving, use your serve effectively to attack the backhand side to control the point from then on. And if you get a lefty on the deuce side, a wide slice to the backhand is a great serve.

4) Here's how to handle the typical lefty serve particularly the wide serve to your backhand. You have a choice of either playing further back and letting the spin subside or moving forward diagonally to the ball to cut the angle down.  In either case, you'll need to adjust where you stand for returning serve with your basic goal of getting the ball back into play -- lefties love to get free points on their serve.  If you feel adventurous, you can increase the pressure on their serve by attacking their second serve and following the ball into net. This works best if you get a short second serve. Remember though, your basic game plan though is to get into as many points as possible!

If you can apply any variation of the above tactics, you'll find playing a lefty won't be so difficult. And, if you master the basics, you might in fact switch the tables and become the lefty's worse nightmare!

On a big point in our doubles match, our opposition had a short ball and I didn't know whether to go forward or back. I just knew that I didn't want to be there in "no-man's land"!  What should I have done? Ps: I need to know this week before our finals next Sunday, please??

You're right! You want to avoid "no-man's land" -- the typical position just behind the service line, as much as possible irrespective of whether the opposition has a short ball to punish you with or not. Playing from this position poses several challenges: 1) your perspectives are poor since the net gets higher and the court gets narrower the farther back you are from the net, and 2) you are forced to play the the ball up from about shoestring level which allows your opposition to punish you or your partner at the net by hitting down on their next shot particularly if they have an overhead or a forcing volley.

Your strategy depends very much on the type of shot you can play when caught in no-man's land. If you are forced to hit a short lob then discretion is the better part of valour and you should momentarily back off while warning your partner at the net to also prepare for the worst! If you are able to achieve perfection by bunting your return low over the net to turn the tables on your opponents and force them to hit up, your strategy is to move forward to look for a put away volley or overhead yourself.

If, as happens in most cases, your return shot causes a volley exchange to ensue, your best option is to move forward AND towards the centre of the court: move towards the middle line.  Most players unconsciously hit their volleys down the middle of the court over the low part of the net.  Moving away from the centre towards the sidelines creates what I call a "Moses and the Red Sea" situation where you and your partner are left high and dry with the opposition volleying between you!

In either case, the worst option is just to stand there and not move -- but you already knew that: "I just knew that I didn't want to be there".  Good luck on Sunday!