Triangulation in the Dinking Phase

Since dinking comprises such a large part of the game, it is essential that players understand where they should be positioned during the play. We talked about team movement while at the kitchen line in the post Moving as a Team Part 1 - At the Kitchen Line. In that post, I talked about forming a wall in order to cover the 2/3 of the court that opponents could most easily exploit. Deb Harrison talks about the same concept in her video Tipbit: Triangulation.

Deb describes triangulation as following the ball as a team so an opponent cannot hit a ball between you and your partner. The team's position should expose only the part of the court farthest from the opponent hitting the ball. This concept will be discussed in another video in tomorrow's post. Today, we will draw on my earlier post to introduce the concept. The image below comes from Moving as a Team Part 1 - At the Kitchen Line.

It shows the concept of triangulation with Players A and B forming a triangle with the third point being the ball hit by Opponent A. The triangle that is formed is intended to encompass the area of the court that Opponent A can most easily hit a shot. Players A and B need to ensure they can defend shots in that area and thereby expose only the most difficult area to hit - Lane 3, the area farthest from Opponent A. 

The triangle moves dependent on the position of the ball. If the ball were hit to Opponent A's partner in the top part of the image, the triangle would shift upward. The most important part of triangulation is that Players A and B move together to cover the area between them. A shot between players is the easiest for opponents to execute and is also the most effective if not properly covered.

While the concept of triangulation is true all over the court, it is especially true in the dinking phase due to the close proximity of the opponents. We will talk more about the triangle movement in the dinking phase in the next post.