The "I" Formation

The Point

This is a point from the UBS Boston National tournament final back in 2013.

Parsons and Du Randt are serving and they set up to have Parsons take most of the overheads. Du Randt hangs close to the net looking to pick off weak drives or redirect hard drives. This puts the players in an "I" formation, which is a popular net formation because it allows the team to handle the most common shots from the backcourt: lobs and drives out of the corners.

Net Player

The net player's job is to stay close to the net and pick off drives. As such, the net player might even move far into the doubles alley to let their partner take overheads when they anticipate that a drive is unlikely (or after they see the lob go up).

Here Du Randt steps wide to let Parsons take an overhead:

But then he closes hard to the net after the overhead, looking to hit a volley on the very next shot:

Since Parsons and Du Randt are both right-handed, it's natural for them to attack the Ad-side backcourt. This is because Parsons can turn his shoulders and get sideways to cover most lobs.

Here's another extreme example with Du Randt stepping out of the court on a Parsons overhead to protect against his line:

Again, this works because if Arraya lobs down the line out of the Ad backcourt, Parsons can slide over and still take the overhead with his forehand. And if Arraya lobs middle or cross-court, Parsons can still slide left and take the overhead with a forehand.

With Du Randt guarding the drive to his line and a bit to the middle, Arraya has limited opportunity to attack. It's possible he could drive cross-court (or maybe even a softer backhand flick), but that's about all that isn't covered. More on this later.

Overhead Player

One of the coolest parts of this formation is how much freedom the overhead player has to make shots. Parsons can hit the hard roller to the Deuce side, the flat or inside-out forehand to the Ad side, and he could hit a cut overhead to the Ad sidewire, or even right at the Deuce player.

Another aspect of this formation is that with the net player firmly in place, the overhead player has a bit more margin for error to hit harder overheads. Obviously, there's a limit, but Parsons can afford to error on the side of hitting it harder to get the ball to a wire than softer where they can take it off the deck.

Parsons' first overhead is a hard, flat forehand to Arraya's Ad corner:

Parsons' final overhead is a hard roller that hits sidewire, then backwire to the Deuce and he induces the lob long:

The roller to the Deuce side that gets the side wire first is both a defensive overhead because it's so hard for the Deuce player to attack if they are backing up and sideways, and can be an offensive overhead as well since it's simply a demanding shot for the player to keep in play.

Danger Zone

The weak spot in this formation with two right-handed players is the Ad-side net and corner. If the overhead does not get to a wire, or if the net player volleys short, then there is a good opportunity to attack the net team by driving to their Ad side.

Parsons has to close hard to the net and make two really strong volleys to stay in the point after he hits overheads that are too easy for Jonason to drive out of the backcourt.

The first is an overhead to the middle, which is the left-handed Jonason's forehand coming out of the Deuce:

And the second is off a roller that doesn't get the sidewire:

These volleys are hard to make but also hard to put them in play where the other team can't follow it up with another drive.

Another Example

Here's another example of Du Randt / Parsons using this same formation from that same season in 2012 / 2013 against the exact same team of Arraya / Jonason!

The point is extremely similar, and you can see the force of Parsons' overhead, as well as the requirement on him to close hard to the net when he anticipates a drive:

Conclusion

This is probably the most common formation for two right-handed players at net because it simplifies their roles and allows them to cover most shots that the backcourt team can attack with.