Doubles Tennis Rule

Is it allowable for the doubles partner playing the net to have a foot in the service box when service occurs?

is the partner with his foot in the service box on the side that's receiving serve or that's serving? either way i don't think that it matters, i believe that your partner can be wherever he pleases as long as he doesn't return the serve when it's not his turn. but don't quote me because i really don't know.

If you're talking about the serving team, yes. That's the Aussie formation, where both players are on the same side of the court, and then move immediately after the serve. Lots of fun.

The net player on the receiving team may not step into the service box.

Any player can stand anywhere on the court. The only exception is that the server must be behind the baseline to serve and must not walk as they serve. The only risk to standing in the service area is that you might get hit by the serve, in which case you would lose the point.

There's no rule that says the receiver's partner can't stand in the service box. But rules do say he cannot touch the ball -- only the receiver can. The Hindrance Rule also applies. The server can claim that the receiver's partner is hindering his serve with the fear of hitting him (the receiver's partner).

Yes, cheaters do try to hinder their opponents with fear of hitting them. That's why some jerks stand at the T, looking backward, with their mouth hanging open and their racket hanging down around their knees ... when an opposing net player is about to volley a shot through there. The volleyer is so fearful of blindsiding this jerk who isn't even looking that he either blows the shot or hits the other way to the baseliner instead. Doing that is the next-worst thing to hitting the ball out. He has a right to take his best shot, and the jerk body-blocking it as if unaware what he's doing is preying on the hitter's decency.

In other situations, during close exchanges at net, volleyers often try to get in the way of an opposing volleyer's shot to make the hitter fear hurting them.

So you can hinder your opponent physically, with a distracting move or noise, or you can hinder him psychologically -- a hindrance is a hindrance.

This unsporting play vitiates the game, and official rulings have traditionally applied the Hindrance Rule to these tricks. You must win this game by making shots, not by hindering your opponent's ability to make them. Otherwise you don't have a level playing field. Otherwise a racket is superfluous: just go out there and stand in the way. That's why the rules do everything possible to dissallow such sneaky tactics: That's why if you get hit, you are the one penalized.