Footwork
and the lack thereof:

TENNIS FORUM Respond to this Commentary:

Foot Fundamentals
I made a couple of basically humorous comments to a student a couple days ago which I would like to share... "You have great footwork but it would help if you were in the right place to hit the ball..." and "...the reason you miss your groudstrokes 9 times out of 10 is because of bad footwork and the other time is because you didn't move your feet."
I may be clumsy but I'm slow
You would think that young players would have quick feet and sharp reflexes to be able to anticipate and move with quickness but it is simply not the case. In fact when you look at young players almost without exception they begin with a lethargic clumsiness of foot. In tennis there is a necessity for quick abrupt stops and starts to reach the ball. One of the fundamentals of an advanced tennis player is quick fluid balanced movements. The best description of the proper motions of good groundstrokers are fast feet and slow hands.
Anticipation and Preparation
The most common practice is reversed as the new or average players move slowly and swing fast in truncated and wildly unsound movements. The reason for this is the lack of preparation and not being set up to hit the ball correctly. As far as correctly is concerned there are numerous correct methods of footwork, grips and swings as their are an equally large number of incorrect patterns. Typically there are three positions to be in when responding to an opponent's shot; to be ready for it, to have to chase it and to watch it. The only good one is to be ready for it and be prepared to hit a return. Chasing it will result most often in a short ball or a very defensive return and to watch it means you are so far out of position you can only hope for it to miss.
The Lost Step
The underlying cause and primary reason for errors is footwork. There is a missed or lost step in most beginning level players. Proper readiness and positioning of the feet should be completed as the ball bounces on your side of the court. Just before you hit there is a moment in time where you make the last adjustment to hit an aggressive rather than defensive return. This missed step is in many and most cases due to misunderstanding proper shot selection and that particular shot's footwork requirements and or incomplete instruction. All players have the ability to hit a closed, open or exaggerated open stance and use the respective grips to do so properly yet they don't seem to know what or when to make these choices. Generally an instructor will teach what they know and leave the student in confusion which causes them to think every shot must be hit open or closed, with this grip or that. Unfortunately tennis is not that easy of a game on higher levels.
Stepping Forward
There are many players who have formed a habit of freezing and or getting tight at that wrong times and constantly missing relatively easy shots because of bad footwork which throws off a player's timing. These players have completely lost the step and have developed terminally bad footwork, bad timing, inappropriate shot selection and distorted body movements. The inablity to take a ball on the rise is generally an indicator of a systemic failure in shot production because of the errors in preparation. As a player gets older both in age and number of years played certain patterns will become ingrained and habitual. There are many areas of practice which can improve footwork but there are just as many practice methods and typical teaching patterns by instructors that create bad footwork. I look forward in my next commentary in giving you more information and solutions on how to teach effective footwork and improve your game and the games of your students. Rich