How can I improve my movement

[StringSnapper]

Footwork patterns are no different than stroke technique patterns. You need stroke technique patterns to get the racquet to the ball so you can hit it where and how you want to. You need footwork patterns to get your body to the ball with the correct orientation, positioning, and spacing so you can execute your stroke technique pattern. Notice how often you read of people on the forum saying they can shadow swing a beautiful stroke but when the ball is in play, it falls to pieces. Or how many people say they can hit great against a ball machine but can't do the same when they have to move to the ball. Both of those are strongly influenced by poor footwork/footwork patterns.

The unfortunate thing is that many/most rec players work on their stroke technique and don't do the same amount of work on their footwork patterns. It's a significant reason why there are guys with beautiful strokes stuck at the same level with guys who have terrible looking strokes but get balls back into play. It's just hard to beat defensive players if you can't hit the ball well enough because your body isn't in position to let you make proper swings on a consistent basis.

Maybe it's one of those individual things, being Australian I played a decent amount of sport growing up including soccer and a similar sport we have AFL.

 

[StringSnapper]

Overloaded with tips and knowledge, trying too many things.

Maybe the search never ends.

Maybe that's the thing, you can always be better if being better is your goal. Probably have to be more specific with the goal or even "timebox" the goal.

 

[socallefty]

I'm not used to the angles that balls come at from and especially when I'm close to the net like I'm almost never in singles

I like to keep this a virtual community only, but happy to offer tips online. Even if it doesn’t help you, maybe it will give some food for thought for others. When I’m at the net, I focus on three things.

1. I first focus on the opposing net player to see if he is reacting as if he will intercept the ball hit by my partner. If so, I have to be alert to react to the net player‘s shot with my racquet up and it will have to be an instinctive response. But I might take a step to the middle after split-stepping if my partner‘s ball is somewhat low and not an easy put away for the opponent.
2. If my partner’s ball passes the opposing net guy, then I observe the quality and direction of my partner’s ball as it crosses the net and gets into my field of view. If it is a high caliber shot that is deep, wide, heavy and/or low where the opponent is going to struggle to hit a quality shot, I will take a step forward after split-stepping - this is very important to not be caught flat-footed at the net and gives me a chance to poach. If my partner’s shot is weak in any way (slow, mistimed, suicide depth etc.), then I split-step and take a step back so that I can react better to a lob or a hard shot hit at me or at my alley. The same applies for my partner’s serves - step forward on good/average serves, step back on very weak serves
3. Just when the opponent is about to hit his shot, I will move laterally also following the direction of my partner’s shot - wide if wide and to the middle if to the middle or to the opposing net player‘s side/alley. I won’t move early laterally as it gives the opponent time to change his shot easily. There are exceptions like when my partner hits a great shot wide and here I might move to the middle to get a likely poach and take the risk of being passed DTL with the bet that the opponent will likely miss if he tries to change the angle of a great shot.

If both opponents are at the net along with you, the gap between the front/back step and lateral step is almost zero and you move more diagonally rather than taking two steps separately as you don’t have much time to react. In all cases, feet have to be active on toes, body weight has to be forward and racquet has to be up in volley alert stance with both hands gripping the racquet (offhand on throat) allowing me to turn sideways quickly to either wing or do a reflex volley if hit at me. If you follow this 3-step approach, then you might time net shots better.

Key for a net player is to have the attitude that every ball is his when moving his feet, but actually hit only the volleys where he can hit an advantageous shot. When you move forward, you can typically hit an advantageous volley, but if you can move only laterally to hit a low volley, you won’t get much on it and better to let it go. Similarly let go the volleys you have to hit on the stretch down the middle if close to or below net level as your partner might be able to deal with it better. Most of my aggressive volleys at the net are done with feet/body moving forward quickly so that I typically make contact within 2-3 feet of the net - the better my partner is, the more it happens. I make volleys 10-15 feet from the net only when I am approaching after a serve, return or good baseline shot.

Also, you might want to use poach/stay signals a lot and do mostly intentional signaled poaches until you get your net footwork timing right. Here the trick is to play closer to the middle and go for the poach as late as possible as part of the net player’s job is to clog up the middle especially when your partner is serving. We even call poaches on Return + 1 shots to keep the serving team guessing especially if the server stays back. The more athletic you are, the closer you can play to the middle at the net and adjust to move to one side late. Also the optimal distance to stand from the net varies depending on the level and how athletic you are. All the best in singles and doubles!

 

[johnmccabe]

I was thinking about this a little bit as I was working out at the tennis club, and thought I would respond. Apologies for what is an overly long post.

Like any tennis skill, learning is a progression of doing the basic things, and then adding complexity step by step to build up the whole. It is the same with footwork patterns, and recognition of the scenarios in the examples I used about the crosscourt backhand. It's not something that you can say "I just made 4.0 - now I'm going to do these things". You have to be trying to do them all along, so that when a skill level is achieved where these types of nuances are necessary, there's already a foundational understanding that can be built upon.

Let me give a personal example. I've been a lifelong singles player. What doubles I did play I was often paired up with a partner who was very skilled in doubles and let me "play singles" while he cleaned up at the net. I've captained our club's 55+ 9.0 team several years and despite being one of the better singles player on the team, I was undoubtedly the worse doubles player, including the 4.0's who were playing up. It's not that I don't have the strokes. I can serve, hit overheads, and volley like a typical 4.5. My first doubles competition match was at the 4.0 level probably 18-19 years ago, and I was like a fish out of water. I didn't know where or when to move, didn't know how to poach, and didn't understand the nuances of how to support my partner. Practically every time I tried to poach, my timing was off and I'd either get burned behind me, or I'd miss the shot. It was so bad that I basically gave up and just stayed put. At the 4.5 level, it's even worse and smaller mistakes are jumped on mercilessly. So again, I basically just stayed put when my partner was serving. It's hard to win when one partner has to cover 60% of the court.

What I missed out on is the progression of learning doubles at a slower pace. Most players play doubles and mixed doubles from the beginning, and start to figure out when to poach, how to move cooperatively with your partner to cover the court, how to hit shots to set up your partner. I never had that and got thrown in at a level where learning that progression wasn't possible - I have to think too much and consequently flub a LOT of makeable shots.

So, I've taken the step of getting in with a bunch of 3.5 guys in doubles. Even there, a number of guys understand poaching and movement better than me. But the pace is a little slower, and being practices, the pressure is less to win. So I'm gradually learning the nuances of when to move, what signs to look for. The last time out, my partner was at the baseline and I made a volley to my opponent who was also at the baseline. For the first time ever, I instinctively realized he was going to go at my partner and I crossed and put a volley away. I had done it before but always had to think about it. This time I moved because I just knew. Small victories, but I feel good that I'm getting the doubles foundation built so that I can actually use my stroke skills at a level of play closer to where I hope to be.

The challenges in learning tennis that frustrate many people are exactly the fun part for some others.

 

[nyta2]

I have no idea who this guy is, but in my opinion that is a terrible video and terrible advice. It might be why that guy only has just over 2.5k subscribers.

How often do you see Novak, Sinner, or Alcaraz hit a forehand with their left foot way up in the air if they have time? Sure they do it, when under extreme pressure. You see Coco Gauff do but she has severe fundamental issues on her forehand. Do you want to imitate someone with severe fundamental issues on their forehand?

hehe, i love that guy... basically systemitizes footwork patterns
definitely not 3.0-3.5 material, but helped me figure out more efficient movement patterns in various scenarios
but yeah, ideally i'm always in balance, body weight moving forward into every shot... but my opponents are stubborn and don't always let me do that...

[edit] lack of subscribers tells me most folks don’t actually work on footwork… which matches most of conversations on ttw (mostly stroke conversations)

 

[nyta2]

This stuff is probably for 4.0+ only. 3.0-3.5 players have much bigger holes in their games to patch.

juniors learn all of it all together... even volleys, overheads, tweeners, etc...
focusing on a couple things only is like going to the gym and only doing bench & bi's

 

[dannyslicer]

Someone is asking the right questions.
Put away the racket for a few months.
Focus on HIIT workouts for 3-6 months
Tennis is mostly about speed and agility
Also, reboot your diet and lose weight

 

[dannyslicer]

If you can short cut your positioning for the next shot simply because you recover faster, isn’t that speed gain?

Great point.
I've played 65 year old junkers who can run down more balls than a 25 year old.
They always have a 3 step head start

 

[Injured Again]

I like to keep this a virtual community only, but happy to offer tips online. Even if it doesn’t help you, maybe it will give some food for thought for others. When I’m at the net, I focus on three things.

1. I first focus on the opposing net player to see if he is reacting as if he will intercept the ball hit by my partner. If so, I have to be alert to react to the net player‘s shot with my racquet up and it will have to be an instinctive response. But I might take a step to the middle after split-stepping if my partner‘s ball is somewhat low and not an easy put away for the opponent.
2. If my partner’s ball passes the opposing net guy, then I observe the quality and direction of my partner’s ball as it crosses the net and gets into my field of view. If it is a high caliber shot that is deep, wide, heavy and/or low where the opponent is going to struggle to hit a quality shot, I will take a step forward after split-stepping - this is very important to not be caught flat-footed at the net and gives me a chance to poach. If my partner’s shot is weak in any way (slow, mistimed, suicide depth etc.), then I split-step and take a step back so that I can react better to a lob or a hard shot hit at me or at my alley. The same applies for my partner’s serves - step forward on good/average serves, step back on very weak serves
3. Just when the opponent is about to hit his shot, I will move laterally also following the direction of my partner’s shot - wide if wide and to the middle if to the middle or to the opposing net player‘s side/alley. I won’t move early laterally as it gives the opponent time to change his shot easily. There are exceptions like when my partner hits a great shot wide and here I might move to the middle to get a likely poach and take the risk of being passed DTL with the bet that the opponent will likely miss if he tries to change the angle of a great shot.

If both opponents are at the net along with you, the gap between the front/back step and lateral step is almost zero and you move more diagonally rather than taking two steps separately as you don’t have much time to react. In all cases, feet have to be active on toes, body weight has to be forward and racquet has to be up in volley alert stance with both hands gripping the racquet (offhand on throat) allowing me to turn sideways quickly to either wing or do a reflex volley if hit at me. If you follow this 3-step approach, then you might time net shots better.

Key for a net player is to have the attitude that every ball is his when moving his feet, but actually hit only the volleys where he can hit an advantageous shot. When you move forward, you can typically hit an advantageous volley, but if you can move only laterally to hit a low volley, you won’t get much on it and better to let it go. Similarly let go the volleys you have to hit on the stretch down the middle if close to or below net level as your partner might be able to deal with it better. Most of my aggressive volleys at the net are done with feet/body moving forward quickly so that I typically make contact within 2-3 feet of the net - the better my partner is, the more it happens. I make volleys 10-15 feet from the net only when I am approaching after a serve, return or good baseline shot.

Also, you might want to use poach/stay signals a lot and do mostly intentional signaled poaches until you get your net footwork timing right. Here the trick is to play closer to the middle and go for the poach as late as possible as part of the net player’s job is to clog up the middle especially when your partner is serving. We even call poaches on Return + 1 shots to keep the serving team guessing especially if the server stays back. The more athletic you are, the closer you can play to the middle at the net and adjust to move to one side late. Also the optimal distance to stand from the net varies depending on the level and how athletic you are. All the best in singles and doubles!

Thanks for typing this out. It's good information, but I struggle with the execution. As I said, having to think about this stuff while the ball is in play is a sure way for me to make an error.

It really feels like there are some foundational pieces to the cooperative movement and timing that just need repetitions to figure out. I was talking to my son the other day about this - we play doubles against another father/son pair but we're frequently playing like four singles players. It's easier to figure out what to do in that situation because all four of us revert to things that work in singles, and we all know how to take advantage of that. But against a good doubles team, the game is just different.

My son also reminded me of the times when we lost the point in the silliest ways possible, like once in a club tournament match, with spectators, when we were both standing in the ad side doubles alley looking at each other while the ball got bunted to the other side of the court. I don't even remember how we got there, but we were both trying to play doubles like we thought doubles should be played, and got ourselves hopelessly out of position. He struggles with doubles in the same way I do, though he's so much better of a ball striker than me that he can get away with just walloping the ball.

There's another thread in this section of the forum talking about how different the doubles game is. For me, it's true and I have to start at a lower, slower level to learn the foundational stuff I don't have. I don't have the mental skills to shortcut the learning process.

 

[socallefty]

It's good information, but I struggle with the execution.

In that case play with signaled poaches (poach, stay) always or at least with regular partners like your son. Then you don’t have to do anything instinctive and you just play the signals that you and your partner call.