I might be worse off trying to split step.

[TimeToPlaySets]

What this does tell me is that I should lob all my 3.5 opponents who come to the net.
The only person who ever splits steps is one who has taken lots of coaching.
And at 3.5, they have not taken coaching.
Everyone gets to 3.5 naturally, and then they get stuck there.
And no one ever split steps.

I WILL BE LOBBING now this it's singles summer season.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Let me rephrase. If I KNOW the ball is going to be hit directly at me, is there any benefit to split stepping?

I'd argue you'll never KNOW although you might have strong reason to believe. Split stepping takes the surprise out of the equation.

And, even if you knew it was going to be hit directly at you, you wouldn't know the speed or the precise location [you would move one way if it was hit at your feet vs shoulder height].

And, having said all of that, what % of the time will you KNOW that the ball is going to be hit directly at you? 50%? 10%? 2%? If you think it's worth the gamble that you'll be right, go for it.

You're saying split stepping for net charge volleys is mainly so you don't get faked out?

Again, since you're not quoting anyone I can't tell whether this is directed towards me but assuming it is, you split step before every opponent contact, regardless of where he is or where you are. It's applicable to everything, not just approaching the net.

No wonder I don't do it, b/c it does not apply to 3.5.
At 3.5, it's rare for people to react to your location, they just smash the **** out of the ball as hard as possible.

I guess you play with a different universe of 3.5s: the one I see has players who react to your location, do not smash the heck out of the ball, and who benefit from a split step.

You're saying, if I charge the net, the opponent will know I can only move forward, so he will hit it to my side (or lob me?)
I guess I do get lobbed, but at that point, I'm not going to get it just b/c I split stepped. So, I'm not seeing it.

That's one scenario and yes, you'll have a better chance of retrieving that lob if you split.

Again, flat footed is BETTER than an ill-timed split step, since now you're LATER than if you did nothing. And timing a split step is clearly not intuitive or obvious. I will devote an entire lesson to just split step timing, and see if there is any benefit whatsoever.

The benefits of a split step are independent of whether it is intuitive or obvious.

What does your coach say?

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by awkward and slow. The entire video consisted of me returning serves that were hit directly at me.
What is ironic is that compared to most 3.5's, I get complimented at least once a match for a great get / dig they were not expecting me to even attempt chasing down.

It isn't ironic: you get complimented because you're [relatively] fast and can move well. It's not because you omitted the split step. If you practiced the split step, I believe you'd get even more compliments on your defense.

 

[GuyClinch]

What this does tell me is that I should lob all my 3.5 opponents who come to the net.
The only person who ever splits steps is one who has taken lots of coaching.
And at 3.5, they have not taken coaching.
Everyone gets to 3.5 naturally, and then they get stuck there.
And no one ever split steps.

Do you actually play in league tennis? Because it sure doesn't sound like it. 3.5s might not look impressive on video - and perhaps you think you are better then they are - but you sure didn't look like it in video. They will pick someone who doesn't split step apart - especially the #1 doubles or the #1 singles guys on a stronger (playoff) team.

League play does vary a lot - but you end up playing guys who will get bumped to 4.0 or at least might get bumped to 4.0 in the next season. So don't always imagine its uncoordinated buffoons. The other factor is that league players have a lot of experience and moxie - the good ones and even if they don't have good strokes they can compensate with intelligence. Spotting guys who don't stop on the way to the net - child's play..

But back to the split step - again its not some advanced thing that only trained players do. It's for any level player and its very easy. You been listening to some of the old man tennis guys on this board - and its not good for your game. You are a young guy can still run and jump. All you have to do is AROUND the time the guy is going to hit is to take a little hop and jump. It's not difficult. The timing does not need to be perfect. You don't even need to jump high enough so people really notice.

It pays off because if you do not do this - you won't be able to change direction if you guess wrong. Yes you could slowly stop and wait - but this is less efficient then a split step. This is basic stuff. It's a fundamental of tennis.

Basic pattern is you (or your partner hits) - you recover/reposition (in your case you charged the net) and then hop right before your opponent hits so you can easily react to whatever he does. It's not a big deal - and contrary to your views most players do this at 3.5 especially in singles. Sure in doubles there is some fat guy who just stands around smacks the ball hard and yells a lot.. But you don't wanna be that guy..

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

What this does tell me is that I should lob all my 3.5 opponents who come to the net.

If they don't split step, sure.

There was a guy in one doubles group who would charge in and never split...and he won a lot of points because people tried to hit through him. I did too, but only because I wanted the challenge. If I had wanted to win the point, I would have lobbed.

The only person who ever splits steps is one who has taken lots of coaching.

Sounds similar to what @LeeD said [that only young, trained and aggressive people split stepped]. I disagree.

And at 3.5, they have not taken coaching.
Everyone gets to 3.5 naturally, and then they get stuck there.
And no one ever split steps.

Great: you can be the first!

I WILL BE LOBBING now this it's singles summer season.

Fine. Although I notice in the videos you've posted your opponents never S&V and thus rarely approach the net.

Whatever the split step state of your opponents, the lob is a critical skill, both to give and to receive.

 

[JohnYandell]

Ideally top of the hop at the hit

 

[AllCourtHeathen]

I'd hate to be this guy's doctor....

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

What this does tell me is that I should lob all my 3.5 opponents who come to the net.
The only person who ever splits steps is one who has taken lots of coaching.
And at 3.5, they have not taken coaching.
Everyone gets to 3.5 naturally, and then they get stuck there.
And no one ever split steps.

I WILL BE LOBBING now this it's singles summer season.

Lobbing is only one possible effective response. Against a player who is rushing in w/o a SS, it can be very effective to hit more to the side of the rusher rather than straight at them. If one is quickly rushing in, w/o a SS, it will be very difficult to change direction to play a ball more to the side (or to change direction to play a decent lob).

Doesn't sound like you are playing very competitive (or very smart) 3.5 players. With recreational 3.5 players, you might not see the same responses that you would get from more seasoned, more competitive 3.5 players. At least that is what I remember from playing against 3.5 players some 25+ years ago.

 

[FiReFTW]

I think most people also jump too far up, they think they really have to jump, then when the opponent hits the ball they need like 1 second to land and react and think its useless, I think that might be the issue here from what im reading..

 

[ChaelAZ]

Depends on your fitness level and the level of play.

Exactly. Watching most 4.0 and lower league play and local tournaments you do not see players being that active on court, especially in the 40+. Play tends to revolve around 'just-in-time' hitting and less early prep, which isn't a bad thing if it works for the player to keep their level. But as mentioned, that little bit of timing and lack of footwork becomes much more noticeable as players move up.

Interestingly, the split step (what many new sports call an athletic hop, ready hop, or such) is something I promote with coaches in a lot of sports, like softball, volleyball (my college sport), and more. Anything where there is a static ready position can benefit. But you are exactly right that the timing of the hop or step is very important.

 

[GuyClinch]

Doesn't sound like you are playing very competitive (or very smart) 3.5 players. With recreational 3.5 players, you might not see the same responses that you would get from more seasoned, more competitive 3.5 players. At least that is what I remember from playing against 3.5 players some 25+ years ago.

League playing 3.5s will simply find some obvious weakness like this and exploit it. '3.5's (as in guys who just look like they have strokes like 3.5s) might just blast it at the net guy for kicks.

In reality you can't tell guys level strictly from strokes or movements. I seen a couple 4.0s that in warmups look like 3.0s but in a game they play smart tennis - use their poor technique in very repeatable manner and play very safe smart tennis to compete at a level where it looks like they shouldn't be.

OTOH you can run into a 3.0 who you think is way better then a 3.0 but he blasts alot of shots out - makes too many double faults and plays dumb tennis strategy wise.

My feeling is OP doesn't play in a league - and that's fine. But its very different from casual hits. Wrong footing people and hitting to the backhand - that's the bread and butter of league strategy.

Against a big guy like the OP - who doesn't split step. You would wrong foot them all day.. And a net charge where you can't stop to change direction is wrong footing..

LeeD might not split step.. But pretty sure he doesn't charge the net without stopping either. If the best you can manage is a stop and unweight.. Okay.. But OP can do better.

 

[navigator]

Interestingly, the split step (what many new sports call an athletic hop, ready hop, or such) is something I promote...

I don't like the "split step" terminology. But I digress. Isn't it all really just a matter of getting into a ready position for an athletic move by keeping your feet moving and staying on the balls of your feet? I think most mammals do this instinctively, right? If you stomp your foot at a dog it's going to get into a ready position (to defend or attack). Likewise, if you see someone about to hit a ball, your body should instinctively prepare to run after it (as opposed to standing there, immobile, flat footed) - no teaching required. But I ain't no teaching pro, so...

 

[ChaelAZ]

I don't like the "split step" terminology. But I digress.

Yup. All the same function no matter what it is called. Easier for a body in motion to remain in motion (or react) than to create motion from a state of rest, basically.

 

[GuyClinch]

Wegner is big on the not teaching footwork stuff. A tiny hop to get ready to change direction is natural - so is staying on the balls of your feet and such. But it gets lost in adults who get lazy..

Somewhere in between the bailey method and Wegner is your normal teaching pro. They emphasize staying facing the ball - using a split step - staying on the balls of your feet and or recovering with a crossover step /side step and using a drop step on lobs.

This is all basic tennis 101 stuff and I think if you do all that you are plenty good footwork wise for league tennis. The other thing is to work on hitting off both stances from both sides.

What personally I don't like is when teaching pros trying convince you to take x number of steps to do this or that - feels awkward..to me.

 

[sureshs]

I just do a mental split step hehehe. More than enough against the loser guys I play with.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

@ChaelAZ

I don't like the "split step" terminology...

The name has some historical significance. The terminology has been in use for decades (I learned it 40 yrs ago). Back then, the ready position was usually somewhat narrower than the ultra-wide stance that you see with modern players like Novak. Back then, the stance in the ready position was typically shoulder width. But, when the SS was executed, the the feet were moved further apart -- often quite a bit so. In the modern game, some players still "split" their feet more than their ready position but the difference is not as noticeable since their ready stance is so wide.

Back in the 70s, we were not taught to use the SS on every contact made by the opponent. It was used specifically for syncing to serve returns and when coming into the net. Serve and volley was a big thing back then so this SS happened quite a bit. It was not until the late 80s that I noticed that Steffi Graf and other players used the SS on ALL shots made by their opponent.

For Serve & Volley or any time a player is moving in toward the net, the player takes a few steps (fairly narrow) and then the feet separate quite a bit to execute the SS.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

@TimeToPlaySets,

I will argue that you're better off learning how to split step properly rather than give up because you're not very good at it currently; I think it will pay long-term dividends.

It doesn't have to be extreme, a la Murray. Look at Goffin, for example: his split is barely noticeable. It would be preferable for you to model yourself after Goffin rather than abandon the split step altogether, IMO.

 

[tlm]

I don't like the "split step" terminology. But I digress. Isn't it all really just a matter of getting into a ready position for an athletic move by keeping your feet moving and staying on the balls of your feet? I think most mammals do this instinctively, right? If you stomp your foot at a dog it's going to get into a ready position (to defend or attack). Likewise, if you see someone about to hit a ball, your body should instinctively prepare to run after it (as opposed to standing there, immobile, flat footed) - no teaching required. But I ain't no teaching pro, so...

This is correct I think if most players just kept their feet moving and stay on the balls of their feet they will be fine.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

I don't like the "split step" terminology. But I digress. Isn't it all really just a matter of getting into a ready position for an athletic move by keeping your feet moving and staying on the balls of your feet? I think most mammals do this instinctively, right? If you stomp your foot at a dog it's going to get into a ready position (to defend or attack). Likewise, if you see someone about to hit a ball, your body should instinctively prepare to run after it (as opposed to standing there, immobile, flat footed) - no teaching required. But I ain't no teaching pro, so...

This is correct I think if most players just kept their feet moving and stay on the balls of their feet they will be fine.

Certainly better than being flat-footed, for the most part, but still not optimal.

If you wait to hear that "stomp", you might be late getting to the next shot. Some training needed for many players. Some do not react until after the ball has been hit. Have seen it all too often. Better to actively watch the opponent as they are preparing and starting the forward swing to sync up to their ball strike. Should be more explosive and quicker to the ball with a properly-timed SS.

 

[GuyClinch]

Certainly better than being flat-footed, for the most part, but still not optimal.

If you wait to hear that "stomp", you might be late getting to the next shot. Some training needed for many players. Some do not react until after the ball has been hit. Have seen it all too often. Better to actively watch the opponent as they are preparing and starting the forward swing to sync up to their ball strike. Should be more explosive and quicker to the ball with a properly-timed SS.

This. And the opportunity cost for using the SS is basically zero.. That's the problem with this thread.. If you split step a little too early - you will cost yourself a little bit of explosiveness - but its not worse then standing flat footed or even in 'balls of your feet" waiting position..(because that's what you would be with an early split).

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

Oppty cost is not zero. If you mistime the SS, you will be much slower to react.
If you jump the instant the opponent hits the ball, or after he hits it, then you are losing all the reaction time.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Oppty cost is not zero. If you mistime the SS, you will be much slower to react.
If you jump the instant the opponent hits the ball, or after he hits it, then you are losing all the reaction time.

Seriously. It does not take that much time to learn the proper timing. Once learned, the cost is zero.

 

[GuyClinch]

If you jump the instant the opponent hits the ball, or after he hits it, then you are losing all the reaction time.

I'd wager you would get to more balls missing the split step once in a while then you would just standing flat footed - or in your case running in the wrong direction..

Think of a second serve. It's true you miss more second serves when you first learn it - so it could be a net negative at first. But eventually you become more consistent so it becomes a positive.

The 'opportunity cost' of trying the split step is way lower then that.. What do you care if you mis time a split step. You are not in a league right?

Again still seems like laziness...

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

@TimeToPlaySets

Check out this great video, one of the best I've seen on the timing of the split step:

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

Watching footage of today's match.
I am jumping when he makes contact. WAY too late.
I am sometimes split stepping AFTER he makes contact.
No wonder the frying pan dink was so hard to return!

 

[Deleted member 23235]

@TimeToPlaySets

Check out this great video, one of the best I've seen on the timing of the split step:

+1
for me the concepts of an ideal split stepping were solidified when studying "pose method of running"... basically using gravity to propel yourself.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

Skip ahead to 1:45
EVEN some PROS don't know how to time the split step.
It's that complicated.
3.5? Just don't do it.
You will instantly improve your reaction time

 

[Traffic]

I have to admit, "split step" has always been a foreign concept to me. I think I first learned about it watching Prince of Tennis anime. My son's coach yells about it to the class too. But I, myself, have never learned it formally. It may have been that at my level of play, it was never a factor as I was always quick and athletic. But as I got older, less mobile and reflexes turned to molasses, I think I need to add this to my "things to focus on" for a while.

 

[Deleted member 23235]

Skip ahead to 1:45
EVEN some PROS don't know how to time the split step.
It's that complicated.
3.5? Just don't do it.
You will instantly improve your reaction time

you don't have to do the full hop in the air split step...
key point is to just preload your muscles, so that by the time you make a decision on where to move, you just need to explode.

think of it as being in the right gear (ie. downshifting while hard braking before a turn) just before you hit the skinny... otherwise if you wait you incur the latency of braking, then shifting, then accelerating - you lost a couple seconds.

 

[ByakuFubuki]

you don't have to do the full hop in the air split step...
key point is to just preload your muscles, so that by the time you make a decision on where to move, you just need to explode.

think of it as being in the right gear (ie. downshifting while hard braking before a turn) just before you hit the skinny... otherwise if you wait you incur the latency of braking, then shifting, then accelerating - you lost a couple seconds.

You also don't have to return Muller's Serve I'm afraid.

 

[Wander]

Skip ahead to 1:45
EVEN some PROS don't know how to time the split step.
It's that complicated.
3.5? Just don't do it.
You will instantly improve your reaction time

Did you miss out on the statement by the creator of the video that the ESPN claim of Isner mistiming his split step is actually not true. What you might criticize him for is jumping higher than Novak, but maybe that works better for him giving him a bit more time to process where the ball is going. Who can say.

 

[dennis]

it's complicated and varied! Novak's split in the video above I would describe as being at the later end - he has already recognised the incoming ball before he lands. Also, note he is splitting while travelling left into the court. Other times I believe he will do an earlier and more neutral split where he identifies the incoming ball and makes his decision as he is landing and pushing off the floor. This might be when the ball is around 2m from the opponent's racket after contact.

TTPS I see what you're getting at. I'd agree in a way there's no point split stepping when the incoming ball is slow, apart from to build the habit for when it will be useful also timing it is a skill that can be worked on. Also if timing it is hard you have another option - lots of consecutive smaller ones.

 

[vex]

I'd hate to be this guy's doctor....

Funniest TTPS comment I've seen. Well done sir.

 

[Vanhalen]

The whole split step thing seems stupid and counterproductive.

I think the timing has to be perfect, otherwise, it's actually worse and makes me even later.
I might actually be faster just standing flat footed, and then reacting as soon as I can see the ball coming at me.

Instead, I am noticing that the server has already contacted the ball, and I am in the air still.
I land on my feet when the ball passes the net. So, I actually have less reaction time.

For return of serve, what is the EXACT timing required?
When do you jump? When do you land?
Even this can't be answered since serve speed varies.

I am thinking you should split step during the toss, and land when he contacts?

It is stupid all you need to do is just run to the ball