small steps

[Roforot]

Hello,

I hear very often the tip to use small steps to correct and improve positioning. Here's what happens to me: I move to meet the ball w/ normal strides, feel I'm in the right position, take 2 little steps one way and 2 little steps back to the original position and hit the ball! Self-defeating yes. I would like to improve this aspect of the game.
I have heard people say that some are just born w/ good footwork. However, I also feel that one can learn or train it as well the other parts of the game. I would appreciate any tips or drills that you can offer. Anything regarding he timing of the little steps is helpful.

Offhand, something I saw in this forum regarding moving in arches rather than straight lines is also helping! Thanks.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

check the section on:
Footwork (it has several links)
in my posting at:

Great fitness sites
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/viewtopic.php?t=23127

it might help in getting more control over your feet/legs, as well as in terms of reaction speed.

 

[Camilio Pascual]

If you have any tapes of Amanda Coetzer, I suggest you watch her footwork. It's meticulous and she takes very many tiny steps. She doesn't overstride and keeps moving her feet & position to the ball until the last instant.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

If you have any tapes of Amanda Coetzer, I suggest you watch her footwork. It's meticulous and she takes very many tiny steps. She doesn't overstride and keeps moving her feet & position to the ball until the last instant.

Also one of my preferred movers.

Jimmy Connors (his match with Kriekstein was presented many times) was very meticulous too, especially in the late part of his career.

 

[Trey]

If you have any tapes of Amanda Coetzer, I suggest you watch her footwork. It's meticulous and she takes very many tiny steps. She doesn't overstride and keeps moving her feet & position to the ball until the last instant.

Are you sure that it wasn't that she just looked like she was taking tiny steps because she was barely 5 feet tall? :wink:

 

[Roforot]

Hello,

Thanks for the replies.
Marius, I've looked through most of the links.
The tennisserver link was most useful; he comments that what is opened perceived as a stroke problem is really a movement issue.
And this is what I've noticed. I can get to most shots and scramble quickly, but not as well; in that I'm lurching or crowding.

However, I found little in the technique of movemment. Perhaps I overanalyze, but it's helped me to understand and improve things like serve and FH?

Specific questions; how do you time the small steps (eg before bounce/after bounce), how close do you get to the final hitting point before you start small steps; how many small steps are ideal? More is better or one or two? what's the appropriate time/setting to begin small steps. Is it good to start w/ just hopping in place (keeping your feet live) waiting for the ball... eventually subconsciously adjusting?

Of the drills I've seen, I will start jumproping and doing some of the relays.

The Connors match I think I can find. I'll have to look around for Coetzer Thanks again for the replies.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

However, I found little in the technique of movemment.

Check:
Revolutionary Tennis
http://www.revolutionarytennis.com/step2.html
if you don't know about it.
It's difficult to understand sometimes, but it's worthwhile.

One of my lady friends has the same problem as you do, it seems: she makes a lot of small steps even into the shot, thus she doesn't establish a stable platform for hitting the ball.

The way I see things, the very small steps have in many cases the function of breaking and stabilization.

Thus, if a ball is relatively far from you, you'll have to employ:
- several lunging/large steps to get to the area
- several small steps (where you generate friction with the ground) to stabilize yourself if required
- once there, you must establish a solid platform for hitting the ball (i.e. wide athletic stance, with knee flexed)
- if you are already in the platform but you're still not quite at the ball, you must advance with stuttered steps, where both feet jump up towards the desired position; you see the pros doing even 2 or 3 of such steps. You're just moving the platform as a whole, with the arm prepared in the takeback position, ready to trigger the shot.

The breaking steps can also be used between two sequences of large steps, if you feel you're losing stability.

 

[Roforot]

However, I found little in the technique of movemment.

Check:
Revolutionary Tennis
http://www.revolutionarytennis.com/step2.html
if you don't know about it.
It's difficult to understand sometimes, but it's worthwhile.

Thank you again for this link and the information. I will put it into the courts and see how it works I realize that for some these movements are very intuitive; I on the other hand need to think and look at diagrams!

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Check also the
Generic Principles
section (esp Unit Turn, Momentum and Swing)
at:
http://users.swing.be/excellence-software/MAIN/PERSONAL/TENNIS/index.htm
where I think some of the stuff is borrowed from
Revolutionary Tennis (the way he's moving in an arch into the ball, also some of the diagrams)

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Also, this book might be 20yrs old, but it's still worthwhile buying it (quite unexpensive as an used book):

Rick Elstein's Tennis Kinetics: With Martina Navratilova
by Mary Carillo
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._1_8/104-5735091-1098318?v=glance&s=books

The pics with Martina are worth the money alone.

 

[Bungalo Bill]

Hello,

Thanks for the replies.
Marius, I've looked through most of the links.
The tennisserver link was most useful; he comments that what is opened perceived as a stroke problem is really a movement issue.
And this is what I've noticed. I can get to most shots and scramble quickly, but not as well; in that I'm lurching or crowding.

However, I found little in the technique of movemment. Perhaps I overanalyze, but it's helped me to understand and improve things like serve and FH?

Specific questions; how do you time the small steps (eg before bounce/after bounce), how close do you get to the final hitting point before you start small steps; how many small steps are ideal? More is better or one or two? what's the appropriate time/setting to begin small steps. Is it good to start w/ just hopping in place (keeping your feet live) waiting for the ball... eventually subconsciously adjusting?

Of the drills I've seen, I will start jumproping and doing some of the relays.

The Connors match I think I can find. I'll have to look around for Coetzer Thanks again for the replies.

I am not at all convinced it is a movement problem. IT sounds like your movement is fine especially if you can get all those extra steps before you hit the ball!

I can bet if I was on the court with you right now, you have a vision and therefore a judgement problem. This could be in several different areas. For one, it could be a focal/peripheral vision problem. You could be seeing the ball head in a certain direction but then your mind sort of shuts down on its ability to help the nody make adjustment steps before you swing.

There are several drills you can perform but they usually require a partner. You can also slow down the ball feed and have a ball machine or a person feed you slow moving balls crosscourt and then bring you towards the net. They need to be slow so the brain has a chance to learn how to approach the ball.

A good book to get is Scott Williams book Serious Tennis. In the book it spells out a system called SMART. It stands for SEEING, MOVEMENT, ADJUSTING, ROTATION, TRANSFER.

You can probably get a lot out of the seeing and adjustment phase. Also, you can doa search on Focal and Peripheral vision and the difference between the two.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

A good book to get is Scott Williams book Serious Tennis. In the book it spells out a system called SMART. It stands for SEEING, MOVEMENT, ADJUSTING, ROTATION, TRANSFER.

Very good book indeed.

 

[Roforot]

[quote="Bungalo Bill

I am not at all convinced it is a movement problem. IT sounds like your movement is fine especially if you can get all those extra steps before you hit the ball!
.[/quote]

BB, you're correct in that I don't have the difficulty getting to most shots, but it is a judgement/technique issue. I will also check out the book you mentioned. I think I have seen it in Halfprice, the one w/ Edberg on the cover.

Marius thanks again for all those links! Awesome resources.

 

[Tiger Paw]

Roforot1

Van der Mer covers this topic very well. Simplicity is the key.

Pretend you are having basic stroke instruction 101:
Turn, racket back and down, step forward, hit, follow through.

To have better foot work insert another command:
Turn, racket back and down, ADJUSTMENT STEPS, step forward, hit, follow through.

Your last adjustment step becomes your big step forward:
adjustment steps, big step, hit, follow through.

Work just on this to find your own rythum.

As you get better you can then focus on letting the adjustment steps perfectly position your body to precisely "PLANT" your back foot to create a more explosive step and hit combo.

Remember recovery after the shot is also part of good footwork.

Making the basics even better is what we all need to focus on.

 

[degreefanlindi]

Good advice

Great advice everyone. I think it's important to always maintain good footwork even during the follow through after the shot is complete. Also, back to basics is a great idea...sometimes we get ahead of ourselves and forget the basic groundies.