Split Step

[kenshireen]

Can somebody describe the mechanics of a split step particularly in regard to return of serve.
When do you take the short hop and when should you land?

Thanks, Ken

 

[TwistServe]

You start the hop just as or before the opponent's racquet makes contact to the ball.. You land when gravity brings you down.

 

[Eman]

Glide step

Another interesting tip regarding the split step that I just learned...try to time it so you don't land on both feet at the same time.

For example, time the split step as mentioned above, and say the ball goes to your right. Land on your left foot ahead of your right and use it to start your momentum moving right. Your right foot will land further right than would have happened, gaining you a little time.

Watch Federer. He does this all the time and gains time. It looks like a "glide-step."

 

[predrag]

Re: Glide step

Another interesting tip regarding the split step that I just learned...try to time it so you don't land on both feet at the same time.

For example, time the split step as mentioned above, and say the ball goes to your right. Land on your left foot ahead of your right and use it to start your momentum moving right. Your right foot will land further right than would have happened, gaining you a little time.

Watch Federer. He does this all the time and gains time. It looks like a "glide-step."

What happens if you need to go left and you landed on your left?
Weight momentum would be pulling you right.
Or, do you mean to determine while you are in the air which foot you should land on?
That would be awfully hard to do on purpose, I would think.

Regards, Predrag

 

[Bungalo Bill]

Re: Glide step

Another interesting tip regarding the split step that I just learned...try to time it so you don't land on both feet at the same time.

For example, time the split step as mentioned above, and say the ball goes to your right. Land on your left foot ahead of your right and use it to start your momentum moving right. Your right foot will land further right than would have happened, gaining you a little time.

Watch Federer. He does this all the time and gains time. It looks like a "glide-step."

Ummm...I dont know about that one. Where did you here this? Who said it? Why did they say it? Under what context? Where was the opponent when Federer did this split step you're talking about? What proof did this person provide that proves his point on this? Or is this just another "hearsay" tip.

The split step was described properly by Twist serve. You perform it slightly before your opponent makes contact with the ball - this also applies for serves and coming to net.

All the split step is designed for is to unwieght your body off your feet. When you are "lighter" on your feet it is easier to move in any direction. I use the term "easier" looosely. Becuase it also depends on whether you are overweight etc. If you are overwieght then the split step will help you but it wont provide the maximum benefit had you been in shape.

The split step lifts your wieght up (also known as unwieghting) and allows it to temporarily be suspended before gravity takes over and allows you to be on your toes ready to pivot in any direction for an explosive movement to the ball.

You do not want to sink into your feet too much after your split step otherwise the "splitstep" is meaningless. This also means you did it too soon.

When I think of the split step, I think of our childhood game called hopscotch. When your feet landed on the double squares you were essentially performing a split step.

Ideally the split step allows for a transistion in directional change without stopping your feet. It is a transistion to move in another direction.

So as you are shuffling your feet to recover, you should be doing this mainly from your toes. At the point you see your opponent about to hit the ball (hopefully you have recovered by this time), you would unwieght or suspend your directional movement with a split step while allowing your body to remain unwieghted and on your toes to pivot in any direction. Does that make sense?

The main problem with getting the split step down is NOT the actual split step. It is also not the that you can not learn to mix it up with other footwork patterns. Finally, it is not that you can not learn to time the split step and get the feel of when to do it.

From what I see, it is mainly that players do not recover quick enough. This makes them perform the split step out of position and can cause many problems with their game.

 

[vin]

Re: Glide step

Ummm...I dont know about that one. Where did you here this? Who said it? Why did they say it? Under what context? Where was the opponent when Federer did this split step you're talking about? What proof did this person provide that proves his point on this? Or is this just another "hearsay" tip.

Go to the tennisone.com lesson library and read the first article in the Forehand groundstrokes section titled 'The Running Forehand'. It's by the same author who wrote the article touching on wrist snap that got you fired up a month or so ago. :shock:

The technique in question is described and suggested in the section of the article titled 'Split Step'.

I had the same question as predrag after reading it. What happens if you land on only your left foot, but have to also move to the left?

 

[predrag]

Re: Glide step

[quote="vin
Go to the tennisone.com lesson library and read the first article in the Forehand groundstrokes section titled 'The Running Forehand'. It's by the same author who wrote the article touching on wrist snap that got you fired up a month or so ago. :shock:

The technique in question is described and suggested in the section of the article titled 'Split Step'.

I had the same question as predrag after reading it. What happens if you land on only your left foot, but have to also move to the left?[/quote]

You can find a lot of misinformation on the 'Net.
One needs to filter through.

This particular 'tip' I do not agree with.

A while ago there was Courier's fitness coach (Echeberry ?) giving tips how to quickly
turn into the serve return. However, that was AFTER the split step.

Regards, Predrag

 

[papa]

Eman wrote:

"Another interesting tip regarding the split step that I just learned...try to time it so you don't land on both feet at the same time.

For example, time the split step as mentioned above, and say the ball goes to your right. Land on your left foot ahead of your right and use it to start your momentum moving right. Your right foot will land further right than would have happened, gaining you a little time. "

Don't know about this - just doesn't sound right regardless of the circumstances.

 

[kevhen]

Yes, it sounds like you are split stepping too late. You should be landing on both feet when the ball is struck so that you can start moving in the right direction at that point. It sounds very difficult to suspend the correct foot in the air while landing on the other one as you have described.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Re: Glide step

Another interesting tip regarding the split step that I just learned...try to time it so you don't land on both feet at the same time.

For example, time the split step as mentioned above, and say the ball goes to your right. Land on your left foot ahead of your right and use it to start your momentum moving right. Your right foot will land further right than would have happened, gaining you a little time.

Watch Federer. He does this all the time and gains time. It looks like a "glide-step."

Never heard of it until now. I just checked Fed playing Blake last year in USO 2003 3rd round for over one hour, no sign of it and Federer makes his highest/clearest split-steps on hard court. Thus I think, just like the majority of the other posters, that this is not true, or something executed in very special circumstances.

However, there are several issues which perhaps haven't been emphasized in the other postings.

The most important such issue is the anticipation. As mentioned by others, the split step allows you to stop from any movement in order to start a new movement sequence. However, you want to know "where do I need to go?" and to start pivoting your feet in the proper direction.

After hopping up for the split step you're in the air for a fraction of a second. You must maximize the use of this time in order to anticipate and/or perceive the direction of the incoming ball. This is not an easy task even for the pros, at the current ball speeds.

Once you have anticipated and/or perceived the direction of the ball, while still in air, you should execute a semi-reflex reorientation of your legs (esp the knees but most importantly the feet) such that you'll land already pivoted in the correct direction. You should also start executing the body rotation in that direction (the unit turn).

And now I think we can talk about Federer

IMO (and I can say I watched his returns and split steps tens of times just for this purpose), I think he delays his split-step, i.e. the hopping-up part of it until one can hear the opponent's shot. I.e. on TV his feet do not leave the ground until one hears the shot. This is different from the majority of other players, which prefer to split-step right before the opponent hits the ball.

This is of course risky (he's "losing time"), but I think that Federer prefers to have a more realistic process of anticipation and perception while still in the air, after the ball has hit his opponent's racquet. Being this fast, he can compensate by movement speed later in the sequence.

If he's able to anticipate/detect a new direction, he lands with the feet already oriented/pivoted in the new direction and the unit turn is started, including the body rotation and putting more weight on the foot closer to the destination. If he's not able to detect the new direction while in air, he lands straight/not-pivoted, and this is where the great Federer movement with many permanent small corrections comes into place, he makes another however very small split-step, I'd call it a "stutter split-step", something like half an inch in height, immediately when finally perceiving the new direction. This is easy to do, because he's landed first as a cat, only on his toes. This minuscule split-step separates him from the ground sufficiently to pivot his feet in the new direction, start the unit turn and then he goes and you know how he goes, Express-like

 

[Marius_Hancu]

I'd suggest check the return videos at:
http://www.tenniscruz.com/photo.htm
in step-by-step mode (slo-mo) in Quick-Time
and observe there the landing and the unit turn taking place.

also, Federer's forehand there has a nice split-step to it too.

also, watch (in the same place) Sampras and others volleying with split-steps.