The world #1 does not split step on serve return

I see so many rec level players split stepping against junkballers on you tube. Whats the point. Its only required when the ball speed reaches a certain point.

Surely people need to focus on the basics before worrying about split step. Whats the point if you cant serve, hit forehands and backhands.
 
dannyslicer said:
Saba
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When I’m watching her, Aryna is quite diligent about executing her ROS split steps. This is the first I’m hearing that she is lax at times when I’m not keeping a watchful eye on her! Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

Please provide some video footage of Aryna NOT executing her SS on ROS. I’ve not yet seen any instances on film. If true, I will have to severely reprimand her for this carelessness. This cannot go unpunished.
 
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PatagoniaPete said:
I see so many rec level players split stepping against junkballers on you tube. Whats the point. It’s only required when the ball speed reaches a certain point.
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Strongly disagree. Intermediate players should make a habit of executing the SS. I was teaching it to my low intermediate students so that it would be 2nd nature to them as they advanced in their skills.

Many players, who go for years w/o learning the SS, may never pick it up because they have become too set in their ways. Some players are doomed to remain at a 3.0 or 3.5 ntrp level because they’ve played for years and have never been introduced to the SS and other important techniques.
 
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dannyslicer said:
No, she is not
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Saying she duznt does not make it so. Aryna most definitely execute a ROS SS.

When she executes the SS timing hop, her feet do not split further apart. This is because her stance is already extremely wide (and she is quite low)

Forward Momentum: Instead of just jumping up, Sabalenka drives forward into the court with her SS to neutralize speed & create power.

Timing: She lands the SS exactly as the opponent makes contact with the ball, allowing her to react quickly to the direction of the serve.
 
dannyslicer said:
So what you're telling me is that you had to go almost past Midway of the video to finally see a split step evidence. Got it
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She executes a split step at the 3 second mark of the video. Pause it at 4 seconds and you will see her in the air above the court, with legs spread apart like you asked for in Post #15

Can you explain why you don't think that's a split step?
 
OP changed his mind and quietly practicing his spilt step
Seriously though
is a hop considered a split step?
. Don’t really think about but I do like to hop like Djokovic does
I do it prior to one handed forehand or one handed backhand.
Which I can getting ready to return of serve or during rally play
The classic split step, like what Andy Murray does prior to returns don’t really like to do that returns
 
Watching Coco pegula match
Neither one split step for serve return
They just walk around
Coco is walking

None of the insipid "Internet 3.0 Bunny hop" stupidity you see here
 
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nyta2 said:
i can randomly select any spot in the vid, and find saba splitting... you must be trolling
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Saba is not doing a split step, she's bouncing
The opponent is just bending knees
Now compare that to the idiot rec player who is jumping in the air and crippling his reaction time.
 
If this isn't trolling, DS seems to not know what a split step is. DS, you don't even need to get your feet off the ground (tho both Pegula and Gauff do, likely on every serve in the entire match today). SS is about un-weighting both feet ahead of seeing where the struck ball is going.
 
liimey86 said:
If this isn't trolling, DS seems to not know what a split step is. DS, you don't even need to get your feet off the ground (tho both Pegula and Gauff do, likely on every serve in the entire match today). SS is about un-weighting both feet ahead of seeing where the struck ball is going.
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SPLIT
 
liimey86 said:
If this isn't trolling, DS seems to not know what a split step is. DS, you don't even need to get your feet off the ground (tho both Pegula and Gauff do, likely on every serve in the entire match today). SS is about un-weighting both feet ahead of seeing where the struck ball is going.
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I like what you said.

However, @SystemicAnomaly also has pointed out another technique which is completely opposite. You can bend lower (opposite of unweighting) as the ball is struck ...

An opponent of mine does that to great results.
 
Brilliant! I am just going to start standing flat footed to save energy when returning serve. What a fantastic idea. I am surprised Djokovic spent 5 hours and 15 minutes in a match with FAA today at Wimbledon and was executing a split step on all returns. Think of all the energy he could have saved if he just stood flat footed. I think you've started a revolution in tennis. What do you think about preparing early on groundstrokes? Is that a waste of time too?
 
dannyslicer said:
Saba is not doing a split step, she's bouncing
The opponent is just bending knees
Now compare that to the idiot rec player who is jumping in the air and crippling his reaction time.
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Me thinks you either don’t quite understand the concept of split stepping, or you have a very rigid notion of what split stepping is/should be…

This reminds me of the 2hfh guy “diamond…” something that thought it was stupid to “hop like goat” on every shot (he thought it was a waste of energy)
 
nyta2 said:
Me thinks you either don’t quite understand the concept of split stepping, or you have a very rigid notion of what split stepping is/should be…
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SPLIT has a meaning
Pros are not hopping like a goat.
"Bend knees"
"walk step"
is more apropos
 
dannyslicer said:
SPLIT has a meaning
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My understanding is that the "split" in the term split step was meant to signify getting your feet a decent width apart for a wide-ish landing.
Sabalenka often starts wide already on RoS, so doesn't necc widen further.

Btw, is the point of the thread that you think some rec players are getting too high (or unnecessarily) off the ground on their split steps? Or are you saying that falling neutrally before the opponent hits is not significant to movement?
 
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dannyslicer said:
SPLIT has a meaning
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“Split” has a historical meaning.

Back in the 70s, many of us learned the Split Step — but it was taught primarily when receiving serve and when moving forward to take the net. Prior to the SS the feet were often shoulder width or narrower— especially when running forward to take the net. With the SS hop, the feet (usually) split further apart to shoulder width or wider.

In the 80s & 90s, I had noticed that pro players, like Steffi Graf, were executing a SS hop every time their opponent hit a shot (incl the serve). Sometimes the feet were already in a wide stance, prior to executing a SS hop, so the SS was performed with a hop that did not result in the feet splitting further apart.

In the modern game, players will often have their feet quite far apart (greater than shoulder width). Novak is a prime example of this. So when these players execute a SS, they often hop w/o the feet moving further apart. Still a Split Step since it essentially serves the same purpose.

As mentioned by others, there is a SS alternative, the so-called no-hop SS. Technically not a Split Step since the player sinks rather than hops. However, it is still an immediate timed response to the opponent making contact with the ball and pretty much serves the same function as a conventional SS — even tho it is somewhat less explosive / dynamic.
 
Curious said:
It was all happening 60 years before that.

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The Split Step in tennis & other sports has, indeed, been around for quite some time. However, it did not become as pervasive (ubiquitous) as it is today until the 1980s.

I started learning the game in the early 1970s but had never heard of the SS for the first 6-7 years that I had played the game. Even then, coaches of the time were talking about the SS as something that was done when receiving serve or when approaching / transitioning to the net. No mention of its use in other situations.

This appears to be particularly true during the golden age of serve & volley… circa the 1950s thru the 1980s. Other than ROS and approaching the net, the SS was often rather subtle or nonexistent.

As racket / string technology developed and the baseline game evolved, the use of the SS became common throughout the game.

AI provides a perspective that is consistent with my recollection of the evolution— the increasing use of the SS:

The split step evolved alongside the modern baseline game. It became a ubiquitous, universal technique at the professional level during the early to mid-1980s.

Prior to this, players mostly relied on a reactive "flat-footed" approach or only used hops during serve-and-volley transitions. As equipment and racket technology improved, creating faster balls and heavy topspin, professionals were forced to adopt it as a foundational movement for every shot.

Early 1970s and Before: The game was slower, with a heavy emphasis on serve-and-volley. Footwork was mostly "read and react" without uniform anticipation.

The 1980s Transition: As modern, powerful baseline players like Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, and later Andre Agassi popularized a more aggressive, baseline-oriented game, it became universally accepted on the ATP Tour and WTA Tour that every player must split step before every single shot.

The Modern "Double" Split Step: Apparently, some professionals have evolved past the basic, simultaneous two-foot landing that was taught for decades. Players like Djokovic & Alcaraz now frequently utilize a "double split step" as the opponent strikes the ball to maximize explosive GRF.
 
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liimey86 said:
My understanding is that the "split" in the term split step was meant to signify getting your feet a decent width apart for a wide-ish landing.
Sabalenka often starts wide already on RoS, so doesn't necc widen further.

Btw, is the point of the thread that you think some rec players are getting too high (or unnecessarily) off the ground on their split steps? Or are you saying that falling neutrally before the opponent hits is not significant to movement?
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Exactly.
 
dannyslicer said:
That's what the video shows.
Not the goat hop
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Maybe you’re getting bad instructions or explanation from people at GTC on what split step means. I also think you’re looking for a deliberate “split” from legs together to athletic position to justify a split step. If that’s the case your understanding is incorrect.

Any/all videos you’re pointing to “lack of split” simply shows the athlete is already past the actual action that initiate the “split”, and they go straight into leg split position. In ROS, the goal is to optimize the time it takes to be in balanced athletic stance. The hop forward is to trigger forward momentum into the shot to prevent backward momentum.

The idea of a split step is to promote athletic stance. If you hear coaches telling players to “split”, it implies that your waist down athletic posture is not in place to facilitate the upper body. From a kinetic chain perspective, balance and leg drive enables hip and shoulder rotation and should be in place before the ball lands on your side of the court.
 
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