Vertical motion

[eaglesburg]

I have heard from some places (not here) that you should limit your vertical movement as much as possible including split step. They say that you should be in your toes though. To them the legs shouldn't straighten or jump. Some say to use the horse stance. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[donquijote]

It's true that you should not be on your heels which ruins the balance and the power you get from the legs. Vertical movement should not be restrained and it is necessary to create spin and power.
Bent knee (not as much as a horse stand though) enables upper body rotate and move freely.

 

[Easy Rider]

Ask those people to hit every ball maintaing horse stance, take a vudeo of them doing it and show it to them

 

[comeback]

I have heard from some places (not here) that you should limit your vertical movement as much as possible including split step. They say that you should be in your toes though. To them the legs shouldn't straighten or jump. Some say to use the horse stance. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

What exactly does the "horse stance" look like?

 

[mightyrick]

I have heard from some places (not here) that you should limit your vertical movement as much as possible including split step. They say that you should be in your toes though. To them the legs shouldn't straighten or jump. Some say to use the horse stance. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

The best movers in sports like basketball or tennis don't have a lot of vertical movement while they address the ball. The best movers seem to "slide" or "glide". They certainly don't "bounce". Basketball players like Drexler, Iverson, and Jordan literally appeared to be slithering across the court. Also, low centers of gravity most times.

Then you look at guys like Federer, Monfils, and Coria... exactly the same characteristics. They slither. Federer isn't remotely the fastest guy on tour, but his movement and footwork is so efficient that he's been better than almost everyone on tour. People describe Federer like a dancer... but I think the guy looks like a snake when he moves. Somehow extremely fast, but appearing motionless.

 

[eaglesburg]

I have heard from some places (not here) that you should limit your vertical movement as much as possible including split step. They say that you should be in your toes though. To them the legs shouldn't straighten or jump. Some say to use the horse stance. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Here is something that almost definitely proves that having a knee bend increases hip rotation. Start with locked knees and rotate as far as possible then work your way down bending your knees more every time. The farther down you go the more the hips open up. Apparently maybe there is some value to "staying down"

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQgHPwKQKho

I do not agree that one needs to limit vertical movement as much as possible for the split step. That said, don't overdo it -- the hop/jump for the split step does not necessarily need to be more than 3-5 cm (an inch or two) off the ground. However, the heels should come quite a bit off the ground. Take a look at some of RF's split steps in the video above. The top of his head appears to move upward several inches at the top of the hop. As he lands on the balls of his feet (not his toes), his body sinks a bit as he bends his knees for an explosive movement for his subsequent steps.

Roger's split steps and movement is an excellent blend of hops (vertical movement) and gliding around the court. I first learned my split stepping by watching Steffi Graf. Her split step footwork probably influenced many of her contemporaries as well as the generations of players that came after her. While Steffi did not jump excessively high, she had quite a bit of bounce to her footwork. This bounce/vertical movement made her one of the best movers in tennis. This bounce also keeps the body revved at a good level -- heart rate in the aerobic range much of time. I'm sure that it kept her adrenaline and endorphins as a fairly decent level as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxJLR-IzxEY

 

[fuzz nation]

While many tennis swings are fundamentally described as lifting efforts, there's a potential problem with hitting ground stokes while using too much vertical drive. If the player's head moves upward too much while swinging, that can cause too many mis-hits.

As we swing at a point in space where we expect the ball to collide with our racquets, that contact zone is located relative to our point of view (the position of our heads). Move your head upward too much and that point of view also moves... but the ball still arrives in the same spot. So instead of catching the ball in the heart of the string bed, that altered point of view moves the swing upward and the ball catches the frame.

Easier in this case to hit a moving target (the ball) from a more stationary point of view.