What is the most efficient way to cover a lot of court?

[Ballinbob]

Played a pretty good player today who ran me around a lot. I noticed I often had to cover a lot of court when playing him (backhand corner to forehand corner and vice versa). He had me in awkward positions because of this and made me look slow.

I usually do a large cross step then run to the ball when dealing with corner to corner shots, is this correct? Is there some footwork pattern that I can practice to cover the court more efficiently?

When I play with higher level players the matches become very physical and there is a lot of running involved. So any footwork/movement tips that have helped you out would be helpful.

 

[kengan]

An obvious yet overly looked way is to hit better shots.

Footwork wise, take a big steps for court coverage and smaller adjustment steps at the end. Some people prefer the cross steps and others the shuffle step, personally I do believe the cross step is more advantageous.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Before we get into footwork details, you might consider a few other factors. Are you hitting a lot of deep x-court shots? If not, this might be the main reason other players are able to run you around so much.

Are you emloying recovery footwork as soon as you are finishing your stroke? Do you initiate a split step on the forward swing of your opponent's racket? If you are not doing both of these things, this may cause you to be slow on getting to the next shot.

 

[boramiNYC]

My recommendation is to increase flexibility and strength of your muscles that moves you on the court. This helps quickness and balance ->agility. Muscles inside feet (intrinsic), muscles controlling feet from the legs (tendons going through ankle), muscles around knees, muscles upper legs, hip rotator muscles, muscles around pelvis, lower back muscles, abs, obliques. All these muscles have great effect in your movement and balance.

Sorry but there's no easy way to do this really.

 

[Ronaldo]

Find a partner and play dubs

 

[Ballinbob]

Before we get into footwork details, you might consider a few other factors. Are you hitting a lot of deep x-court shots? If not, this might be the main reason other players are able to run you around so much.

Are you emloying recovery footwork as soon as you are finishing your stroke? Do you initiate a split step on the forward swing of your opponent's racket? If you are not doing both of these things, this may cause you to be slow on getting to the next shot.

I do not hit as many deep shots cross court as I should I must confess. I never thought of that as a way to help me to get to more balls, but it makes sense now that you mention it. It takes the ball more time to cross the net as the distance is longer therefore giving me more time. That is what you are getting at here correct ? This makes sense, dont know why I didnt think of it during the match

I do have a split step when my opponent makes contact with the ball. If you don't mind though, could you elaborate on the recovery steps. If you are out wide and want to recover, what's the ideal way to recover? Is it just a cross step and run again?

When should you start recovering to the middle? I know your supposed to keep your head still when you hit the ball and have your eyes on the contact point. Should you start heading towards the middle when you finish your follow through ideally or how does that work?

My recommendation is to increase flexibility and strength of your muscles that moves you on the court. This helps quickness and balance ->agility. Muscles inside feet (intrinsic), muscles controlling feet from the legs (tendons going through ankle), muscles around knees, muscles upper legs, hip rotator muscles, muscles around pelvis, lower back muscles, abs, obliques. All these muscles have great effect in your movement and balance.

Sorry but there's no easy way to do this really.

I am what many call a fitness freak, so I'm pretty fit and I'm able to outlast most players. I have a 11.35s 100m dash time, so I'm no slouch in the speed department either. However you bring up some good points with the hip rotator muscles and obliques. I need to start incorporating those into my workouts.

This guy I was playing was a 5.0 and I am a 4.5. I wasn't expecting to really beat him and I knew that I was in for a lot of running. I think if I keep playing with players of that caliber I will start getting the hang of it more. I just thought I would see what kind of responses I would get on here. I still have a lot to work on to get to that level.

Thanks to both of you though

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

When you hit your own shots, are you employing a severe closed stance most of the time? If so, your recovery will require extra steps. The closed stance is ok for 1-handed BHs and some volleys but is often very inefficient for other strokes. Instead try to employ neutral and semi-open stances most of the time for quicker recoveries. Some fully open and slightly closed stances may also be ok.

 

[boramiNYC]

I am what many call a fitness freak, so I'm pretty fit and I'm able to outlast most players. I have a 11.35s 100m dash time, so I'm no slouch in the speed department either. However you bring up some good points with the hip rotator muscles and obliques. I need to start incorporating those into my workouts.

If you already have speed try to focus more on balance. Speed is more toward one direction, but good balance affects toward all directions. Especially, when stopping and changing direction side to side, front to back. Keeping your center of gravity lower is a good start. Spread your legs more and keep them wide and incorporate more shuffling. This will challenge and strengthen your hip rotator muscles.

 

[Ballinbob]

When you hit your own shots, are you employing a severe closed stance most of the time? If so, your recovery will require extra steps. The closed stance is ok for 1-handed BHs and some volleys but is often very inefficient for other strokes. Instead try to employ neutral and semi-open stances most of the time for quicker recoveries. Some fully open and slightly closed stances may also be ok.

I only use a closed stance for approach shots. Usually its open stance.

And boramiNYC, I will work on that for sure, as a taller player (6"3) balance is pretty crucial so I'm not just flailing around out there

 

[Cheetah]

Here's one footwork technique that will help with recovery on fh's from Jeff Salzenstein. He demos the move in the middle of the vid. He also talks about balance and gives a training method to improve the balance for the step he describes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPejnOiWC_8

 

[Ballinbob]

Here's one footwork technique that will help with recovery on fh's from Jeff Salzenstein. He demos the move in the middle of the vid. He also talks about balance and gives a training method to improve the balance for the step he describes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPejnOiWC_8

This was great, thanks for this. I think having too narrow of a base might be a problem for me, I'll have to pay attention to that tomorrow to see exactly what I'm doing. The horse stance is a good drill but I'm not too convinced about the "incredible gains" that he promises. I'll give it a try though, have nothing to lose

 

[Cheetah]

look into "gravity steps" also.

 

[salsainglesa]

don't give them angles to play you...
Hit penetrating shots.
Stand in the baseline.

That will take out the angles for them. turn quick.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

look into "gravity steps" also.

I also plan to bring up some related footwork -- the drop step and the mogul move. Here is a discussion of the gravity step:

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=3988346#post3988346

There is quite a bit of discussion of various types of footwork in the Advanced Footwork thread from a few years ago. Here is some basic footwork patterns from that thread:

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=2469103#post2469103

Some of the more advanced footwork discussion started here:

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=2452325#post2452325

Unfortunately, many of the links for the first few pages of the Advanced Footwork thread no longer work. Take a look at page 5 for an update on some those non-working links. Also, pages 5 and 6 talk about the advanced footwork patterns taught by The Bailey Method (starting at post #99)

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=3446886#post3446886

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Note that your first step to the ball or for your recovery is not usually a cross (over) step. The first step is usually a step-out (or, sometimes, a gravity step). The cross-over step is usually preceded by a step-out with the outside foot. The outside foot is the one that is closest to the direction that you are going to move. Sometimes this step-out is small or very quick so it might not detected prior to the cross-over step unless you look closely.

If pulled out wide, you might employ a flow movement, a mogul move or a gravity step for a quicker recovery. (See prev post for more about these). If you are not pulled very wide, you would just use regular side steps for recovery. If you are pulled very wide, you might need a couple of sprint steps before switching to your regular recovery steps.

I do not hit as many deep shots cross court as I should I must confess. I never thought of that as a way to help me to get to more balls, but it makes sense now that you mention it. It takes the ball more time to cross the net as the distance is longer therefore giving me more time. That is what you are getting at here correct ? This makes sense, dont know why I didnt think of it during the match ...

This can give you more time, especially if you hit higher so that it spends more time in the air. However, this is not really the point I was getting at. It has more to do with court geometry (coverage), the angle of possible returns, and the Wardlaw Directionals.

For the following examples assume that you are close to the baseline (and are not moving up toward the net). If you hit a shot to the middle of your opponent's court, your ideal recovery position would be the middle of your own court (at the baseline). If you hit down the line from a position that is close to one of your deep corners, your ideal recovery position would be past the middle of your court since your opponent can respond with a shot that goes wide to the other side. (However, they can't hit it wide to the side that you just hit from).

If you hit a x-court shot, you do not need to recover all the way back to the middle. You only need to take a few steps to recover to an ideal position. In this case, your opponent can hit your shot back x-court or they can go down the line. However, they cannot make you run wide on the other side.

To see this in action, take a look at Federer's (and Hewitt's) shots in the following 45 shot rally. As long as these 2 players hit x-court, they do not need to come all the way to the middle -- they only need to take a few steps to get into position for the reply. Roger does not come to the middle until after his 4th shot (which has gone to the middle of Lleyton's side). When Roger hits a DTL shot, notice that he recovers to a point that is past the middle of his side.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Def7iMP8G0M

If your x-court shots are deep or challenging, your opponent is likely to hit a x-court reply. If your x-court shot is short or weak, then your opponent is more likely to hit DTL or move you around more. (I will try to get to your other questions in another post).
.

 

[vil]

Just to throw 2 cents, if you are fast runner, your recovery should be quick. If you don't come to the centre after retrieving a corner shot, then you have two distances to cover. The truth is, more you run, less accurate your shots will be unless you are really good at defence.
Too much running normally produces weak shots, short sitters or UE's. This has nothing to do with your fitness. This guy obviously knows how to keep you off balance. You've got to keep him deep and that can draw a weak reply from him, which you should take advantage of.

 

[OldFedIsOld]

Cut the ball off earlier by coming in at an angle(shorter distance than running side to side), and also bending your knees. Look at how federer does it in this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5rWS3sun74)

The further your feet are the easier you can move side to side.

 

[Limpinhitter]

Before we get into footwork details, you might consider a few other factors. Are you hitting a lot of deep x-court shots? If not, this might be the main reason other players are able to run you around so much.

Are you emloying recovery footwork as soon as you are finishing your stroke? Do you initiate a split step on the forward swing of your opponent's racket? If you are not doing both of these things, this may cause you to be slow on getting to the next shot.

This! The best way to cover the court is to maintain good court positioning so that the only option your opponent has to hit away from you is a low percentage shot ie: redirecting a deep cross court shot dtl (against Wardlaw's directionals). If he does that, and doesn't hit an UE, then he's left the opposite cross court open and he will be the one on the run.

The high percentage deviations from hitting cross court are when you take a short ball. If it's above net level, go for a winner into the open court. If it's below net level, hit an approach shot dtl, cover a dtl pass and force your opponent to try to pass you cross court. If you are positioned correctly, he will have about a 2-3 foot window to get the ball by you cross court and still keep it inside the sideline. Those percentages are in your favor.

PS: The simple explanation of Wardlaw's directionals is that when you recieve a cross court groundstroke, if you try to redirect it dtl, there is a natural tendency for the ball to ricochet off of your racquet causing your dtl attempt to go wide. That's why this is a tough shot. The more pace on the cross court groundie, the more ricochet it will have off of your racquet. In addition, if you hit dtl and your opponent gets to the ball, you have left your opposite cross court court wide open. Now you're on the run. In addition, cross court shots make your opponent (or you), run wider than dtl shots. It adds up over the course of a match.

 

[Ballinbob]

Thanks Limp and SystemicAnomaly for the in depth explanation of Wardlaw's directionals. I have always thought of hitting cross court as a safe shot to hit because of the longer distance and the net being lower. If I needed time to recover I would always hit cross court. However I never thought of what it would do to my court positioning. I'm going to read all the threads SystemicAnomaly put up too, see if I can learn something from those as well

I always figured that hitting cross court too often is predictable, but I guess it doesn't matter because to redirect the ball is a risky shot by my opponent. Plus, a forehand to forehand cross court rally would really go in my favor. Nadal does this to Federer and even though Fed knows whats coming, he can't do a whole lot to stop the cross court attack to his BH.

Gotta stick to what works. This has been a real eye opener for me, I need to start incorporating this more in my game.

 

[Limpinhitter]

Thanks Limp and SystemicAnomaly for the in depth explanation of Wardlaw's directionals. I have always thought of hitting cross court as a safe shot to hit because of the longer distance and the net being lower. If I needed time to recover I would always hit cross court. However I never thought of what it would do to my court positioning. I'm going to read all the threads SystemicAnomaly put up too, see if I can learn something from those as well

I always figured that hitting cross court too often is predictable, but I guess it doesn't matter because to redirect the ball is a risky shot by my opponent. Plus, a forehand to forehand cross court rally would really go in my favor. Nadal does this to Federer and even though Fed knows whats coming, he can't do a whole lot to stop the cross court attack to his BH.

Gotta stick to what works. This has been a real eye opener for me, I need to start incorporating this more in my game.

Yes, hitting cross court is predictable. But, tennis is a percentage game, and all time greats like Borg, Lendl and Agassi ground their opponents into dust by being predictable and hitting cross court. Further, being predictable makes any kind of change-up (ie: hitting short balls dtl), all the more effective.

 

[tricky]

Good call on Wardlaw's Directionals. Key is that during the crosscourt exchanges to throw off your opponent's timing. That may be taking time away from the ball, giving them different spins and ball heights, etc. Djokovic plays Nadal pretty closely to Wardlaw's Directionals.

Mogul step and gravity step are sort of cousins. Both steps enable you to cover court quickly and still transition easily into your shot.

The key in both steps is learning to turn your trunk around your pelvis to go in a direction. On a floor space, clasp your hands together, as if you were praying. Then simulate running "baseline to baseline." Compare and contrast your steps and weight transfer when you move into and away.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

... I do have a split step when my opponent makes contact with the ball. If you don't mind though, could you elaborate on the recovery steps. If you are out wide and want to recover, what's the ideal way to recover? Is it just a cross step and run again?

When should you start recovering to the middle? I know your supposed to keep your head still when you hit the ball and have your eyes on the contact point. Should you start heading towards the middle when you finish your follow through ideally or how does that work? ...

You can initiate your split step either during your opponent's forward swing or a scosh later at their contact. If you chose to go with this slightly later timing, make certain that you are not executing it late -- execute as soon as you see/hear the contact (whichever stimulus you seem to react to quicker).

As I mentioned before, the x-step is not usually a first step. The ideal recovery will depend on a number of factors. Your stance at contact is a major factor. A closed stance or a power step will require a different recovery initiation than an open stance. Note that you may need to put on the brakes after you hit. This will often require you to swing you legs out wide in order to shift your balance quickly back toward the middle. Some of the advanced footwork patterns I mentioned previously will do this. Your first couple of steps toward your recovery position might be sprint steps followed by more conventional side shuffle steps.

Start the recovery at/near the end of your follow-thru = ASAP.

 

[LuckyR]

The key is to hit the ball so: A) you are closer to the center of possible returns based on where you are already standing, B) make him either hit shots that are higher percentage when hit towards you and lower percentage when hit away from you, in that case when he chooses to hit away from you, he is more likely to hit errors.

 

[LeeD]

Movement.
Note NFL wide receivers. Some face forwards, but note the ones who stand sideways.
First step is always the LEAD foot stepping away from the trail foot.
Same in baseball of basestealers. No crossing until the body is turned, 2.5 steps down the line.

 

[Ballinbob]

Thanks for the advice guys, it's helped a lot. The cross court hitting was pretty big for me, even though I knew the benefits of it, its like I rediscovered them again. Playing the percentages (which for me is a FH to FH cross court rally) has helped more than I thought it would, but I'm not complaining