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Transition game: The Forehand Approach

Tom Downs

I often take my students to various academies for match play, and while there I like to observe what’s being taught on some of the practice courts. I see the usual groundstroke drills and techniques being rehearsed and fine-tuned. I see some good live ball drills and intense feeding drills, serve and return work, and some baseline footwork patterns.  But I hardly ever see transitioning footwork being worked on, let alone been taught correctly.

In this article we will take a look at the forehand approach shot in vivid detail. I will take you through the footwork getting up to the forehand, the footwork patterns used to execute the shot, and the footwork that should be used after the approach and prior to the split-step and volley. The drills in this article are addressed to right handed players. Left handed players should do the same but obviously on the other side of the court.

Click photo: Notice how Roger Federer's inside foot moves into the court toward the ball first. He gets his feet square and then explodes through the shot with a hop-step move so that he can get tremendous body weight going into it and can then close into the net quickly.

Inside Ball

To begin, let's divide the deuce side of the court in half. If a player receives a ball which lands short on the inside half of the deuce court, the player’s inside foot will move first toward the ball after the split step. The player will move up to the ball as quickly as possible, and will use adjustment steps before composing their feet in a square stance and using a hop-step, move through the ball. This is very much a footwork pattern perfected by Roger Federer, and majority of pros use this pattern to explode efficiently through short balls, as it enables them to move toward the net quickly.

The only time I may be okay with a player not using this footwork pattern on inside balls is if they have an extreme grip. We know that the typical theory here is that the more extreme the grip, the more open the stance becomes. I would still not encourage a full open stance for inside balls, because it is so important to get as much body weight going into the ball toward the intended target as possible, and the open stance doesn’t allow for this as much as a partly open, semi open, or neutral stance does.

Outside Ball

Click photo: Andy Roddick moves with his outside foot first when attacking this for outside ball \. He uses more of an open stance so he can transition through the shot and can more efficiently position himself to cover his opponent's passing attempt.

When the player receives a short ball on the outside half of the deuce court, the players outside foot will move first toward the ball, and the player will execute the shot with more of an explosive, open stance move so that they can transition through the shot and get into net as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The reason we need to use partly open or fully open stance here is because there's still plenty of court we need to move forwards and cover once the short ball has been executed. An open stance allows us to do this more efficiently.

A common mistake I often see club players make is that they get up to these short balls and their feet stop completely. I also hear coaches telling players to stop and set their feet rather than take adjustment steps, get the feet composed and then explode through the shot. Players who stop their feet lose all their energy and therefore their approach shots lose their penetration through the court.

Footwork After the Approach

As a junior I often heard the importance of taking small steps into the net after the approach shot and prior to the split step. The more I have studied the pros, the more I have realized that this is wrong and that small steps should be used only when closing in for a high volley, or other situations that require some efficient adjustment steps. 

Click photo: Jurgen Melzer takes a couple of large, efficient steps after hitting his approach prior to split stepping. He understands the importance of closing the net and continues to move forward after the split step.

For footwork patterns for both inside and outside balls, I prefer big steps and then a split step. So the guideline footwork I teach for inside balls after the hop step, is to land on the front foot and then the outside foot must take a large step followed by another large step forward with the inside foot. After this, the split step must take place. I often see players stop immediately after split stepping but the split step is a continuation not a complete stop. Of course this footwork pattern is just a guideline and like anything else in tennis, adjusting to the situation is key.

For outside balls, the inside foot needs to move forward first,and at an angle, after the approach shot and then the outside foot will take a big step forward. The key is to really push off the outside leg so that the step forward with the inside foot is big and efficient. 

Which Part of the Court do we Cover?

All club players who receive adequate coaching should know to approach down the line and then move toward the net. Ideally you should get to about halfway between the net and service line, split step, and cover the down-the-line about a racquet length away from the "T". Those that receive high level coaching will know to not only cover the line, but should be able to anticipate the crosscourt pass attempt by the opposition. 

Click photo: It is extremely to important to understand which part of the court to cover after executing an approach shot. The video here shows a competent junior hitting an approach shot down the line. He moves forward efficiently after exploding through the approach shot and he has the down the line part of the court covered, but he knows to anticipate the crosscourt pass attempt. He needs to get into an aggressive position, about halfway between the service line and the net to hit an effective first volley.

With a lot of the pro players I coach, the down-the-line approach works well, but I also encourage players to mix it up a bit and approach short crosscourt, and maybe even deep crosscourt if there is a large chunk of court open to hit the approach into. I don't mind a short, low ball being approached short crosscourt, because it's often easiest to hit low balls across the low part of the net. I would not always recommend this, but the more options we have, the better. 

Progression drills are the best drills to use. Simply walk through the inside and outside approach shot footwork patterns I have mentioned, and once you feel comfortable, then progress to a drill where a coach feeds you a short ball.

Practice both the inside and outside approach shots on the forehand side. After practicing approach shots, add the footwork pattern prior to the split step and then the split step. Finally, do the entire drill finishing with a volley after the split step.

Once a players feels comfortable with the approach shots and footwork patterns, the player can progress from the feeding drills into a live ball point situation where the coach or practice partner feeds either a ball on the inside or outside half of the deuce court and the approach is hit down the line. The point is then played out full court. 

 

Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Tom Downs' article by emailing us here at TennisOne.

Tom Downs

Tom has and extensive coaching background, and has been a member of the Institute team for several years. He has served as our Head Staff Professional, and is currently the Traveling Coach for Institute players. He has traveled with several of our Tour players including Laura Granville and Carly Gullickson, who won the US Open Mixed Doubles title in 2009.

Tom has worked with junior and other professional players, including Sam Stosur and Rennae Stubbs, at all 4 Grand Slam events, as well as other major tournaments around the world. Tom graduated from the University of South Florida in 2005 with a degree in communications. As a successful junior player, Tom represented Australia, and was consistently ranked in the top 10 in all age groups in Australia. He played college tennis at South Carolina State University and was a member of their conference championship team in 2004.