TennisOne Lessons

The Fundamental Movement in Sports

Vic Borgogno

In tennis the players at the net, like the in-fielders in baseball have to be quick off the ball because they are close to the persons striking the ball and neither have much time. Players at the baseline, like outfielders in baseball have to be quick off the ball so as to move laterally, up or back and cover the greater distances involved from those positions. It makes one wonder if the preparation and timing of these initial movements should be different for either position in either sport? And, to get the maximum advantage would it be smart to start all movements at the earliest possible moment after the player determines the direction of the ball?

In a lot of sports there is a 'special time' during a 'sport specific action' that is rather unique and distinct from all the others. For example, around the time of impact 1) one has just seen the path the player took in getting to the hitting position 2) one has just watched the motion of the player's racket leading up to impact 3) one can see the opponent's body position at impact 4) one is going to hear the loudness of the impact 5) and the ball is about to change direction.

Taking a snap shot of the available information can be valuable to players developing their anticipation skills. How much of this information is used in anticipating and making the correct movement will depend on the skill level of the player about to respond to the ball. For instance, Nadal may process all the information while Karlovic might use less or prioritize the information differently.

If a player guesses the direction as opposed to anticipating the direction, and then moves early, he may be at the mercy of out-guessing a talented and wily opponent. A player that waits until the ball has traveled a considerable distance, to be sure of the direction, may compromise his or her ability to get to the proper hitting position for the more difficult shots.

Anticipation skills must be developed, but should not be confused with timing the split-step. Both can be used to maximize your abilities of getting to the best possible position when hitting the next ball. Timing the split-step properly allows the player to be moving at maximum speed (or ready to start moving) at exactly the time they determine the direction of the incoming ball, independently of where they are on court. Other refinements or adjustments for ball speed, spin, depth, and contact point, can be made as the motion towards the ball proceeds, but determining the direction is top priority.

Nick Saviano in his book 'Maximum Tennis' says, "You should take a split-step every time your opponent contacts the ball. A proper split-step is arguably the most important aspect of footwork. Performing the split-step at the correct time will establish your balance so that you are in a position to explode to the ball once you recognize the direction of the shot. In addition, it heightens your mental state of awareness at a critical time when the ball is coming off your opponent's racquet."

Forces and Movement

The 2005 NORCAL USPTA Conference had a seminar called, "A Fundamental Sequence to Movement," that showed in great detail very special times during a movement. These key frames include: 1) when the last foot comes off the ground, 2) when the player determines the ball direction, and 3) which foot lands on the court first. These movements have been documented for Guga, Hewitt, Safin, Roddick, and Haas as they make their initial moves.

TennisOne has video showing tennis professionals in the air whenever a ball is struck by an opponent; not all players are able to execute perfect timing under the stress of playing a point. The video clip of Karlovic serving and Nadal returning at the 2010 Aussie Open is a good example of this fact. The slow motion video clip freezes the serve and all other shots at ball contact time and then shows the receiver's vertical position relative to the Top of the Hop. Notice that Nadal was always at the Top of the Hop when Karlovic struck the ball! On the other hand notice that Karlovic missed 4 of the 9 split-steps and in particular the last hit by Nadal as Karlovic came to net and made a late hop into the air. Being late meant that he was left 'hanging' in the air waiting to come down to the ground so he could begin accelerating in the direction of the ball.

When a player hops into the air and lands on the ground, an impulse force is generated (an impulse force is a force that results when one moving object hits or collides with another object that is either moving or stationary). This impulse force is short and lasts for about 1/2 sec (500 mSec or 16 video frames), and its magnitude is always greater than the static force by a factor of about 3 (a static force is similar to a person standing on a bathroom scale, where-in the magnitude of the force is equal to the weight of the individual).

A player landing on 1 foot can take advantage of this larger impulse force, but if they land on both feet the impulse force is felt by both feet and cancels any sideward force that could help accelerate the player in a particular direction. The player that lands on both feet will be starting their movement from a compromised position, where-in the foot closest to the ball is lifted off the ground capitalizing only on the static force; we call this movement a Jab Step. This movement will always be slower than landing on the foot opposite to the side the ball is coming to.

Jack Groppel in his book High Tech Tennis said something I think all of us can agree on, "The factor in tennis that most limits players' success is movement. In fact, I feel that it really doesn't matter how great your strokes are if you are not in the right place at the right time." He also mentions that the average distance you run for a stroke will be between 2 to 6 yards and this is one of the main reasons we at Sports-Split-Step have put so much time into understanding what happens before your opponent hits the tennis ball. The following section will break down the movements and discuss what should be happening in preparing for the split-step.

Timing the Movement

The split-step can be discussed by considering these three movements:

1. Preparing to hop – We need to load our legs by bending our knees before the opponent strikes the ball.
2. Hopping – The hop into the air must be timed so that we reach the maximum height just as the ball starts to come off the opponent's racquet.
3. Landing – As we begin to descend we will determine the direction of the ball, prepare our body to run by starting to turn the feet. For example, lift the leading leg, and load the trailing leg that is going to drive us towards the ball.

High hops result in a large impulse force (an advantage), but use more energy and can result in lost time. For example, if you are still in the air, you cannot start the acceleration towards the ball until you land. A high hop is generally found with players that have played mostly on hard courts where as a lower hop is generally found with players that play on clay. The reason is that the lateral force can be so great for higher hops that the clay will move and cause the player's foot to slip as he begins the lateral movement. Guga has a lower hop where Hewitt has a much higher hop.

At the completion of the hopping, a player should be landing with the loaded leg exerting the maximum effort as the foot nears the ground (the other foot would not be touching the ground at this time). If the off side foot touches the ground just after the leg begins to unload, the player will waste the minimum amount of time in the 'hang position'. This description of the timing should be the goal for all players wanting to learn to move more quickly!

So, what happens when the ball is hit within 5 feet of the defensive player? Most professional players will tend to land on both feet as the distance they need to travel can easily be reached and does not require the impulse force (see China's La Ni video above), but the timing for the hop remains exactly the same (begin the hop before the opponent makes ball contact).

If you look closely at a return of serve to the body, you will sometimes notice that a one foot landing still occurs. In other words, any time we want to move quickly on the first step, whether it is moving to a ball or out of the way of a ball, we move faster if we can utilize the one foot landing and capitalize on the resulting impulse force.

Landing on one foot when an overhead or drop-shot are hit against us can result with the same impulse force and the resulting benefits. For example, 1) prepare to hop as usual 2) determine the direction of the ball while in the air (short in the court or up over one's head), 3) load by rotating the feet/shoulders so that they are approximately 90 degrees to the net (square position), and 4) land on the foot closer to the net for the lob over your head or the back foot if the opponent's shot was a short lob or a drop-shot.

Landing on one foot for a volley can result in similar benefits. For instance: 1) start the hop before the ball is struck by the opponent, 2) determine the direction while in the air, 3) load by beginning to rotate the feet/shoulders in a direction for either the backhand or forehand volley, 4) land on the rear foot so that the resulting impulse force propels us towards the net or in the direction required to intercept the volley.

Ivan Lendl was quoted in July 2010 Tennis magazine as saying, “When you don’t move well, you don’t get to the shot, and if you don’t get to the shot, I don’t care how good you are, you can’t hit it properly.”

Teaching the Movement

By applying these steps to your game, it will ultimately make you a more aggressive player and you will start creating shots and strategies instead of just reacting to your opponent’s strategies. In conclusion, while taking these steps will improve your game, make sure you stay creative and push your game out of your comfort zone to get the most improvement from yourself.

Here are some guidelines that might help convince and thus motivate your players and peer group to take the time and learn to move like professional players.

1. Show the high speed movements using the slow motion videos here.

• Tommy Haas split-step
• Karlovic and Nadal
• Marat Side by Side Jab Step vs split-step

2. Eliminate the misconceptions of what is happening and define the essential steps.

• Preparing to hop
• Hopping
• Landing

3. Devise a program that can work on each of the essential steps.
4. Practice with many repetitions and error on the side of ‘perfect’ execution before moving on to more difficult concepts.
5. Provide progressive stages of difficulty which can continue to challenge, always forcing players to border on the edge of failing some of the time.
6. Eliminate balls when first working with players so that they can concentrate on footwork.
7. Then interleave balls into the workout, but continue your drills without balls.
8. Teaching the split-step to younger players enables them to acquire this skill early on.

Teaching tools & training that can help a player improve their split-step:

1. Footwork training devices that provide cues for split step movements without balls
2. Video cameras that allow timing measurements of the player to the cues
3. Ball machines with Timing Lights for including cues and hitting balls
4. Rope ladders and other available tools for developing movement
5. Weight training for strengthening important muscles groups
6. Sprints and other running drills for aerobic training

Summary

At this point we begin to realize all tennis shots (excluding serve) can be executed with the same timing and movement! Using modern teaching tools the teaching professional can tailor practice sessions with their players and utilize the impulse force in conjunction with the split-step and make this entire movement a conditioned response.

Daniel Coyle in his book, “The Talent Code” says, “Repetition is invaluable and irreplaceable. Spending more time is effective, but only if you’re still in the sweet spot at the edge of your capabilities, attentively building and honing the neural circuits”.

Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Vic Borgogno's article by emailing us here at TennisOne.

Vic designs, builds and tests training devices for teaching cutting edge concepts in the sports of tennis, badminton, volleyball, hockey, soccer, and baseball. He has taught for over 18 years as a USPTA tennis teaching professional with 35 years of background in electronic hardware and software product development. Product developments can be seen at Sports-Split-Step.com and he can be reached at vicborg70@gmail.com.