Dancing Like the Stars

Start Sooner. Move Faster.

Marcus Paul Cootsona

There are three types of tennis players. Those who can hit and move. Those who can hit and not move as well. And those who are ranked below the first two. In the pros, the first category features versatile players like Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer. In the second category are hard-hitting and hard-serving ones like Roddick, Isner, and Raonic. In the third are the ones on the outer courts.

The first two categories both contain great players, so it is clearly possible to win at the highest level without moving well. But the list of players who can hit and move features multiple Grand Slam winners. With really nice cars. At the pro level and every other level, moving well will take you farther.

A Happy Place

The best strokes in the world won’t be at their best if your feet aren’t taking your body to the right place to hit them. Every shot in tennis has its happy place — a location on the court where your body and racquet are in perfect position to hit the ball with maximum contact and velocity. Early movement makes happy hitting happen.

By contrast, late movement to the ball puts you in the same situation as the slower moving pros, except without their overwhelming offensive weapons, big paydays, and sponsor swag. Without early, effective movement to the ball, you have to find ways to close points in the first few shots of a rally, hit a high percentage of first serves in, or rely on a steady stream of risky, low-percentage winners to compensate for weak defensive skills. Late movement also makes players hesitant to set up points with multiple shots. Their games become hurried and harried, rushed, and uncertain. In short, outer court tennis.

To Like or Not To Like

Tennis players tend to practice the skills they like to do and do well already. It’s comforting, ego-boosting, and easy. If you like to hit forehands, you work on forehands and don’t practice serve returns or approach shots. Watching any tournament through the 5.0 level will prove this. Practicing what you like makes your strong strokes stronger and leaves your weaker strokes stagnant.

It is the same with movement work. Most players would rather just hit balls than do drills to get better at moving to those balls. Players neglect movement work because it lacks the glamour of walloping groundstrokes or clocking serves and takes more energy and effort in practice and more, well, movement. What makes the pros the pros is their willingness to practice and improve the things they don’t do well. That and their clothes, tans, and service speeds.

Turning Pro

The pros hit the ball harder and cleaner than we do, they do so because they move to the ball better — even relatively slow ones. So how do the pros develop pro footwork and foot speed? Does it happen automatically when you renounce amateur status? Well, there’s no doubt that realizing you have to win matches in order to eat does get your feet moving, and fast. But it all starts way before that. What’s the pro difference? A few things.

• Being told by coaches from the time you’re 7 or 8 to move your feet between shots and recover to the center of the court quickly.

• Moving your feet between shots and recovering to the center of the court quickly.

• Running distance for match endurance.

• Running short sprints for speed.

• Doing agility drills and other exercises on the tennis court and off that don’t involve whacking forehands or crushing serves.

• Getting into the best lean shape possible.

• Becoming more flexible — physically and emotionally too if necessary.

• Playing thousands of hours of tennis using pro footwork, even as an amateur.

• Deciding to and being told to get to every ball no matter what.

You may not have started playing at age seven or eight or had coaches relentlessly badgering you about correct form or scheduling those thousands of hours of matches. Or, maybe you have. But in either case, you may still want better footwork. And you can have it! Here’s how —

Big Decisions First

Decide to be ready for every ball. Decide to get to every ball.

Return to the Center

Concentrate on returning to the center of the court. Your starting place for groundstrokes whether it’s in front of the baseline or behind it is your ground of being. This is the place you want to return to after each shot.

A lot has been written about the importance of an explosive first step, but you also need an explosive second step — the step that takes you back to center.

A Bounce of Prevention

Keep your feet moving and light between shots. The best basketball, football, soccer, and tennis players are the best not only because of what they do when they have the ball, but also because of what they do when they don’t have the ball. What goes on between shots is as important as the shots and is what sets up the shot. What are you doing between shots?

In tennis, you have to keep moving. A tennis court is not a large area to defend unless you get a late start to the ball. Then it’s huge. However, it doesn’t take blinding foot speed to get to the ball quickly, just an idea of where it’s going and a timely takeoff. So as soon as you hit your shot, start preparing for the return shot. Move back to the center of the court and keep your feet moving

Bounce before hitting. Bounce after hitting. Whenever you’re not hitting, bounce. Constant, small foot movement keeps you ready to plant, push, and pursue. It also increases your ability to adjust your position if wind or spin moves the ball off course right before you hit it. And when you bounce, it should be on the front of your feet. The only time your feet should be flat on the court is when you’re stepping in, planting to step in, or shaking hands.

And there’s this. A student recently passed along this unverified, but believable statistic — pro players take eight steps for every recreational player’s six steps. In other words, pro players take more, smaller steps and keep their spacing options fluid, where recreational players often take fewer, bigger steps and end up unavoidably committing to flawed positioning because they don’t have time or space to adjust. You want to connect to the court when you hit, but you don’t want to connect too early or too close to the ball. Small steps help you keep your options open.

Hit and Tells

It’s not all about you though. There’s that opponent on the other side of the net and we need to know their intentions. You could just ask them where they’re planning to hit their next shot, but many opponents won’t tell you. Time to play poker. You see, getting to the ball early requires sound techniques and practice, and the bounce, but it also requires anticipation, pattern recognition, and some good, educated guesses. So, once you’ve hit your shot and you’re bouncing you’ve only done part of the work. Don’t watch your shot, watch your opponent. Your ball will land where it will land. What matters now is where the follow-up shot will land. Watch your opponent’s body and eyes for tells.

Once you figure out where the ball is going from the cues they give you, you can start to move there. As a match goes on, you can catalog your opponent’s tendencies and once you see a pattern, you can respond and move to cover the shot early and happily. You don’t need to be Usain Bolt, just an observant, analytical bouncing version of you.

And then there’s –

The Work

Endurance — For the stamina needed to use all these extra small steps, you need to build endurance. And for that, you need to hit the road or the treadmill. Three times a week for thirty minutes, with a rest day in between will do it. If you’re not currently running, work up to this level gradually, starting with three runs of ten minutes each and adding a minute per run per week until you get to twenty minutes. Then increase five minutes every two weeks until you get to thirty. Simple, right?

Agility — Rally with a hitting partner and concentrate on foot movement. Think about moving your feet continuously between shots. It will be a lot more work, but it will get you to the ball earlier more often.

And, more specifically —

Follow The Ball — Your hitting partner is at the net with a ball. You’re at the baseline in the ready position with your bounce going. Move in whatever direction the person holding a ball at the net directs you to go. Do this for five minutes.

Four Square — Your hitting partner stands at mid-court on their side of the net with a hopper of balls. You are at the center of the baseline. Your partner hits a shot to either your deep forehand or backhand or your mid-court forehand or backhand. Move to get each shot and then move to the center to recover. Fantastic drill. Fantastic exercise.

Increase Your Flexibility — Find stretches that are comfortable for you and stretch your quads, hamstrings, groin, hips and calves every day. Stretch before and after you play or work out.

Warm Up Fully — Don’t start a match with cold muscles. Before or match or workout, jog lightly for 10 minutes. Stretch your lower and upper body.

Warm Down Full — Follow a post match stretching routine to prevent soreness.

Enjoy Life Fully — Goes without saying.

Some Observations

Watch the pros — the fast and the slow. For a few games in each match, watch only their feet and see how much the pros move between shots and how small their set up steps are.

And Maybe the Simplest and Hardest Suggestion of All —

Lose weight — The best way to get those explosive first, second, and third steps, enjoy better movement at all times, and have fewer back, joint, and health problems is to shed unnecessary pounds. Tennis is not a game of weightlifter strength or sprinter speed. It is very much a game of flexibility, stamina, and quick reflexes.

Extra weight slows you down and tires you out. The best of the current crop of players is lean and agile. You can be too. Live longer and happier. Look great in swimwear. Turn heads at the doctor’s office. The pros shouldn’t have all the fun. And as always —

Practice Often. Play Well. Have Fun.

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

Marcus Paul Cootsona

Marcus Paul Cootsona is a teaching professional and author of Occam’s Racquet – 12 Simple Steps To Smarter Tennis. Contact him at: marcuscootsona.com.