TennisOne Lessons

Splitting – What, Why, When, How, and Where

Jim McLennan

Readiness when the opponent hits the ball may be the most critical element within the game of tennis, and equally the least understood. The modern game has become associated with tremendous topspin, and booming ground strokes. The racquet manufacturers follow suit with ever new products to increase topspin and power. But to watch the players this week at the French Open – and when looking past the topspin and the power – I see dancers floating back and forth. Dance like footwork that is sometimes furious and sometimes gliding and sometimes the players move very little – but throughout there is a constant and continuous readiness each and every time the opponent hits.

When watching a tennis match, either live or on television, spectators generally follow the ball and watch Roger hit the forehand and then Rafael counter with the backhand. But in this manner, spectators never get to see the timing of Roger's split when Rafael makes contact. At the recreational level (or perhaps I should say human level, for to me the pros seem genuinely superhuman) some players have an instinct for the timing of this split, some are trying to learn it, and others who are either early, late or off-balance with the split, rarely move quickly to the ball.

Monica Seles splits, from this neutral position, she's ready to move in any direction.

So the following questions are answered with reference to this situation. You are in the midst of a point, this could be the second, third, or even sixth stroke of a rally. You could be on the baseline, moving to the net, or at the net. Your opponent is about to make contact with the ball. What exactly is a split? Why does one split? When does one split? How does one split? And where does one split?

The "What"

The split has many names – Ready hop, split-step, split stop, gathering-to-go. For the purposes of this article let's call it the splitting event. At this moment, the player unweights. This is done by either a subtle, almost imperceptible, lowering of the center of gravity or by a subtle hop.

Posture must be perfectly erect. The feet must be positioned at least shoulder width apart if not further (and this is controversial). Knees and ankles both lightly engaged (not locked or stiff). Shoulders relaxed, hands and racquet held lightly (not stiffly or with tension) in front. Absolutely no commitment to the forehand or backhand. Think of this as neutral – where during the splitting event you are capable of moving in any direction suddenly, quickly, and easily. Monica Seles (above) appears just this neutral, ready to move cat like quick, but at this moment neutral, without commitment.

Stefan Edberg splits after Lendl makes contact – reading the ball while he is in the air .

From this neutral position, the player may hop or rise into the air as she reads the direction of her opponent's ball. The entire sequence of unweighting, hopping or rising into the air, and the landing I call "the splitting event."

The "Why"

Why does one split? The footwork paradigm can be described with the Three R's – Ready, Read, and React. When the opponent hits I want to be ready to move. But before I can move I must read the ball, discern precisely where it is going. Finally, when I see where it is going, then I react. But this Ready, Read, and React occur in the blink of an eye. So the split is the attempt to become ready to read and react. Each and every time the opponent hits the ball.

The "When"

McEnroe executes a one-legged split, right leg landing first, and darts quickly to his left.

When does one split? In this example (above right), Ivan Lendl has made contact on the backhand side; Stefan Edberg is in the air "reading the shot," and clearly this split has occurred after Lendl's contact. This may be counter-intuitive; we might expect him to split at the moment his opponent makes contact . But by delaying their split, players gain more time to read the direction of their opponent's shot.

At our club, it appears when players split before contact they land and become heavy and slow as they wait to read, or worse, they split early and guess, moving forward for a volley at the net when actually the opponent has hit a moon ball.

The "How"

How does one split? This is simply the lowest and slightest of hops, but performed with perfect posture and a very wide landing, each and every time the opponent hits the ball.

McEnroe splits in the middle of the opponent's angle of play.

There are one-legged and two-legged landings. Let's take the one-legged landing first. The one-legged landing is used by the pros (any maybe you as well) for quick movement to the left or right. If moving to the right, you land on the left foot, turning the hips to the forehand (for a righty) and then either jabbing or dropping the right foot (see gravity turn below). The two-legged landing is used more often when the ball is coming more or less directly at you and you don't have so far to run. Think of it as a neutral landing.

The "Where"

Where does one split? The split must occur, whenever possible, as close to the midline of the opponent's angle of play as possible. Said more simply, it must occur in a spot that gives you the best chance to return as many of your opponents shots as possible. Note how McEnroe splits off the center line of the court, but quite close to the midline (in red) of the opponent's angle of play.

Making It Your Own

What can the average club player learn from watching the pros' superb footwork? First, it's a matter of awareness, knowing how important footwork is to playing your game at a higher level and giving it the drill time it deserves. Specifically, your improvement with the splitting event will enable you to start more quickly, more often.

Develop your own awareness of how well you are or are not moving–as this , and not picking up another racquet–will take your game to another level. We'll have future articles and drills about this here on TennisOne, but in the meantime, like Rod Laver, think "happy feet" as you walk onto the court next time.

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

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