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Hitting Groundstrokes While Moving Backwards!

Dave Kensler – Peter Burwash International (PBI)

We are all familiar with the phrase, “attack with your feet.” If we had to prioritize, it is always more desirable to be moving / stepping forward or at the very least holding our position when hitting the ball.

Next would probably be moving laterally because even though this can sometimes be a challenge at least there is often the opportunity to execute a “running swing” and hit a decent shot. The fact is, most of us are pretty comfortable moving side-to-side.

Where most problems arise, at least at the club level, is when we are forced to move backwards to retrieve the ball. From a technical aspect, your momentum is going away from the net while you are trying to get enough arm / racquet speed to hit a good shot towards your opponent. And, from a strategy standpoint, you have to give up “territory” or court positioning.

Nevertheless, tennis players all have to move backwards from time to time to hit a shot. The obvious example is the lob over your head, but even in a “normal” rally we are sometimes forced to retreat. Why?

In no order of importance…

1. Our previous stroke left us in a less than desirable court position, perhaps too far inside the baseline but not enough momentum to keep going to the net.
   

2. The quality of our opponent’s shot, due to depth and / or heavy topspin.
   

3. Or maybe we initially misjudge the ball hit to us and / or are too slow to react and have to make a last second move backwards.

How to Hit Moving Backwards

It starts with foot movement. Both for efficiency and safety (So you do not trip over your own feet), it is always best to “skip,” “slide,” or “shuffle” your feet. Try not to let them cross each other. Often your comfort level in hitting a shot after moving backwards is determined by how well you react with your feet.

Note, in the video, how Ana Ivanovic initially takes a step forward; then realizes she has to move backwards and she does this with a simple "skipping" of her feet. 

Racquet and feet movement happens simultaneously. Many recreational players allow the proverbial “do not let the ball play you” to happen to them when they have to move backwards. They let the ball bounce and then start to prepare the racquet which often leads to a last second, hurried swing. They may prepare well with their feet but “forget” about their racquet.

Roger Federer does a great job of simultaneously moving his feet and preparing his racquet as he moves backwards on this forehand.

Notice too how his feet do not cross each other during the preparation. 

Contact point. Try to contact the ball before it bounces above your shoulders. From behind the baseline almost every shot becomes more difficult or at the very least much more defensive when the contact poine is above the shoulders.

Players with two-handed backhands can be more vulnerable in this regard than those with a one-handed backhand because of the reduction in reach with the arm and racquet.

In the video, Victoria Azarenka does an excellent job in striking the ball no higher than her shoulders.

A key factor in her swing is even though her hands start at waist level, when she swings the racquet to hit the shot, her hands are at shoulder level thus allowing her to still drive through the ball versus swinging upwards. 

Hitting off the back foot. Do not be afraid to hit the ball off your back foot. This is almost a requirement if you are to hit a shot with authority when retreating. Too often people are taught that hitting off the back foot is “wrong” or “bad”…It is neither! Rather it is often “necessary!”

Remember, if your opponent allows you to comfortably step into every shot then you are not playing someone who is challenging you!

Do not over retreat. This is a common mistake amongst recreational tennis players. They quickly recognize they have to move backwards and so they go further back than necessary. While this may feel more comfortable to some degree, since the ball may have lost much of its speed, it also means more work for the person on two issues?!

1. It is going to take more steps to get back into position. So think over the course of a match if you constantly run further back than is necessary how many extra steps you are taking?

2. Because you are further back and the ball has lost so much speed, you will now have to swing faster and with more effort to get a decent shot back to your opponent.

In the video, despite first moving laterally and then backwards, you can see Novak Djokovic “fight” to keep his court positioning…He only moves back as far as necessary to hit the shot.

Referring back to the video on Azarenka but really for all these videos you will notice despite having to retreat and hit off their back foot, all these players do a great job of still hitting through the contact area or driving the racquet head through the ball the best they can under the circumstances.

Too often recreational players as they are retreating swing their hand / arm / racquet upwards resulting in either a high floating weak shot or a mishit off the frame.

Practice Hitting While Moving Backwards

In my opinion this is one of the easiest shots to practice with a ball machine! Set the machine to the type of ball the people you play against normally hit to you which forces you to move backwards and then work on some of the concepts presented in this article and used by the tour players.

I feel one common practice error on this maneuver is to quickly concede the best response is a lob. Without question a lob in this situation can be effective but at the same time I intentionally chose videos which showed the professionals hitting groundstrokes too!

Practice a variety of shots in response to having to move backwards and you may soon discover you are in a better situation than you realize!

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

Dave Kensler has 28-years of teaching experience with Peter Burwash International (PBI), the highly successful international tennis management company. PBI directs tennis programs at exclusive hotels, resorts, and clubs in North America, Europe, Caribbean, Asia, Middle East, Pacific, Central America, Mexico, and the Indian Ocean. Over 3 million people have received instruction from PBI Professionals during the 35-year history of the company. All PBI Tennis Professionals play with PRINCE racquets and wear PRINCE shoes. For information on PBI tennis destinations and employment opportunities please go to www.pbitennis.com.