Secrets of World Class Footwork
Part 2

Covering the Court with Gravity Motion 

Gravity motion is the quickest and most effortless way to get your body moving towards the ball. Gravity is the force of attraction by which objects tend to fall toward the center of the earth. Gravity holds your desk against the ground, gravity pulls your car down the hill, and gravity pulls flying objects back to earth. Interestingly, this same force can help you cover the court more quickly. 

The First Step

Gravity motion is a technique that causes a sudden, effortless, and explosive start. It is a type of movement where an initial "wrong" step away from the ball is used to accelerate the takeoff to the ball. In tennis, movement is the name of the game and footwork the key. When taking what appears to be an extra and incorrect step, players are in fact getting to their destination more quickly than they would without this step. 

Note Becker's feet - his first step immediately after his split appears to be away from the ball.

The Gravity Step

• Begin with a wide stance

• Make quarter turn of the hips toward the ball

• Simultaneously bend the knee of the leg nearest the ball so that it moves beneath you (your leg furthest from the ball now serves as a post, unbalancing the body in the direction of the ball)

• Note the initial falling movement toward the ball. The foot nearest the ball strikes the ground beneath (not beyond) you, driving you more quickly toward the ball

The identifying movement is the quarter hip turn and simultaneous stepping back or beneath the moving body.

It's as Simple as Falling Down 

To understand the dynamics of balance and loss of balance try the following practical experiment. In the ready position your base of support (BS) is with feet spread shoulder width, and the center of gravity (CG) resting comfortably above the BS. Stand alongside a wall, shoulders aligned at a right angle to the wall, so that you can barely reach the wall with the outstretched fingers of either the right or left hand. Now, lift the foot closest to the wall off the ground. If you have not fallen against the wall it was because you shifted your weight to keep from falling. This is lateral motion, in that you fell laterally against the wall. To feel forward motion, repeat the above exercise with a simultaneous Gravity turn (hip turn) toward the wall. When done correctly you will catch your weight with both hands as your chest turns to face the wall.

Edberg's drop step is pronounced on this volley, propelling him quickly toward the ball

Practice this on the court with your coach or partner in the following way. The mover stands on the baseline, in the ready position, with the baseline center mark exactly between their feet. The coach faces the mover, standing 15 feet away. The coach claps hands and quickly points left or right. The mover practices reacting to the forehand or backhand side depending on where the coach points. The clap resembles the ball contact, and the pointing to one side or the other immediately after the clap approximates the players perception to the direction of the ball. The coach looks for both a drop step placed on top of the baseline center mark, and a simultaneous 90 degree unit turn toward the direction of movement.  

Who Uses It?

Players renown for effortless movement:  Stefan Edberg, Andre Agassi, Arancha Sanchez, Monica Seles, Fabrice Santoro, Cedric Pioline, John McEnroe, Gene Mayer and only a few selected others.

Arancha Sanchez uses this technique to reach outside balls along the baseline, Stefan Edberg uses gravity motion at the net, and Monica Seles uses gravity motion both to reach outside balls, as well as on her initial recovery step back to the center of the court.

Tennis is a game of movement, and the most important step is the first movement to the ball. The modern game is played with more power and is much faster than even a years ago. The comparison of the US Open highlights of 1974 with those of 1999 are interesting. The 1974 game seems like slow motion when compared with today's players. Now, more than ever, there is a real premium placed on movement and Gravity Motion consistently produces quick, efficient, and effortless movement to each and every outside ball.  You and I might not play with the speed and power of Agassi or Seles, but we still have many situations where we need to really hustle. What works for the quickest professionals will work for you as well.

This is the first in a series of articles on footwork. The material is derived from a new video by Jim McLennan, “The Secrets of World Class Footwork - Featuring Stefan Edberg”.   

The gravity turn is presently the subject of a research project at the Stanford University Biomechanical Engineering laboratory. The results will be published (in abridged form) on TennisONE.

Last Updated 9/1/98. To contact us, please email to: webmaster@tennisone.com

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