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First Two Steps: The Key to Quickness

By Michael Friedman, USPTA

Improvisation is what makes tennis so much fun. Every ball you hit or react to is different from the one before. Your opponent tries to hit a ball you can’t get to, and you  try to do the same. The unpredictability of the outcome makes each point fun. If every ball is

On television, the pros make their side of the court look small because they get to almost every ball. On the other hand, when you get on the court, your side looks huge because you can’t imagine being able to get to every ball yourself.  

I believe you can get to almost any ball by starting quickly and efficiently like the pros. And I can show you how. Let’s go over the core principles of movement, and then see the top pro players use these patterns in actual competitive play.  

The First Two Steps are the Key! 

Have you ever been walking down the sidewalk and, suddenly, see a can you can’t wait to kick? As you approach the can you don’t consciously change stride, but you naturally seem to get into position to kick it with your dominant foot, and then, let it rip! We all have the ability to see a distance and calculate the space and time with our feet to get to where we want to go. When playing tennis, this means getting to where the incoming ball is going, so that it is on our strike zone.  

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Last Updated 10/15/01. To contact us, please email to: webmaster@tennisone.com

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