| Great tennis footwork is the key to great tennis, which | | | | You will be able to get to more balls, more often (even |
| is a fact that so many players overlook. | | | | when under pressure) and that forces your opponent |
| Here are the top 5 reasons why improving your tennis | | | | to play 1, 2 or 3 more shots than they expect to and |
| footwork improves your game!! | | | | maybe want to and that gives them more chances to |
| 1. GREATER SHOT POWER | | | | miss. |
| Developing your footwork skills results in greater | | | | 5. BETTER TENNIS SPEED & TENNIS FITNESS |
| power in your shots for the following (and very | | | | If you work on improving your footwork, you will have |
| important) reason. When you get to the ball and get | | | | no choice but to improve your tennis speed and tennis |
| set in a good position, you give yourself the chance to | | | | fitness - no bad thing. |
| hit the ball using as many body parts as you can. If you | | | | I have seen many many good "technical" players lose |
| don't, you end up hitting the ball just using your arm or | | | | to so-called "lesser" players who had superior court |
| maybe off balance. | | | | speed, movement and fitness. |
| Think about it like this, a boxer doesn't land a knockout | | | | This goes back to the point above and links in with |
| punch by flicking out a jab. The knockout blow is | | | | forcing your opponent to play as many shots as |
| always made by getting the feet in the right position so | | | | possible. |
| that all the bodyweight can go into the punch. The | | | | Not only will it draw more errors in the short term but |
| same is true in tennis. | | | | over the course of a match the tiredness they begin |
| 2. MORE SHOT OPTIONS | | | | to feel has a major impact on their error rate as they |
| Improving your tennis footwork gives you greater | | | | get more tired. |
| flexibility of shot choice because you get there earlier | | | | So, if you really want to improve your game, it's very |
| and in a better position. You get to choose what | | | | simple - Leave your racket in the bag and work on |
| stance you use to play the shot (open stance, closed | | | | your footwork. |
| stance, neutral etc). You also get to choose where | | | | HERE'S HOW TO DO IT! |
| you play the shot and with what stroke (cross court, | | | | The first thing you need to do is stop running so much |
| down the line, backhand, forehand, deep or short, | | | | on the court. You should only run if you are a long way |
| passing shot or lob to name but a few. Without it you | | | | from the ball and it is the only way to get there quickly. |
| will have fewer choices available and the choices you | | | | Apart from that most of your movements around the |
| do have may well end up suffering from poor | | | | court should be made using side shuffles and cross |
| execution. | | | | over steps. |
| 3. REDUCED ERRORS | | | | Start by incorporating tennis footwork patterns into the |
| FACT! As many as 70% of unforced are down to | | | | warm up routines of every one of your lesson |
| poor footwork - ATP statistic. What would it mean to | | | | practice times. |
| your game to reduce your unforced errors by as | | | | Then progress up to using cones (for zig zags etc) |
| many as 7 out of 10? Do I need to say any more? | | | | and ladders as training aids. |
| 4. STAY IN POINTS FOR LONGER | | | | Start slowly with simple footwork exercises and build |
| Improving your footwork for tennis will also improve | | | | up the speed of execution & difficulty of drill as |
| your agility, balance and co-ordination which are all | | | | you improve. |
| critical for higher levels of play. | | | | |