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TENNIS FOOTWORK - IF YOU WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR GAMELEAVE YOUR RACKET IN YOUR BAG
Author: Paul GoldWebsite:www.tennis-training-central.comEmail:paul@spsci.freeserve.co.ukebooks available atwww.footwork4tennis.com&www.tennis-strength.com
Improvingfootworkandmovementare the ways to improve your tennis without the use of a racket.For too long now coaches have concentrated on the technicalissues surrounding the racket and not taken in to account thefact that before you hit the ball, you have to move to it!This article shows you why this is flawed and what to do aboutit!
This may seem like the most bizarre piece of information you’ve everheard, but let’s just back things up a little bit.Let’s think about what happens when you playing a game. You getyourself into the point with a great return off a good wide serve byyour opponent. You are moving (each other) all over the courtbuilding the point nicely when all of a sudden your opponent attacksby deciding to come to the net. You attempt a pass which they volleyinto the opposite corner and you head off to play a stunning runningsingle-handed backhand pass down the line that a certain Mr Federerwould be proud of.Let’s think about what just happened there. You may have hit the ballmaybe 6 or 7 times but what did you do for the majority of the point?
MOVE!
You moved to all of your shots and you moved to recover.The fact remains that the time spent hitting shots, never mind theactual time the ball spends on the strings is only a tiny fraction of thetime spent moving to and away from your shots.
 
If this is the case, why do people spend so little time working on theirtennis footworkandmovementif it is the one thing you spend the most time doing?
FACT!
The ATP tour stats on unforced errors are that over 70% of them are down to poor footwork.Which means……?If you really want to improve your game, it’s very simple - you need toimprove your movement and therefore your footwork.
And here is what you need to do!
The first thing you need to do is stop running so much on the court.You should only run if you are a long way from the ball and it is theonly way to get there quickly. Apart from that most of yourmovements around the court should be made using side shuffles andcross over steps (basically short step movements). This istennisagility. By having good footwork you get the flexibility of choice. You get tochoose open or closed stance, cross court or down the line, backhandor inside out forehand, deep or short, passing shot or lob to name buta few. Without it you will have fewer choices available and the choicesyou do have may well suffer from poor execution.You improve youragility,balanceand co-ordination which are all vital components for high level play.The type of footwork drillsyou should be using include cone drills likezig zags and drills that use ladders as a training aid.My recommendation is that you start incorporating footwork drills intoevery one of your lesson/practice times. If your coach is not up tospeed with all of this then do it on your own or find another coach!You know that saying - what came first the chicken or the egg?Well in the case of tennis it is without doubt the movement before theshot – so try leaving your racket in the bag, work on yourfootwork 
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