Interactive Forum: Moving Around the Court

[EricMatuszewski]

Moving Around the Court


Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal make tennis look too easy.

A large part of the magic act they put on has to do with the way they get to the ball.

Below are some clips of Fed and Rafa, turning defense into crushing offense with their ability to avoid hitting backhands and instead hitting their feared forehands thanks to their top of the world movement.

Take a look, and share what it is you think contributes to their movement abilities in these clips.

Also, for contast, clips of Maria Sharapova getting rather "jammed" when trying to execute the same play, as well as Taylor Dent looking less than smooth, have been included.

What could they have done differently in these examples to better accomplish the goal of turning defense into offense?



Fed






Rafa






Maria






Taylor

[EricMatuszewski]

Here are the Quick Time Versions:


Fed









Rafa









Maria








Taylor

[CraigC]

Is It Not Obvious

I believe the answer is beautifully displayed right here, and it is something I deal with everyday. Most players just simply don't move well. Notice that Dent and Maria use shuffles to move while Fed (a crossunder step) and Rafa (especially Rafa) use crossover steps. Crossing the feet is waaay more efficient in getting across the court as the leg drive is omproved tremendously.
A quick note. I asked Higueras how Sampras moved to his inside out forehand (while JOse was coaching him) and Higueras didn't even have an answer. Pete was so fluid with that crossover step it was scary. Fed uses both crossover and crossunder depending on the pace and depth of the ball. IN the quicktime clip, Fed doesn't need to crossover to gain court. He only needs a crossunder step. We know this because of his position and balance prior to hitting. Look at the load he gets after his movement. Dent, conversely, is still moving to his left, as is Maria, because their movement has not positioned them behind the ball with their weight transfering into the shot. THis is a result of a bad push with their leg drive during their shuffles.
I find it very odd that Fed did not use a crossover step to recover in this clip. He almost always does. Then again, as John says, you can always find an example of an exception.

CC

[mdhubert]

I see that Fed's upper body is very straight (esp. compared to Maria) and balanced, he's moving with small steps. His footwork is influenced by his focus on the ball, Sharapova and Dent are rushed because they didn't evaluate properly the depth and spin of the incoming ball. Dent is losing his balance because he's taken too far by the momentum of his rushed FH.

[rjc2314]

moving forward

Both Fed And Nad are getting into position with cross over steps AND both are in postion to be moving forward INTO the shot.

[vmiller]

Sharipova's clip is different from the others because she's responding to a deeper ball and is hitting while moving backwards.

Fed is better positioned for recovery than any of the others by having his bodyweight leaning towards the center of the court (where he needs to recover to) while Dent has to take an exta step to catch his weight that still seems to be going out wide during the swing (maybe he misjudged the ball and got jammed). Nadal has a similar lean to Fed, but it doesn't look quite as effective.

Craig - Insn't Nadal doing a shuffle for his first step just like Dent?

[carrerakent]

people always ignore the hips

Over the past couple of months I've been studying top junior, college players locally and videos on tv and this website. One key component that actually Federer and Nadal don't really use in the examples here, but do in most extreme movements to get around a typical backhand ball is their pulling the opposite foot back behind them to cause the early hip turn (Fed, right leg, Nadal left leg), thus the consistent balance that they exemplify while moving "quickly" around the ball.

The "quickly" around the ball is something that Maria and Taylor aren't doing. They get stuck just a little behind the ball. Almost like their movement and intentions aren't definite in their mind.

Also notice that Federer and Nadal move with a more explosive bounding, athletic movement, vs. the kinda jogging, skipping steps of Maria and Taylor.

[CraigC]

VMiller
Yes Nadal is making his first move as a shuffle step, then realizing he needs to cover more ground, he uses the crossover to gain more turf. I believe he sees the ball so early that he just naturally moves with the shot, then as he realizes the required range of movement, he adjust accordingly. There is simply no doubt that the crossover is more efficient than a shuffle. It's sad to see how many coaches are still teaching shuffling movements for tracking down and recovering from wide balls.
CC

[ruymendes1]

Cassius Clay

Australian Open 2007
Roger Federer movement=
Fluid and effortless
Just like: Muhhamad Ali boxing

[jkfisch1]

hi

to me it seems that Maria is taking to little steps. Also the ball is pushing her back, I think that there are to things she can do. One she should side step instead of shufel and two she sould put more weight into the ball because it seems that she is being pushed back.
As for Talor he side steps but he doesnt get there in time and he is thrown back. i think that he should get there in time and through more weight into the ball because it seems that he is being thrown to the ground.

What Federer does is take some big side steps and then he sets up for that split second and his weight goes forwards . Nadal does the same thing but it seem he is falling back. I think that he is falling back because he is not puting alot of weght into the ball, but he makes up fo this by puting alot of topspin on the ball.