Movement Speed Question

[rosooki]

Any recommendations or tips on increasing movement speed when most of the 'slowness' is in the head? In other words, the player seems to always be getting a late start or reacting slow.

[GeoffWilliams]

There is a physical unit turn, and a mental one as well. Relax during both, and intend to do both very fast.

[stotty]

Tricky one...

Any recommendations or tips on increasing movement speed when most of the 'slowness' is in the head? In other words, the player seems to always be getting a late start or reacting slow.

Tough one this. You can prompt such players to get off quickly through drills and verbal prompting, and they will improve...but despite even the best efforts, players whose slowness is in the head, always, always get caught lapsing here and there...it's a vulnerability that's hard to shake off.

[jbill]

split-stepping

To me the most obvious thing here is to be split-stepping at the opponent's contact with the ball. If you do this routinely, you will be surprised how often you arrive with plenty of time to hit your shots in a balanced manner. Learning to split-step consistently is not as easy as it may sound. But just watch the pros. They tend to be very consistent in their split-stepping although some do it better than others.

If you make an honest effort to split-step on every ball, I'm sure a lot of your arriving late will go away. Split-stepping is the basis for all footwork in tennis. It's the choreography of tennis that can't go unattended to.

Jim Bill

[jbill]

Movement speed question

Rosooki,

So does my idea about split-stepping make any sense at all? Is the player you're talking about actually doing a split-step on every ball. In my experience many, if not most, rec players do not split-step at all or maybe occasionally. Incorporating the split-step in your footwork does take a lot of mental focus. You seem to be suggesting, though, that the problem with movement speed is mainly mental. I'm not so sure. If the physical happens (split-stepping) the mental question related to slowness and slow reaction time may go away.

Jim Bill

[don_budge]

Get your a€€ in position!!!

There is a physical unit turn, and a mental one as well. Relax during both, and intend to do both very fast.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/roger_federer_09/rf_forehand/rf_fh_center/rf_fh_center.html?RFFHCenterNeutralStanceFront.mov

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/music_videos/federer_fh_not_gone/index.html

As geoffwilliams clearly states there are definitely two sides to this coin...and furthermore the object of the whole enchilada is to get your butt in position in order to make a swing with as perfect balance that is achievable for any given shot.

In the single view of the Federfore, in the terminology that is rapidly becoming the accepted and the norm with the publication of bottle's book, you see the advantage of perfect balance and the delivery of the racquet head. On the other hand this kind of positioning is only a dream for us mere mortals 99% of the time so we are usually in a scrambling mode...ala Federer in the wonderful Music Video "Forehand not Gone", courtesy of the artistic, creative genius of John Yandell...not to mention his eclectic taste in music. When in a defensive position learn to hit shots that will give you the split seconds that you will need to reposition yourself in order to stay in the point. Learn to hit off balance and recover. Learn to maximize and minimize as in the terms of linear algebra. It is, afterall, an equation of sorts.

But at any rate...what is the process? How does one balance the desire for perfection and the reality that it is rarely achievable?

First of all we must understand that the game itself is based on this objective of positioning. The player that most often hits his shots while he is balanced is most often going to win the contest...if given that each opponent has the same ability to produce tennis shots with the strokes at their disposal. A tennis match is not unlike a boxing match in that much of the time early on in a contest the opponent is trying to take their opponents legs out from under them in order to apply the coup de grace at the end...the inevitable conclusion of the match point.

The positioning aspect of the game is not to be underestimated and as geoffwilliams writes it is a mental and physical proposition. On the mental side you must take into account that after every shot the mental state of a player is one of recovery if he is out of position and playing defensively or aggression if he has been able to position himself to take the upper hand in the point...or simply neutral in the instance that opponents are trading shots and maneuvering each other. In other words tennis players must have the uncanny ability to "anticipate" what their opponent is going to do before he actually does it.

Physically...all that needs to be said is that speed and the endurance to produce it is paramount in the modern game of tennis. There aren't too many fatsos in the top tiers of the game. A good way to begin training for this aspect of the contest is to begin on the backhand sideline in a ready position...make the semblance of the "split step" routine or some other crouching posture and make the first step to your right a skip step where the left heel meets the right heel which ignites the right foot to make an explosive move to the other sideline. Once there make a bit of a "cha cha cha" to get the feet in perfect position and make a perfectly balanced swing. Recover quickly into your ready, crouching position and repeat the same footwork going to you left...culminating in a balanced backhand swing on the left sideline. Repeat until you drop from exhaustion. At the same time try to look as light on your feet as our "Swiss Maesto" does in "Forehand not Gone".

Above all...watch the ball. Quick and early fixation on the ball is the most efficient way to begin the process, both mentally and physically.

[rosooki]

Movement Speed Question

Hi Jim,

Thanks for your messages. I think you're probably half or all right. I'm not sure.

I'm thinking that 50% of the problem is lack of concentration, and 50% is concentration on the wrong things. Practicing just never letting your feet stop moving, and incorporating the split step in that, may help a lot with the concentration part. Brains get flat-footed, too.

The rest of the problem is in taking too long to see the ball and make a decision. I'm sure this process is slower some days and faster others depending on the athlete's condition that day.

The modern game is so fast that there really is no extra time to waste in cognition. In this case, seeing the ball, determining speed, spin, and depth, is taking too long and the body is not moving in the right direction until the process is done. The whole process happens fast, but even fast is too slow.

I do believe a lot of 'speed' is actually court sense and that this kind of speed comes with experience on the court and experience with an opponent. It is hard to teach. Excellent anticipation can make a slow player look really fast, while being completely clueless as to what's going to happen next can leave even fast players without a hope of getting to the ball. 'Fast' players seem to get wrong-footed a lot more than slow players do. You can't wrong-foot someone who is purely reactive.

So the question is, how to develop faster cognition and earlier decision making? How do coaches teach better court sense and better anticipation?

My own opinion is that players who are slow in the head are concentrating too hard on the ball. They are waiting to see where the ball is going before doing anything, instead of concentrating on the court, the play, and the other player. They are therefore always reactive.

I'm considering some 'crazy' drills to increase head speed.
- Playing tennis without a ball at all. Coach or hitting partner moves to hit an imaginary ball, leaving player to react and move where he thinks the ball is going based on the partner's set up and context. If the player was right (as determined by partner who knows where he intended to hit the ball), play continues until he guesses wrong or is too slow.
- Playing points where points are awarded for movement rather than for what happens to the ball. This forces players to concentrate on movement because that's what wins the point, not hitting. If you are caught flat-footed or not moving to where you should be on the court when the opponent hits the ball, you lose that point.
- Watching video where the video is stopped with the ball going over the net toward opponent, with player having to guess where the shot is coming back to based only on player positions, and the play (who was offensive and who was defensive, power of struck ball, etc.)

The goal of these drills is to get the player concentrating at all, firstly. And secondly, concentrating on things other than just the ball. I believe there are other speed benefits to this, too. For example, by concentrating more on your opponent and your own court position, the slowness that comes from reading too much into the play can potentially be minimized ("I hit it so well I didn't think he'd be able to hit it back.") Also, by telling the player where they should always be looking, their ability to see the ball will also probably improve.

[stotty]

Try this:

Have the player stand at the edge of one of the service boxes in a "get ready to accelerate" position.

You stand up to net with your waist touching the net.

Have a ball in your hand and outstretch your arm at shoulder level, no higher, this is the benchmark.

You choose when to drop the ball and the player has to then run catch it in their hand before the ball bounces twice. Keep the player guessing as to when you will drop the ball. He must watch it like a hawk and set off the moment you drop it or he'll stand no chance of getting there.

A player must be exceptionally quick off the mark and fast to succeed at this drill. Few can do it. With juniors, you may have to lay down a line nearer to the net to make the drill achievable.

This drill is a real challenge and requires both brain speed and physical speed.

If I have not described the drill adequately enough, let me know and will post an example on Youtube.

[jbill]

split-stepping

Hey Rosooki,

Thanks for responding to my messages. I appreciate what you are saying especially with respect to the drill you described where players move without actually hitting a ball. I would think that would help a player improve his reaction speed.

It seems that my viewpoint with regard to split-stepping as a possible solution to the movement speed question might be rather simplistic in nature. I do realize there are other factors involved.

I am primarily basing my viewpoint on my own playing experience. I used to struggle with arriving late to balls and consequently hitting many unbalanced, awkward shots.

In the past few years I have taken many lessons with a variety of instructors. Fortunately, I finally encountered one with whom I am presently working, who has insisted that I try to split-step on every ball regardless of where I am on the court (returns of serve, approaches, volleys, overheads, etc.). This is the best thing that has ever happened to me because most of my off-balance shots have disappeared; I usually arrive in time now. As don_budge says, my butt is there so I have a chance to hit a well-balanced shot. I couldn't be happier that this long-lasting frustration of hitting late and awkward has left me. (I do realize there are some other factors, too, though, like: unit turn, racquet preparation and set position.)

Split-stepping does require a tremendous amount of mental focus in the beginning because it necesitates that you time your split step with your opponent's contact with the ball. You have to be watching your opponent very closely after every hit you make and that's hard; other things enter your mind to move you away from your focus. It takes dedicated practice, but in my experience, it pays off!

Slit-stepping unweights your body which allows you to have a quick spring towards the direction of the oncoming ball. It also tends to lower your center of gravity which helps with your overall physical balance. In the end you are just more likely to arrive earlier than later and hit well balanced. The split-step sets you up for that! One other thing, if you consistenly split step well you can often nullify being wrong-footed because you are focusing on the opponent's contact; you are split-stepping at that precise moment, unweighting your body and then springing off in the direction of the opponent's hit. You are not caught leaning the wrong way!

Jim Bill