Step, step, rip!

[kenknight]

Great article.

It helped me a lot, and was easy to apply to my game. Often, I occasionally have trouble with short balls. They're floating in the air, yet in order to move through or get clean contact I often found myself either too far back or moving too far ahead.

I've always been told to step into the ball, but it hasn't always been clear in some situations.

I tried looking at the videos and applying what I learned when hitting later that day, and found a marked improvement, also with high balls. Launching off with the left foot made contact and timing much easier, as well as making hitting the ball more comfortable. I found myself ripping some balls I had difficulty with (not just the short ones), just by stepping and doing what I read in the article.

It helps me get the linear momentum, and lets me comfortably and consistently blast the ball away.

Thanks so much. I don't get immediate improvements with everything, and as I get more used to it stepping in as such should become even more natural. Nothing but positive results.

[CraigC]

Step Step Rip Misstep.

Your article is solid but needs to be more definitive. Looking at footwork is great but a real examination must detail the exact situation.

There are 3 methods of footwork for hitting the short ball.

1. ON a ball coming straight, or into the body, players will generally approach with the step step rip, whereby the second step comes directly forward into the ball, and then the landing is once again on the front foot, keeping linear momentum, and preventing the body from over-rotating, thereby facilitating ease of movement to the net.

2. On a high ball, players wil use step step rip, and definitely concentrate on the RIP, because they are setting up semi-open or open stance, and landing on their left foot, but allowing the body to rotate, and not keeping linear momentum as efficiently.

3. On a ball coming from crosscourt, modern tennis players are setting up "reverse-open" and running through the shot. This means, left foot sets up first (right handed forehand), then the right foot sets in front and to the right of the left foot, making it easier to get leverage and weight behind the flight of the ball. The player then hits and moves forward onto his left foot again, keeping linear momentum to the net.

Lastly, I believe it would make sense to explain that these are the final steps prior to contact, and not the actual movement to the short ball. A good player attacks the ball early and may take many steps forward prior to reaching the final step step rip phase of movement.

If we are going to get at this footwork stuff the right way, it would make sense to detail it thoroughly, so as not to confuse onlookers. Otherwise, good analysis.

[coach]

Thanks for your input.

Thanks for your input. This article is the first in a series. The variations of timing the kenetic chain through the rhythm in your feet is what I feel is unique about my article and is not necessarily taught by most teaching pros. Do you use the timing of the step-step in your coaching? I'd like to hear more.
Michael Friedman