Drills for approach split step timing

[glacierguy]

I'm really struggling with the timing of the split step on my approaches to the net, both off serve and groundstrokes. Way too often I feel that I've guessed rather than waiting and correctly reacting. I'd be really grateful to hear any advice or drill recommendations. Thanks

(Need to watch those Cash/Edberg videos again!)

[arturohernandez]

I'm really struggling with the timing of the split step on my approaches to the net, both off serve and groundstrokes. Way too often I feel that I've guessed rather than waiting and correctly reacting. I'd be really grateful to hear any advice or drill recommendations. Thanks

(Need to watch those Cash/Edberg videos again!)

I wonder how much the split step can be augmented with the notion of floating. Sometimes split steps can imply that you are stationary and in fact you are simply slowing down a bit and then moving in a direction. Kind of like running backs do sometimes where they just slow down and then speed up into a gap.

If you focus on the goal of slowing down which is trying to guess where you will have to move next, then maybe it will help to get the timing down better. It could be that focusing on the pause only and not what happens after the pause that trips you up.

The notion of pausing kind of like right before accelerating in a stroke or a serve might also be a good physiological model. We are good at adapting our movement.

So just play around with pausing and then seeing what works best for you.

Maybe you have already been doing that in which case it won't help.

If so, others with more technical knowledge can chime in.

[glacierguy]

Thanks arturohernandez, I like the idea of pausing and floating. I'll give it a go tomorrow. I have also taken my own advice and re-watched Cash/Edberg Aussie Open 1987 on 0.25x speed to really watch their split timing on approach compared with the opponent's hit timing. It's quite interesting. They both take a wide stance split just after opponent's hit. That seems quite late to me, but that's because I am much slower both into and out of the split - for them it's like lightning, in and out, for me it's a lumbering disaster. Might need to dust off the agility ladder...

[doctorhl]

My guess would be that you err by split stepping too late and/or running too fast and become off balanced to split at the right time. If you split step when the ball is hit, then you are going down when the ball is coming and have to guess to play catch up. You have to time your split during the windup on a hard hitter. I learned my timing by walking into the net from the baseline and split stepping for every volley advance by a human feeder( you can’t cue the split step with a ball machine because you can’t see it wind up). It may take several volleys to advance to the net. Have the feeder give you balls no wider than one long cross step. If you see it is wider than that as you stretch out, don’t take extra steps to hit it at this point. Just let it go because you are fighting balance and guessing at this point. Then gradually increase jogging speed between volleys.It is more important to watch the opponent and split step at the right time, then it us to gain ground by moving in too quickly and being off balance and subconsciously guessing which side of your body might receive the ball. Even a slight movement of the racket in the wrong direction means a guess and it is hard to correct in midstream. As Arturo states, you will start to feel more of a float, than a split step and it is a pause rather than a stop. If your split step puts you on your heels, it is hard to get out of the saddle. Some players split step too early or go too deep in the saddle and can’t spring up to advance and cover ground between volleys. So, they try to make up for lost time and covering ground by running too fast. The float feels like you split step on a “hot” saddle and spring out of it and advance under control. But it is all based on watching the opponent to time the split step, then quickly advancing, and watching again to time the second split step.I mistakenly thought I was too slow with approach and volley and tried intensive conditioning which made it worse. Find some old McEnroe and Edberg video( or Nastase). Edberg closed quickly with a deep, wide split step and McEnroe closed with barely a knee bend in the saddle. But neither spent much time in the saddle and both could advance, split step and advance with a glass of water on their head. 3 correctly timed split step and advance volleys are better than 2 that are not ..........90% of the time.

[doctorhl]

It takes very high speed video and a back to front view of both players simultaneously to see if the player is actually lowering into the saddle before or after his opponent’s ball contact. I lower in the saddle just before contact and am rising out of the saddle after contact. We are talking about a 1/10 or less of a second to pause and go in or out of the saddle before the volley or an advance!

[doctorhl]

Glacier guy: I forgot to mention that to do the drill you feed a ball from inside the baseline to mimic an approach shot while you fast walk forward to the net to learn split step timing when the opponent winds up. Doing this drill off a full speed approach shot adds balance variables you don’t need to deal with yet. I suspect that some juniors gave up on this split step timing and advancing and resorted to pulling up and taking a full Topspin backhand put away, rather than ever hitting a run through slice approach and close to the net for a volley.

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[glacierguy]

Thanks doctorhl for your very detailed advice, I appreciate it. I had a session today with a recently retired atp pro (in the 600s) and we practised cross-court rallies until he hit a short one, then I'd come in down the line and volley. We did a lot of reps, and just focussing on the split over and over really helped. It makes the approach more of a fast/slow/fast affair, in which you're initially trying to gain ground towards the net (fast), then pausing and splitting (slow), then reacting to the hit and moving to the volley (fast). Previously I was careering towards the net with too much momentum to really change course! I'm finding that roughly being at the top of the split on opponent's contact (like serve return) works for me (could easily be different for someone with different reaction speed). I'll keep at it, and see what happens in matches. Thanks again.

[doctorhl]

GG: You response is on target. That fast/ pause/fast you talk about translates to never sitting on your heels in the split step and never guessing direction or running too fast to become off balanced. Everything is based on closely watching opponent’s windup.

[arturohernandez]

GG: You response is on target. That fast/ pause/fast you talk about translates to never sitting on your heels in the split step and never guessing direction or running too fast to become off balanced. Everything is based on closely watching opponent’s windup.

That was my sense too. I keep thinking of running backs in football that kind of slow down and wait for a whole to open or for the defenders in front of them to move one way or the other. As soon as they see where to run, they accelerate. Fullbacks can sometimes just ram through people but the problem there is that it is a fixed target.

Since you are approaching the net, you need to just slowdown so that you can then move to the next location.