Teaching Balance

Great balance increases power, consistency, and accuracy.

In all the complex patterns of movement on the tennis court there is one constant. This is balance. In my last two articles (Click Here) I demonstrated some exercises based on exaggeration techniques to help develop groundstrokes and serves. In this article I'll show you another series of exercises to improve your balance. This will enhance your movement and your ability to hit from the whole spectrum of stances. There are other benefits as well.

The great women's champion Helen Wills Moody once said that if you see someone who looks like they are working really hard they probably aren't very good. There are reasons Roger Federer makes everything look incredibly easy. One is great balance. If you master these exercises, you will find that you can hit with more consistency, power, and variety. The reason is that better balance will make you more bio mechanically efficient.

You can absorb the feeling of balance from watching the pros.

Many players are like a car with a big engine that produces a lot of horsepower, but has octagonal wheels. The ride is jarring for the player and it isn't pretty to watch either. One of my jobs as a coach is to put round wheels on the car.

You may find that to learn movement patterns it is very effective to watch professional players move, concentrating on just one player rather than following the ball back and forth. You can see (and feel) the movement patterns to the ball and then the recovery. You can see the same thing in the Stroke Archive.

Frequently I think players are over taught with too much emphasis on trying to follow mechanical step patterns. These drills are designed to help players find the right combination of steps so that they develop balance in a natural way. The techniques that I am demonstrating here can be used with players that are just starting, as well as those who are at a much higher level. They help all players find their balance in a way that smoothes out those wheels no matter where they have to move on the court.

Small backwards steps help develop balance on the forehand.

Too many players in tennis still hit their forehands by chasing the ball with the front foot, then stepping across with a closed stance to reach the hitting position. These players usually take big awkward steps around the ball. This prevents them from developing good alignment and the feeling of a balanced set up on the outside foot. It also restricts their ability to rotate and finish their swings, especially if they have a grip that is somewhat underneath the handle.

The best exercise for developing the feeling of great balance on the forehand is to hit while walking backwards. That may sound strange, but it forces the player to take smaller steps to keep his balance as he moves backwards. I find that beginning players frequently hit better walking backwards than they do moving forward.

Moving to your left, hit inside out. To your right, hit inside in.

At the same time, the player is learning to hit inside out, even if they don't know it and are unfamiliar with the term. The beauty of walking backwards is the uniformity of step size. Once the player has the feeling of taking measured, balanced steps, he can translate this naturally into moving forward. I realize that more advanced players utilize a wide base. The difference is that they can do this with good dynamic balance while less experienced players can not. However players at levels will improve balance by taking time to do this drill.

If you are having trouble with your inside out or inside in forehand, you might find that walking backwards helps you to learn to hit the shot more efficiently. This is because learning to move both backwards and forwards from the inside position is critical to being able to hit both inside out and inside in.

Which way you are moving determines to a large extent which shot is the higher percentage play. if you are right handed and still moving to your left while hitting a forehand, it is generally safer to hit inside out. If you are moving to your right, it is generally safer to go inside in. If you are stepping in to the court or are pretty much set up you can hit either way. How important is this? Roger Federer (in terms of percentage) makes more unforced errors on inside in forehands moving left than he does any other shot.

Hitting off the rear foot and then the front foot helps you feel the balance of the different stances.

If you've read John Yandell's articles about two-handed backhands (Click Here) and/or looked at footage of the pros in the Stroke Archive, you will see that backhands are hit with a mixture of open, square and closed stances. Good players need to be comfortable hitting from all three. To develop this I have my players learn to hit standing on either leg. Having players hit with just one foot on the court will help them understand the balance between the feet in the various stances. This helps them hit with greater flexibility and confidence. If you ask a player to hit first standing on their left and then their right, you will see that they are almost always better at one than the other. This drill will help their even out their comfort level.

Do drills that force you to move on diagonals forwards and backwards.

In most feeding drills, players are taught to move side to side - to run to the ball laterally and then shuffle laterally back toward the middle (recovery). That makes sense because a large number of balls in any match will involve simple side to side movement patterns. But that's not the only movement pattern on the baseline. Frequently players have to move sideways and forwards or sideways and backwards at the same time. In other words, they move to the ball on a diagonal. I believe that it's important players train to move more realistically, and that training these patterns will result in more balanced movement in match play.

To work on diagonal movement on the baseline, place dots in front of and behind the baseline close to the singles sideline. Have the player start at the baseline. The coach or practice partner then points to either dot. The player must move to the dot, set up and hit a shadow stroke then recover. Do it on both the forehand and backhand side.

This drill trains players to move forward first and then turn for the hit.

Another problem with training mainly lateral movement is that it doesn't prepare players for the actual sequence of movement on short balls in the midcourt or forecourt area. Moving forward is a different animal. Players frequently turn �sideways� and try to run forward.

But if you watch professional players who are skilled in all areas of the court you will find that they generally move to the ball in the most efficient way possible - they run directly forward. They turn on the last step with the right foot for forehand, or the last step with the left foot step for a backhand. This allows them to reach the ball faster, to hit with good dynamic balance and move through their shot towards the net if necessary.

The natural movement backwards for an overhead is similar to going out for a pass.

To teach this, simply have a ball tosser back pedal and toss balls in front of a player. If the player attempts to turn and run they won't get to the ball.

The movement on an overhead depends on how far you have to move back. If you clear your back leg and run as if you were going out to catch a pass in football and then shuffle you will give yourself your best chance to get to the ball. If you get to it, you CAN hit it. I actually use a football to work on this. The player starts at the net without his racket. Now he turns and runs to catch the pass. Most players will do this naturally without thinking because they just feel how to move to catch the ball. This translates beautifully into the correct movement pattern when they go back deep in the court to hit an overhead. It is also important that the player move to the ball and then prepare the racquet. If a player gets the racquet and hitting arm over their head right away they will not move nearly as well.

Small walking steps develop the feeling for balance on volleys.

Players often have trouble with their volleys because of poor footwork. Some volleys are hit with little or no foot movement and on others; footwork is the key to success. One way to work on your volley is to simply walk towards the net and volley as you walk. Good volleyers almost always take a step (sometimes it is a very small step but that depends on where the ball is) with the outside foot (right foot for a forehand and left foot for a backhand). You will find that walking helps you to learn to do this. Crossing over with a step with the opposite foot may or may not be helpful, depending on location of the ball. As with the groundstrokes, some players cross over when they should not. This impedes their ability to volley well, recover, or continue to close for the next volley.

Hitting on the outside foot keeps players from leaning forward.

Hank Pfister, a former top 20 player in both singles and doubles, believes that leaning too soon is one of the most common errors made by volleyers at all levels. To counteract this, I teach players to make contact on the volley standing only on the outside foot. If you are right handed, hit forehand volleys standing only on your right foot and backhand volleys standing only on your left. This forces you to stand straight up and down. If you lean much at all, you will lose your balance. Next, move and hit volleys - you will probably find the volleys feel more solid and are easier to control.

Special thanks to my students for the exectuing the awesome video demonstrations: Travis Tu, Nikko Madreggallejo, Ashley Dai and Valerie Thong. Also congratulations to Valerie and Ashley, presently #2 nationally in 12 and under doubles in the USTA National Standings List.

Teaching Balance

Dave Hagler