Category: Tennis
Tips
Published Date: Jul 10, 2006
Topic: Footwork - Part 1
By: Your Coach S.R
In one of his speech Mr. Ramanathan Krishnan
has said in our tennis court, that tennis is played more
by the legs than by the hands. It is not a funny statement.
Unless you position properly, not an inch more or less,
the swing is made with difficulty and it causes the travel
of the ball only as a defensive shot.
Hence equal or greater concentration has
to be made for developing good footwork.
The secret to great tennis is great footwork!
Great footwork is the ability to move into position to hit
the ball and recover and be ready for the next shot.
Great footwork requires quick reactions
and you work for quick reactions to the ball and how you
judge it. Do enormous practice to move consistently into
better position and improve your strokes. It will help you
generate power from the ground and up through your body.
Good footwork will provide the rhythm and
timing of the point, and much, much more. This may sound
simple, but it takes work and discipline to develop.
Every beginner is taught about the ready
position as a first lesson but it is not emphasised enough
with every level of play. I insist on coming back to the
ready position in almost every day’s play. If students
can make the ready position as a perfect first lesson in
foot work, they can make the next shot the same way. This
builds confidence.
So the emphasis for starting great footwork
is on perfecting the correct ready position. This is the
basic athletic position common in many sports. Imagine how
a wicket keeper is standing as a ready position. Imagine
how a goal keeper is standing guarding the goal as a ready
position. Imagine how a pro tennis player stand to receive
the service, the first point.
They all stand with legs apart, knees bent and body bent
forward, good enough to move in any direction - to face
the oncoming ball. There are physical, technical and mental
bio mechanical elements to this ready position.
So, start to practice and develop great
work with low center of gravity and wide stance.
Follow the track and give me your feedback
for further lessons on this topic. The next lesson on further
development of foot work is to follow.
Until Next Time, Have a Good
Play!
Your Tennis Coach - S.Rajagopal
|
