Lots Of Small Steps For Better Tennis Footwork? It Depends...

Рет қаралды 39,451

7 жыл бұрын

www.feeltennis.net/footwork-sm...
The instruction of making lots of small steps to improve your footwork in tennis is very common but it's often times misinterpreted.
Players and coaches may think that we need to take many steps to position for the ball but that's rarely the case.
In most cases we take 2-3 steps to set up for the shot because that saves us more time to stop moving, stabilize and calmly execute the shot.
We use many small steps only when we have a lot of time which is when we are receiving a very slow defensive ball.
The origin of the idea of lots of small steps comes from counting all the steps from one shot to the next one which includes all the recovery steps, the split step and the positioning steps to the ball.
Only then can we count 8-12 steps which is what some tennis coaches keep pointing out.
So should you do a lot of small steps or just a few big ones?
It depends. ;)

Пікірлер: 37

@amieres123 7 жыл бұрын

You are possibly the best online coach, since you explain things in a very logical way.

@topspin1715 7 жыл бұрын

Love your instructions. Compact, logical and intuitive. Thanks for posting

@aryangupta4980 7 жыл бұрын

Love your videos! I have been struggling with my footwork lately trying to figure out to take small or large steps, you couldn't have put it better! Now I understand that having a lot of steps in between the shot doesn't mean you have great footwork. It's about how well you position yourself and producing a good shot. Correct me if I am wrong :)

@andresgarcia6337 9 ай бұрын

Love this video. When watching Fed’s footwork it amazes me how he is on his toes 70ish % of the time

@DeceitfulDestiny 7 жыл бұрын

Looking forward to the rest of this series!

@Symphonicrockfran 7 жыл бұрын

I hope you can continue this series in the future... Its awesome

@harishreddy4034 7 жыл бұрын

Yet another great video. Thanks for making it.

@stefanoscha 7 жыл бұрын

you are the best tennis intructor online my friend

@DeceitfulDestiny 7 жыл бұрын

Love it. I think that focusing on getting lots of small steps has led me to be unstable through my shot at times.

@zalo3479 7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the insight Tomaz. :)

@danielgomez9908 7 жыл бұрын

Again a great video !!

@tae-woongkim5017 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot. this video is very helpful to get the well positioning for better shot. It depends on the given time; some times bigger step, or small step.

@eTENNISLEAGUE 7 жыл бұрын

Where is this facility? Amazing! Btw...great video!

@htainlindwa80 2 жыл бұрын

Sir, is there a videos I can buy from you? Because I live in another country. Therefore I can have live lesson with you. For now you are the only tennis teacher that makes since to me.

@feeltennis 2 жыл бұрын

Hi, please go to my website www.feeltennis.net and you will see what courses you can buy.

@williamhan3371 7 жыл бұрын

He ever been Coaching with some Singapore National Player before.Great Coach.

@s7evinkelevra 7 жыл бұрын

Oh man, I just realized how much I miss seeing Roger on court :|

@MrMartinvince 7 жыл бұрын

nice video...i always watch them...i wish you could coach me in person! greetings from peru

@joshuaman01 7 жыл бұрын

Sir will you be able to give your thoughts about racquet customization or the real specifications of pro players racquet? haha because it seems to be interesting.

@jaywalks3990 7 жыл бұрын

I noticed Roger tends to do cross-over steps when stretched out wide on the "deuce-side" of the court. However, he tends to do cross-behind steps when stretched out wide on the "Ad-side" of the court. It's not that apparent in your video ( 3:19 & 3:26 ), but I noticed in many other KZfaq videos, Roger crosses behind with his left leg after hitting a backhand (most of the time). Is this because Roger usually finishes his backhand in a semi-closed stance? Roger does occasionally cross-over when he's about to go on a full-on sprint to cover his forehand though. Djokovic, Wawrinka, & Murray tend to do cross-over steps (left-over right leg) off their backhand side when recovering. After coming off a pivot step off the backhand side, a cross-over step seems to be the most efficient footwork. Thoughts?

@feeltennis 7 жыл бұрын

I think he just has superior footwork coordination, perhaps also from the early days when he played badminton a lot and through it he developed slightly different footwork patterns that he then uses in tennis very effectively.

@jaywalks3990 7 жыл бұрын

Interesting. I didn't know he played badminton. By the way, thank you for your videos coach!

@mmc5005 5 жыл бұрын

I think your a great coach.

@gerardohayon7456 5 жыл бұрын

I m in my third year or compétitive tennis and what I notice is that the good footwork help me to win matchs

@KingKong-in9ts 2 жыл бұрын

Small steps also require a lot more energy and will make you much more tired over the course of the match/practice!

@user-zr5su7nl4q 7 жыл бұрын

great/smart/very expirienc and more he always thinkhng

@krakou2 7 жыл бұрын

As a sidenote i'd say that amateur tennis players need more steps than less steps in general. First reason is that it's much slower for them than pro rallies. Many unforced errors come from wrong guessing/balance/setups vs incoming trajectories. Secondly, amateur players tend to lack in intensity. Increasing footwork volume and speed helps A LOT in that department imo.

@feeltennis 7 жыл бұрын

That is the common belief and yet I correct adults daily who make way too many steps on easy balls exactly because of the instruction you mention. They simply waste time by making steps and are late for their shots. When I ask them to minimize foot movement and they become aware of unnecessary steps, they calm down and play better. You talk only through theory since you haven't worked with hundreds of adults of the years to really understand their problem. Intensity is another thing, we want them to keep the feet moving while the ball they just struck is flying over. That's when we want them to make "steps", at least do something. But once the ball starts coming back, they need to move efficiently as possible since everything else in their strokes is inefficient.

@TeamTennisfr 7 жыл бұрын

I agree. Small steps are only useful in some situations and it's better to learn that from the beginning. Beginners often have a bad waiting position, and they try to correct that by doing panic fast small steps. With a good waiting position and focusing on the trajectory of the ball, you can reduce your steps and be efficient. Why and how could a beginner make more steps than a pro.

@feeltennis 7 жыл бұрын

Sure, you can "wait" for all shots like for a return. It sounds me to then that you may underestimate them if you're not that alert and ready to react.

@TeamTennisfr 7 жыл бұрын

No I don't think so. Even serves are not always the same. I think rigid ideas are not good, like always doing something, never doing something. As Tomaz says, it depends... On fast serves, you're low on the legs, maybe doing many split steps just before receiving the ball, you won't do that on every ball, you're gonna have a calf injury :) First, you could at least be more dynamic between shots, even if it's not like for your returns. But it really depends, if your opponent is in the middle of the court about to make a killing shot, you can be very dynamic, if you're in cool rally, I think it's useless, waste of energy.

@TeamTennisfr 7 жыл бұрын

Anyway most of the time players are not dynamic enough and I think it's better to go towards more dynamism than the opposite. It should be better indeed.

@htainlindwa80 2 жыл бұрын

Also if you have it I want it from beginning to an end.