Practice the Split Step
Wouldn’t it be a shame if you and your players worked on their strokes all season long, but they were often not in the proper position to hit them during a match?
In many instances during a singles or doubles match, shots are missed because the player did not stop just before the opponent hit the ball, and could not react to the incoming ball.
Remember, if you are moving into the net, whether it’s after playing a short return of serve, coming to the net in singles or doubles, serving and volleying or playing through the middle of the court, you need to make two movements — a stop and then a change of direction — (left, right, back or continuing forward).
If you are moving when the opponent hits the ball, even if the player hits the ball right back to you, you must first stop, then move directionally to the ball.
Watch how many times your players either run into the ball or watch it go by them because they can’t make two directional changes at once.
How many times have you seen a player watch a ball go by them without even taking a swing, saying, “Nice shot!”
Almost always, the player was moving as the ball was hit, and while they are able to make a quick stop, they have no change to make the move to the left or right to take a stab at the ball.
Consider the same player in the position receiving the same shot, but, the player is not moving. Almost always, they will be able to at least take a swing at the ball.
Consider the ace…a player who has dynamic balance (is moving forward during the toss) will almost never be aced because they only have to make one directional change to the ball (they are already moving forward). If a player is standing still during the serve, they will have to make a move forward and to the left or right, resulting in too little time to react to a wide or fast serve.
One key to making more shots during a tennis match is to “split step” just before the opponent makes contact. The split step (or split stop, as some coaches call it), is a brief bounce or stop made just before the opponent hits the ball, allowing the player to move forward and to the left, right or back, immediately after the opponent hits the ball.
It’s not a true stop — you don’t want your player flat footed — but it is a slow-down or bounce on the balls of the feet.
The best way to have your players learn the importance of the split step is to have the team watch other teammates play out singles and doubles points that require the players to come into the net during the point. Watch how many times a shot is missed because the player was off balance, out of position or flat footed.
During the same drill, they’ll see shots that were previously missed made with ease — and they’ll be able to see that the shot that was made resulted from the player being stopped before the opponent hit the ball.
There are a variety of drills in the database that help promote the split-step.
Discuss with your players the importance of the split-step. Demonstrate it for 5 to 10 minutes with a variety of live-ball demonstrations with teammates. Then, spend the new-skill portion of that day’s practice on several movement drills.
Once your players see and experience the split step in live-ball, match-play situations, they’ll start to recognize during matches when they miss a shot due to poor footwork and will be begin making adjustments to correct it during the rest of the match.
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