TennisSpeed visits Europe - Part 2 (El juego de pies)

A couple of news items to kick off this post:

• The Tennis SpeedChain V2 goes on sale at our website (www.tennisspeed.com) later this week. The original Tennis SpeedChain has been transformed into a complete tennis training system that you can use to develop both optimal stroke techniques and increased racket speed. For those of you hearing this bit of news for the first time, I summarized the incredible new features of V2 in my last post which you can check out by clicking here.

• Congratulations to the University of Tennessee Volunteers Men’s Tennis Team for their outstanding performance this season—including a win (4-3) over the defending NCAA team champions, the 3^rd-ranked University of Georgia Bulldogs to close out their regular season! The Vols (who joined the “SpeedChain family” in January) have established themselves as one of the Top 5 or 6 teams in NCAA Division 1 (for the first time in about 5 years), and will be a force to be reckoned with come NCAA tournament time.

• As this is the time of the year where the college teams close out their seasons with their respective conference championships, and with the NCAA tournament looming, I wanted to give a shout out to all of the teams who were part of the SpeedChain family this season:

University of Tennessee-Knoxville Men’s Tennis (SEC)

University of Tennessee-Knoxville Women’s Tennis (SEC)

Boise State University Men’s Tennis (WAC)

University of Colorado Women’s Tennis (Big 12)

Syracuse University Women’s Tennis (Big East)

UCLA Men’s Tennis (Pacific 10)

University of California-Riverside Women’s Tennis (Big West)

Now, on to the subject of this post where I’ll present some closing thoughts about my European visit in early March…

I wanted to discuss two particular observations from my visit to Spain and Switzerland that have really caused me to shift my perspective about tennis training and coaching.

The first of these observations has to do with the fundamental difference in the training philosophy/approach taken by Jofre Porta and his team at Global Tennis. The best way for me to describe it is to use Jofre’s description of what tennis is really about: tennis is best described as “el juego de pies” or, “a game of the feet”.

The bottom line in tennis is simply this, if you cannot move – using your feet – into the correct, optimal position to strike the ball, playing tennis at a high level is simply impossible. It won’t matter how technically sound your stroking movement is if your feet cannot bring you to a solid position to strike the shot. Your hands, arms and torso cannot compensate for your movement weaknesses… Period.

If your ability to move on the court is somehow compromised by injury, a bad attitude, laziness, or whatever, your whole game is well, compromised at best. And if you need to perform at a very high level to be competitive you should take a careful, objective look at what’s happening below your waist. If you are having performance issues, the quickest way to improve is to work on your court movement skills. Before you even think of tinkering with stroke techniques, work on improving your movement because poor movement is almost always the root cause of poor performance.

During my 6-day stay at Global Tennis, I noticed how much attention was paid by the coaches to the movement and positioning of the players during training. I would say that the vast majority of the corrections given by the coaches to the players during training sessions pertained to moving correctly into the proper striking position for each and every shot (i.e. moving to a position behind the line of the incoming shot as rapidly as possible then forming the hitting stance). I could probably count on my hands the number of corrections pertaining to the stroking movement (the movements above the waist, that is) over the course of the 4 to 6 hours of daily on-court training that goes on there.

Does that mean that the Global Team doesn’t care about those movements that happen “above the waist”? Absolutely not! They definitely pay attention to what the other half of the body is doing, and they understand – rightly – that the main cause of any serious errors or flaws in the whole, integrated stroking movement (that involves the integration of both lower and upper body movements) are caused – triggered – by movement flaws and issues. The upper body “reacts” to the action of the lower body, and therefore if the lower body action is flawed, by definition, the upper body action is similarly flawed.

In other words, the Global team correctly understands that the optimal movement is the true foundation of playing high-level tennis. It also became very clear why Moya and Nadal emerged as Grand Slam champions having been trained in this approach, apparently from the very start of their life in tennis.

This philosophy described by “el juego de pies” used at Global is in stark contrast to what I saw in various training facilities in Switzerland (including training sessions involving federation-sponsored players in their National training center in Biel), and what I have seen here in the US.

The contrast between the Global approach and everything else I’ve seen so far everywhere is that where Global focuses on movement first, everyone else is clearly focuses first on what’s happening above the waist with the stroking movement of the hands, arms and upper body, and then they pay attention the player’s movement “skills” second. It’s as if they believe that they can make up for their poor positioning using their “superb stroke technique”.

Many simply fail to realize or understand that again, it’s just not possible to have “superb stroke technique” without “superb movement”!

This primary focus on what’s happening “above the waist” is tantamount to placing the “cart” before the “proverbial horse”. It bears repeating this message again and again: if you don’t or can’t move into the optimal striking position for each shot, by definition, you can’t make an “optimal strike”. You can’t produce your “best shot” if you can’t move to the “best striking position” for that specific shot.

Am I beginning to sound repetitive?

OK, one last time then...

When your movement goes awry – for any reason – this means that, by definition, your game goes awry as well.

Want to get your game back on track? Immediately focus on moving correctly, and everything else (i.e. power, control, etc.) tends to fall back into place automatically.

The second observation I wanted to mention was the stark difference in the general reaction and attitude of the people I met in both Spain and Switzerland toward the whole SpeedChain training concept and product(s).

You see, here in the US, I would say that 90% of the time, the tennis community here from players and coaches to parents and trainers, responds with great skepticism and sometimes outright hostility toward the very concept of the SpeedChain. When I reflect back on these experiences, it occurs to me that one common denominator shared by these SpeedChain “detractors” is the fact that they simply do not believe or understand that US tennis players – especially at the high-performance level – effectively have a stroke speed “deficiency”. And this “racket speed deficiency” may be a key factor in explaining why there are so few American players who have been able to compete successfully at pro level.

The bottom line is, the Americans have told us that “no (speed) problem even exists”, so there’s no need for anything like the SpeedChain. In contrast, the Spanish (at least among those Spanish coaches and trainers I met at Global in March) and the Swiss coaches and trainers I met reacted like this: “You guys solved that problem? Let me see the SpeedChain! Show me how this works!”

It was quite a refreshing change to talk to people who were largely open-minded and receptive to the very idea of the SpeedChain, to say the least. So, it makes me think that maybe we need to seriously consider setting up shop somewhere across the Atlantic… For once, the Europeans will take the innovation lead (at least when it comes to speed training), and it’s the Americans who will follow.

One thing’s for sure, I’m going to look very seriously at which German and Spanish classes at the local JC will fit into my busy schedule!

TTFN!

Message from the Top

Just a little post-US Open bonus...

Here's a quote directly from the top man himself, Roger Federer about what the keys to his best tennis really are:

"After winning the Dubai Open for the fourth time in 2007, Federer said: 'Previously I always thought it was just tactical and technique, but every match has become almost mental and physical – I try to push myself to move well. I try to push myself not to get upset and stay positive, and that's what my biggest improvement is over all these years. Under pressure I can see things very clearly.' "

(Quoted from: “From teenage tantrums to sublime success” by Thomas Stephens, April 26, 2007, online article at swissinfo.org)

What do Federer's words mean for you?

TOP PERFORMANCE BEGINS WITH OPTIMAL MOVEMENT...

Read his quote again carefully, Roger PUSHES HIMSELF TO MOVE WELL. When you move properly, the rest of your game will flow without too much conscious effort. So take the advice of one of the greatest-if not THE greatest-player in the history of the tennis to heart and immediately raise the level of your play by focusing on moving your best on court.

For more interesting facts and discussion about the Swiss tennis superstar, take a look at the Roger Federer tribute compiled by the official online information agency of the Swiss government, www.swissinfo.org.

TTFN!

Court Movement 103

In this post, we’ll continue our series on increasing the speed (and efficiency) of your court movement by having a brief discussion of how to hit efficiently while on the run.

First, let 's define what I mean by "hitting on the run"…

What I am talking about is situations during play where you have to move—sprint, that is—more than three or four steps before you can form a hitting stance to strike your shot. In general, we are talking about playing situations where you may be:

• Reacting to a shot where your opponent changes the direction of your return (e.g. your opponent hits your crosscourt return down the line or vice-versa)

• Retrieving shots that your opponent aggressively drives into the deep corners in response to your own soft or short returns

• Retrieving drop shots, drop volleys, or, if you are playing Federer, low, short slice shots that land in the service boxes when you are positioned well behind (> 5 feet) the baseline.

In these situations, you maybe forced to cover a very large distance (perhaps as much as the entire half of the court to return a drop shot, or the entire distance along the baseline from one doubles alley to the other to retrieve a well-struck forehand) in very short time in order to make any contact, much less effective contact, with the ball.

And, many times the total reaction time you have to make contact in those “emergency” situations won’t allow you to set up completely to make your shot… You might only have enough time to set one, rather than both feet in an improvised hitting stance from which to accelerate to ball contact.

Of course, the ideal way to “hit on the move” is to move fast enough to “win that race” with your opponent’s return and set up completely—i.e. set both feet firmly on the court—for a clean, controlled strike.

But, what if you can only move fast enough to achieve a “tie” in that race to the ball, where you will arrive only at the last possible moment to make an effective stroke? What then?

In that case, there are three critical moves you must make to hit effectively while on the dead run:

1) Make your initial steps to the ball as explosive as possible.

· First, lower your center of gravity using your split-step.

· Second, turn your hips and shoulders in the direction of the ball, and start moving toward the ball using the leg that’s closest to the ball (if you need to move to your right, “step out” with your right leg and vice-versa), and pump your arms powerfully in your initial move to the ball.

2) After you’re about halfway there, stop pumping your arms and immediately finish your backswing such that the only move you’ll make with your hands and upper body is to accelerate the racket forward to contact.

3) Swing forward very aggressively to contact a split second after you make your last step with your back foot.

You need to be very aggressive with your forward swing because you are fighting somewhat all of the momentum you’ve generated by moving explosively toward the ball. Effectively, your feet are propelling you in one direction, and you are trying to swing with your hands and arms against the direction of the momentum of your lower body by swinging to make (solid) contact with the ball. So you need to aggressively accelerate towards contact.

These are the three core moves you must make to hit effectively while on the run.

Now, you might ask the question: what do I do after finishing my stroke?

On what foot should I land after making contact? What’s the quickest way to begin my recovery for my opponent’s next return?

The answer to the former question is, quite frankly, “it depends”. There isn’t a single, optimal foot to finish on. The foot which you land on depends mainly on the type of shot you chose to execute on the run (i.e. a deep, hard drive, or a high and heavy looping return, or a sharp crosscourt angle return). You could land on either foot really… It's really a matter of personal "style".

Although I will point out to you that players who can consistently generate a sharp (fast) crosscourt angle return on the run tend to land on their front foot (see Federer, Roger and Sampras, Pete), while players who are adept at hitting high, heavy and deep topspin returns while on the run often land on their back foot first, with their front leg held in the air (see Nadal, Rafael).

Likewise, if you want to produce a return with a lower, “driving” trajectory (rather than a higher, more looping trajectory), landing on your front foot after contact has been the preferred method of accomplished tennis millionaires throughout the history of the sport.

(Hmmm… “Accomplished Tennis Millionaires” or “ATMs”… That acronym is a keeper. See the connection? “ATMs”, as in, receive tons of cash money in return by playing tennis in a certain way. :) )

The answer to the latter question is simply, “sit down” or “step out” on your back leg, and immediate push back toward the center of the court with the same leg. So, if you landed on your front foot, immediately after the front foot makes contact with the ground, use your back leg to stop and push hard back toward the center of the court. Likewise, if you landed on your back leg, immediately begin moving toward the center of the court using the same leg.

Notice that I am not trying to explain in any fine-grain detail about how to perform the exact movements required to make the initial moves toward the ball or how to recover. Other than telling you which leg (right or left) to use to initiate an efficient movement sequence, the fine details of how to execute an effective running shot (total number of steps, how big are the steps, how fast to pump the arms, the final speed needed to reach the ball to make contact, etc.), and how well you can execute your running shots may vary infinitely from situation to situation and from player to player because all of this is solely dependent on your own innate athletic ability.

AND, as athletic ability ranges so widely even among elite tennis players (i.e. the difference between Federer’s apparent ability to “glide” from shot to shot versus Roddick’s sometimes heavy-footed, “stomping” action), it’s virtually impossible to give a very detailed description, much less an “exact” description of the movement themselves beyond describing the optimal way to initiate the movement itself.

All that’s really possible is to describe the principles involved, and leave it to each player to execute the necessary movements in their own unique way. There is indeed a “science” to all athletic skills, but in the end, the execution of those skills ultimately represents the “artistry” of the player him/herself.

And that “artistry” is yet another element that explains why so many of us are so fascinated by this great sport.

So, to review the key principles of hitting effectively on the (full) run:

1) Make your initial steps to the ball as explosive as possible.

2) After you’re about halfway there, stop pumping your arms and immediately finish your backswing such that the only move you’ll make with your hands and upper body is to accelerate the racket forward to contact.

and,

3) Swing forward to contact a split second after you make your last step with your back foot.

TTFN!

P.S. For those of you that still have trouble grasping this idea of how speed is the defining element of tennis success, just look at the singles players who made the Final 4 at Flushing Meadow.

Final 4 Men: Federer, Djokovic, Davydenko, and Ferrer

Final 4 Women: Henin, Kuznetsova, Williams, and Chakvetadze

All 8 players possess the necessary foot and racket speed to either out-run their opponents or out-hit them.

What’s interesting among the group is that both the Men’s (Federer and Djokovic) and Women’s finalists (Henin and Kuznetsova) hit with the most spin from among the original group of 8…

What does this mean? The take-home message is that the 4 finalists not only generated the fastest strokes (from serves to groundstrokes), but they also maximized their control over their strokes through their higher spin production.

These 4 players achieved both maximum power (ball speed) and control of their strokes.

In other words, they get to "have their cake and eat it too"... Which , BTW, for those who may be keeping track , the "cake" that Roger gets to enjoy is worth, in real terms:

• 500 ATP ranking points (the maximum possible for winning a single tournament--compare that massive points windfall to the winner of an entry level pro singles tournament, who is typicially overjoyed to earn an astronomical 12 ranking points ), and

• $1.4 MILLION in prize money as the US Open singles champion (compare this amount to the $1,200 earned by the singles winner of a $10,000--that means 10K in total prize money, people--Futures tournament.)

As you can see, there's a lot of valuable "cake" out there for players to enjoy...

Court Movement 102

Today’s post is the continuation of the post titled “Court Movement 101” where I began to discuss the fundamentals of efficient, effective court movement. The take-home message from that post was to help you understand how proper court movement “feels”—it feels as if you are constantly accelerating and decelerating in response to your opponent’s shots rather than moving around at a single, uniform speed.

The whole point of that moving that way is to enable you to consistently find a solid hitting stance from which to execute your strokes, regardless of whether it’s a groundstroke or overhead (the volley is a different animal entirely, a stroke you need to hit while moving)—ideally, before the ball bounces on your side of the court.

Let’s expand on this concept here…

1. WIN THE RACE WITH THE BALL

The message I tell my own players about their court movement is that what they are really doing is “racing” with the incoming ball… Their goal is to win that race with the ball so that can achieve their optimal hitting stance before the ball bounces on their side, such that they can execute their own return with maximum power and control.

If you don’t win that race and fail to achieve a solid hitting stance for your groundstroke, volley, or overhead, you will compromise almost every element of your return— power, control and consistency. When you move poorly and lose that “race” with the ball, the chances of hitting a poor return, or missing the court outright grows almost exponentially. A smart, experienced competitive player understands that you have to dial down the precision or the power (or both) of your return when you’re moving poorly because the chance of making stroking error multiplies exponentially when you’re late to the ball, can’t find a solid stance, rush to make contact, etc.

A savvy competitor knows that when their movement is slow for whatever reason, they need to become way more conservative with their power and placement of their own strokes and focus on both 1) improving their movement and 2) keeping the ball in play rather than “going for their (big) shots”. The not-so-savvy player won’t make those necessary adjustments to their shots and their gamestyle rapidly descending to the level of what I like to call “sprinkler tennis”, where a player appears to be randomly spraying their returns everywhere but inside the lines of the court.

2. DEFINING THE ATTRIBUTES OF A SOLID HITTING STANCE

So the immediate benefit of proper court movement is the consistent ability to create a solid hitting stance. So what is a solid hitting stance, then?

First, let’s consider the attributes of a solid hitting stance for a groundstroke. In general, there are three main attributes of a solid hitting stance:

1) The feet are placed well beyond shoulder-width. A solid hitting stance is a wide stance.

2) Your knees comfortably flexed (or bent sufficiently to get down to the contact height of your stroke on low returns.

3) Your back is relatively straight and is tilted slightly forward from the hips.

4) Given today’s rotary groundstroking movements (emphasizing fast hip and shoulder rotation), you need to find either an open or square stance with your feet.

The closed stance, while still used by players during live matchplay, not only inhibits the full range of hip and shoulder rotation necessary to properly execute modern rotary groundstrokes (I will get more into this rotary concept in later posts), but will cause undue stress and strain on the hip and knee joints in the long term that may lead to chronic and possibly debilitating injuries (i.e. chronic hip injuries in former ATP #1s Kuerten and Norman).

When you find a solid hitting stance that incorporates these four fundamental characteristics, you will maximize your potential to make a long, fast, powerful and balanced stroke. The width of your stance will enable you to maintain your balance easily despite the great forces you will generate with your hip and shoulder rotation, as well as enable you to transfer the force you generate more efficiently into contact.

Essentially, your hitting stance should be very similar to your ready position after your split-step… Where, you need to get into an “acceleration” posture (this is the whole purpose of assuming the classically-defined “athletic stance”, as it enables the body to accelerate most efficiently in any direction) that allows you to maximize your ability to explosively accelerate in any direction (i.e. overall body angle of 45 degrees relative to the ground). This same posture also allows you to rapidly accelerate the body segments (upper and lower) required to properly execute the modern rotary groundstrokes.

Narrow hitting stances also tend promote shorter strokes as it’s harder for the body to maintain its balance while making a long, fast stroking motion. Players who use narrow stance typically have trouble controlling the depth of the strokes, and have a strong tendency to hit the ball very short rather than deep.

This concept is easy to demonstrate… Assume a narrow stance, and try to make a long, fast stroke with a full, forward weight transfer... Trouble maintaining your balance?

Now try widening your stance and make another long, fast stroke. Didn’t lose your balance this time, right? What’s the result on-court? Well, when you widen your stance, you should find that hitting with great, consistent depth becomes a whole lot easier to do mainly because the extra width of your stance encourages the full, fast, long stroke required to generate consistent depth.

3. HEEL FIRST—USING THE "LONG STEP" TO FIND THE PROPER HITTING STANCE

OK, what’s the easiest way to find the correct hitting stance when the game’s in motion? It’s quite simple… Make your last step on your approach to your opponent’s return an extra-long step. Typically, the final two to three steps as you near the exact point where you want to set up to the oncoming return should be smaller, choppy steps to help you decelerate smoothly from your initial (often longer) explosive move toward the oncoming return. But, small, choppy steps typically encourage finding a narrow stance.

So, instead, you should consciously make that final step, what the Germans refer to as a “long step” leading with your back foot, to encourage, if not ensure that you “form” a wide stance with your feet well outside shoulder-width.

Another important detail to consider when making that “long step”, is to make sure that you land with your heel first, then transfer your weight onto the ball of your foot. That’s right, I said land with your heel first when making the “long step”.

For many of you that is a contradiction in terms, as you should know that to run at maximum speed, you need to land on the balls of your feet. Indeed, that is what you need to do in the first two phases of your movement toward the oncoming return, you need to move explosively and this absolutely requires that you make contact with the court with the balls of your feet.

However, when you need to establish your hitting stance, the final part of the three-part court movement sequence (actually, it’s four parts, including the recovery movement after finishing your follow-through), landing on the ball of the foot during your “long step” is not the best method.

Remember, finding your optimal hitting stance requires that you stop and set your feet, and it is far more efficient to stop, and, more importantly, maintain your balance while stopping, by landing heel first. Landing heel-first enables you to “roll” forward onto the ball of your foot—if necessary—to dissipate any remaining movement forces. Landing heel-first also enables you to flatten your feet completely against the ground to promote an efficient forward weight transfer during your stroke.

Trying to stop and form your hitting stance by landing on the forefoot rather than on the heel will cause you to lose your balance as there is no way to dissipate any movement forces other than to lose your balance momentarily (the force(s) essentially has “nowhere to go” when you land on the forefoot) and typically causes you to make another extra step to regain your balance. Landing on the ball of the foot to make the final, “long step” is an inefficient and potentially risky method (What if your forefoot gets “stuck” on the court surface? All that sudden force then goes into stretching, shearing, and tearing your ankle tendons and ligaments… Not a good thought!).

So, what’s the take home from this post?

After you win the “race with the ball”, use the long step to “find” a proper hitting stance.

TTFN!

Court Movement 101

Sorry about the somewhat long delay since my last post. A bunch of business trips stacked very close together, a short family road trip around the various State and National Parks around Utah and Colorado, and a lot of catching up on the business end of things for me have cut into my blogging time in recent weeks, but I’ll be posting more regularly as the summer progresses (I hope).

The next few posts will delve into the “how-to” side of the various forms of speed in tennis. And, to begin this “how-to” series, I think that the obvious place to start is to begin with a discussion of how to move effectively, efficiently and explosively on the court. For those of you out there who haven’t gotten this memo (or for those who are new to this blog): competitive tennis success is really based on your ability to move explosively and efficiently on the court.

Remember, you can’t hit a ball that’s not there, so you need to realize and accept that the consistency, precision, and power of your ball-striking is primarily based on your ability to get into a consistent hitting position for every shot you intend to hit. So, no matter how you look at it, the single most important physical skill that impacts your entire game is your movement.

Usually, the first thing I try to assess in new clients of mine and then carefully monitor on a continuous basis from that point forward is whether or not they are moving properly during competitive play.

Efficient court movement is a very simple process. The fundamental principle of efficient, effective court movement is to always start with an explosive first move toward your opponent’s return, accelerate to top speed within the first two to three steps, and then decelerating so you can establish a solid, balanced hitting stance at the optimal hitting position to make solid, controlled ball contact.

Then, immediately after finishing your follow-through, you repeat the sequence to recover your court position by making an explosive first and second step and then immediately finding the classic “ready position” in anticipation of your opponent’s next return.

This overall pattern of alternating acceleration and deceleration is then performed as needed to secure each and every possible point. Fast then slow… Say it together, now… “Fast then slow”. If you are moving efficiently and effectively, you should be constantly accelerating and decelerating in order to achieve both maximum court coverage and maximum control over your ball-striking. At no time should you be moving at a constant speed on the court during play.

So, to sum it up, you need to first understand that the overall goal of court movement is to enable you to consistently move into a solid hitting position for every one of your opponent’s returns. Then, you need to understand that the most effective way to accomplish this goal is to use the “fast then slow“ movement pattern. Even if your absolute foot speed is average, or below average, you will get to many more shots during play if you move with the correct “fast then slow” pattern.

Say it again now… Fast then Slow, Fast then Slow….

Armed with this understanding, I think that you might begin to notice as you start watching other players move on court that only a small fraction of tennis players at every level (from recreational players at the nearby public park, to the pros on TV) execute the proper “fast then slow” movement pattern on the court. The majority of players either move at a constant speed during play, or execute the opposite movement pattern where their first move toward the ball is slow, then they try to accelerate as they approach contact to “catch up” to their opponent’s return.

While “catch-up” speed is coveted in certain sports (prime examples are the late burst of speed used by defensive backs in American Football to close the distance between them and pass receivers just before the arrival of a forward pass, or the sudden burst used by basketball defenders to “take away the baseline” from an offensive player driving toward the basket), in tennis, having a lot of speed just before the point where you need to achieve a solid, balanced hitting stance makes finding such a quality hitting stance very difficult (trying to come to a complete, balanced stop while moving at full speed is a stark challenge--try it and see for yourself) and severely compromises your ability to maximize both control and power of your strokes.

If you are a player who has difficulty controlling running shots during play (basically 30 to 50 percent of players at any level are plagued by this particular problem—lack of control on running shots), the root cause of your control issues is this inverted “slow then fast” movement pattern. The solution to your control issues for running shots is as simple as understanding that you need to move in the exact opposite pattern where you make your initial move to the ball faster and then slow down as you approach the optimal hitting position behind the path of your opponent’s return.

(In fact, I’ve noticed that for many players in a great many cases, improvement is often largely a matter of doing the opposite of what they are currently doing or trying to do. I am strongly considering writing a tennis instructional book called “180 Degree Tennis” because the vast majority of people’s issues with playing this sport well would be corrected by doing the exact opposite of what they’re actually doing, or what they think they should be doing.)

In my next post, we’ll get into more detail about effective court movement and talk about some simple drills to help you get to more of your opponent’s returns and increase the power and control of your own shots at the same time (Yes, the ability to hit powerfully during competitive play is directly related to court movement!)

TTFN!

What is Leg Speed?

Speed is the essence of pro tennis today and in my first entry, I began our conversation of tennis speed by trying to describe and define the three fundamental components of tennis speed: mind speed, leg speed, and racket speed.

Since I briefly delved into what "mind speed" is and why it's so crucial and fundamental to being a high-performance competitor, let's now get into why leg speed is so fundamental to competitive success.

Leg speed is crucial because, as I wrote in the last entry:

IF YOU CAN'T GET TO THE BALL, YOU CAN'T HIT IT.

If you can't move fast enough into a position where you can make solid, controlled contact with your opponent's shots, tennis will become a very, very difficult sport, especially if you want to be competitive at a world-class level.

Leg speed translates into rapid court movement, and moving as fast as possible on the court is fundamental to tennis success. Leg speed is crucial mainly because of the fact that in competitive tennis you have to get where the ball is first, before you can hit it.

Your opponent is generally trying his best to place the ball as far away from you as fast as possible, so if you want to make decent contact with a ball that's intentionally being placed away from you, you'll have to first get to a position where you CAN make contact.

That's how tennis really works: first you move, then you hit. Then you move again, and then you hit again. And you need to be able to repeat this sequence for as long as possible.

Therefore, because you have to move BEFORE you can hit, those players who have superior leg speed have a distinct advantage over everyone who lacks leg speed because their leg speed translates into superior movement skills to get into a solid ball-striking position more consistently.

You see, the whole key to succeeding in modern tennis is to be able to move fast enough--to outrun the oncoming ball--to a point behind the path of the bounce of your opponent's return so you can hit it as loud as possible while maintaining maximum control at the same time. How fast you can move to your optimal ball-striking position essentially dictates how much control (and power) you have over your own shot.

In competitive tennis, you are first and foremost "racing" with the ball, using every ounce of energy and effort not only to get to every ball to make contact, but to reach your optimal strike position ahead of the bounce. When you win that race with the ball, you will have almost unlimited options and maximum control over your own shot: strike it on the rise, strike it at the top of the bounce, vary the spin/direction/speed, disguise the placement of your shot, etc., etc., etc.

Want some examples of pros who win this “race with the ball” the majority of the time? How about Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Lleyton Hewitt (all of whom are multiple Grand Slam singles titlists), for starters.

On the flip side, the slower you get to your optimal ball-striking position, the fewer options you'll have returning the shot because you simply won't have enough time to execute certain kinds of shots with the necessary precision to control them.

If that's not bad enough, the slower you move around the court, the more likely you'll feel hurried to create a shot when you finally get to the ball and whenever you feel rushed, you are more likely to lose control of your shots and your game. (FYI, this hurried feeling during play is what the old-schoolers really mean when they tell you to apply "pressure" to your opponent.)

In practice, how fast (or slow) you get to that optimal ball-striking position leads to one of three situations:

1) Best Case Scenario: If you are fast enough (and disciplined enough!) to get to your optimal ball-striking position ahead of the bounce of the ball, you will achieve maximum shot control, consistency and power just like the successful touring pros.

The main reason why the pros are so consistent with their ball-striking is because they are trying really hard to be in the proper ball-striking position for each and every shot. They all understand (or pay someone to constantly remind them) that they need to meet this standard of court movement to have any chance at being truly competitive in a pro tennis match.

2) Worst Case Scenario: If you are slow and arrive late at the optimal ball-striking position behind the arrival of the ball, you will have little or no control over your return, if you make contact at all.

and,

3) The Most Common Scenario (what I refer to as "JIT" or "Just in Time" tennis): What I'm about to describe is pretty much how the vast majority of players--EXCEPT those who are already successful touring pros, or who are on their way to becoming successful touring pros--actually move on the tennis court.

When you move only fast enough to arrive at the optimal contact position at the same time as the ball--i.e. you arrive just in time (or "JIT", for short) to make ball contact, you typically end up making a very hurried swat at the ball because you have far less time to actually make contact with the ball compared to arriving ahead of the ball.

When you play JIT tennis, you usually feel like the "ball is always rushing on top of you", and then you end up rushing to make your shot. Because JIT players have less time to execute their shot, they end up hurrying their strokes to make up for the "lost time". And when you hurry, you are way more prone to making even the simplest errors.

I can usually spot a JIT player from the large number of unforced errors they tend to make during the course of a competitive tennis match. On top of reducing their own reaction time, JIT players feel extra "pressure" from always feeling hurried to make their shots, and they end up making far more unforced errors compared to players who make every effort to arrive at their strike position early.

So, if you are willing to move away from JIT tennis by consciously moving faster and focusing on winning that ongoing race with the ball, it is almost a lock that you will improve your tennis very quickly. What will happen is that you will really reduce your own unforced errors, and as a result, greatly improve your chances of winning more matches more often without adjusting your strokes.

To repeat, if you want to maximize your chances to perform at a professional standard in tennis, you need to maximize your leg speed so you can move on the court like a pro does and consistently arrive at your optimal ball-striking position well ahead of the bounce of the ball.

I hope that you are now on your way to understanding WHY leg speed is fundamental to (pro) tennis success. In future entries, I will elaborate on HOW to achieve maximal leg speed, but for now, take some time to reflect on what we've covered here and try to apply these principles to your own game. Remember, you will always be rewarded for moving as fast as possible on the court.

See you next time!