- Hi, it's Jeff Salzenstein, founder of Tennis Evolution,
former top 100 ATP player,
and USTA High Performance Coach.
And in this video we're gonna talk about footwork.
We're gonna watch a point here and I'm going to break down
some transition footwork, some volley footwork,
things that aren't always (chuckling) pointed out on TV
when you watch the pros play.
We're really getting in there and I'm really excited
to show you this video.
We've got a player on the opposite side,
Mr. Heck, who has been sending me videos
and also has his own YouTube channel.
I want to thank Heck for letting me use his material
to really show you what club players are doing
and what they can do better so that it helps you.
All right, let's get into the video right now.
And we're going to forward it on here.
So return his hit and we're just gonna play this point out.
So the first thing I want you to notice
is coming out of the serve,
Heck, and I know he's on the far side,
so bear with me here, but he just turns
and steps across one time.
Now you'll see Federer on this move.
He'll actually shuffle once and then step.
Start to notice Federer's footwork
when you watch him play matches.
So he's able to use rhythm.
Now that's a two-handed backhand,
but even Andy Murray shuffles across
before he steps sometimes.
Now you don't have to do this,
you can step across like Heck does here,
but if you're going to do that,
you really need to swing your back leg around
and he doesn't swing it around enough
so isn't able to get his weight into the shot.
Okay, got Dave on this side.
We can't see him right now.
(coughing)
Excuse me.
So this is the shot that I want you to pay attention to.
He hits a nice forehand inside end
that moves Heck to the forehand corner
and what I want you to pay attention to is this right here.
This is your short ball.
Okay, so he sees that his opponent is stretched.
It's a short ball.
And look what he does, he really waits here.
He waits behind the baseline
and look where this ball lands, and it wasn't hit hard.
He could have easily taken a bigger first step
with his front foot
and then, kind of shuffled up to the ball
where he's standing in this position
about two to three feet inside the baseline.
Instead he's behind the baseline,
see there's his shuffle.
He could have shuffled up a little bit sooner.
Okay and he could've been another three feet
into the baseline and making contact right there.
Now, this is a whole 'nother issue
with the forehand technique.
We're not going to talk about this today, okay.
But he could have been another two to three feet in
and see how the ball is dropping?
So this is a ball that he could have gotten right...
There!
Look at that.
That's another two to three feet inside the baseline
he could be making contact,
taking time away from his opponent.
And I see this with club players.
Club players are letting the ball drop too much.
Watch how this ball drops.
See, it drops a good three to four inches.
And when he's hitting it,
notice how he steps through with this right leg.
I see this a lot with club players.
This should be a classic lift and land
which I have in all of my mastery courses
and I have in my transition footwork course.
But you want to push off this front leg
and do a lift and land like Roger Federer
and not swing the leg around.
He hits a great shot,
but he's hitting it from two to three feet further back.
He's not taking it as early.
And he's not getting enough of his momentum going forward
as he hits the shot to get into volley.
So now he hits it.
He waits, he waits...
then he goes.
So an accomplished player would have been again,
another four to five feet closer to the net.
Now, ball is struck here.
He's in the air for the split.
So that's pretty good timing with the split.
You don't see that a lot with club players.
Great job with the split, but watch what happens
with the backhand volley.
This is a low volley, okay?
Low volley, a very difficult volley.
He actually gets down for this pretty well.
But notice what he does with his back leg here.
You see how he steps through?
It's pretty good again.
For a club player, it's pretty good,
but we need to have this step right here.
First of all, he could have stepped bigger
with his front foot out to the ball right here.
Still pretty good, but this foot
needs to step through even bigger.
Why?
He'll cover more ground
and he'll be closer to the net when he's done.
So we need a bigger step through.
A lot of people volley right here
and they just stop their back leg.
Again, Dave does a good job of stepping through,
but he could have stepped through even more.
Okay, and so it was that...
So, it's that two shot combo.
The approach shot and the volley,
where his footwork could have been,
I'd say, 25% more efficient
and that's going to take his game to another level.
Recognizing that ball, taking it early,
using the lift and land
and then stepping through more on that backhand volley.
Yes, there are skills with his hands
that he must improve with his technique
and what he does with that volley and where he aims it.
But the footwork is what we're focusing on here.
So I hope you enjoyed this video.
If you liked it, give us a thumbs up.
Make sure you're subscribed to the channel
and your notifications (dinging) are turned on.
Now, I've got a free gift for you.
Footwork myths that club players are making
and other players for that matter.
Footwork is very misunderstood.
I'm going to give you that free gift.
All you have to do is click the link
in the description below or somewhere in this video
and we'll get you those three footwork myths
that players are falling for.
I don't want you to fall for these old myths.
And I'm also, of course, going to give you the solutions.
So click the link in the description below.
We'll see you at the next video.
Thanks for your time today.