have you mastered the split step yet the
split step is one of the most important
aspects of great movement if you don't
split the right way at the right time
then you'll constantly be laid to the
ball to become a great mover you need to
get the technique of the split step
right you need to get the timing right
and you also need to master the critical
flow split step that all the pros
constantly use here's oti instructor Ian
Mayer explaining all of this in detail
to you alright now we learned how to run
way how to get our bodies a little bit
off the ground and now the next thing we
want to work on is a split step okay and
the moment your feet hit the ground you
remember you wanna you want to be in a
strong platform right there's a strong
base so that's a strong athletic base so
this is the split step again is this
another critical factor in the efficient
movement so I own way myself and I land
strong on the balls of my feet many
people that we work with you know will
land in this kind of position when they
split but they land sort of on their
heels right so the weight is in the
wrong position if you land on your heels
then there's impossible to get off the
mark you have to make sure that when
you're landing you're landing and the
position that allows you to move in
different directions okay so that split
step is very important and the timing of
the split step is critical
okay you want to make sure that your
feet are slightly off the ground
the moment the opponent makes contact
with the ball so that is I think that is
a critical factor for good movement it's
the timing some people the most people
split they they've taken enough lessons
to understand you're supposed to split
step but they're not sure about the
timing of the split step and then
nothing really flows if you if the
timing of you're supposed to be sport
you can't you cannot flow across the
court okay so now I'm just going to show
you a drill or two that I do to get the
timing of that split step right it's not
as easy as it looks because we know once
you make a little bit more challenging
when you win it's easy when you do it
here but once you know the ball comes
from the other side of course it becomes
much more difficult when that when the
opponent it's from 78 feet away so I'm
going to bring Elizabeth in I just want
to show you how I do it I used I used
the boxes a lot and this is another
another time where I like to use the box
for the timing of the split step so I'm
gonna ask her to elevate again someone
start ask her to stand on top of the box
and I'm just gonna use the word ball so
she's ready and I'm just when I say boy
you jump in the air and pop okay get
your racket in front of you get your
record ready so we work on that ready
and pop excellent ready one more time
and pop very good okay now I'm gonna
give her a visual cue I'm gonna say ball
and I'm also gonna show her the ball so
right when when my hand goes up she goes
up right ready and ball very good and
Paul very good and Paul very good very
good very good
alright now I'm gonna actually show her
what contact looks like and this is
where this becomes really important you
want to watch your opponent carefully
and when they strike the ball you want
to be slightly off the ground you don't
want to be on the ground sometimes it's
very difficult against shots like you
know serves and when you add to net
volleying then most of the time your
timing will be will be a little bit
different your feet will strike the
ground at contact but ideally you want
to do what she's practicing what watch
now I make contact and unbolt it off the
box and Paul very good two more and Paul
very good
one more and Paul that's excellent
okay when you when you watch a good
movers when you watch great movers
they don't just split step right but
they do they do what we call a flow
split so so the split step is already
taking them in the direction of the
bounce
so we talked a bit about the timing of
that split step the the ability to
unweight your self and to be
a little bit off the ground that contact
now when you watch when you watch great
movers watch them carefully when you
watch watch the pros and and see how
they instead of splitting on both feet
how they sort of split on one foot all
right so they anticipate they see the
ball early they unaware themselves a
little bit off the ground that contact
and when I see a ball coming off to
their right they will sort of land on
their left foot to move to the right so
I see a ball coming to the left they
will conway split step on their right
foot so you can see right after I hit
the ground you see how I'm already in a
unit turn I'm already moving to the ball
in a unit turn so my first reaction is
actually part of my split step now you
can you can imagine the the advantage of
that because you have you know not only
splitting you're actually splitting
turning and moving at the same time so
that's where the the next level player
picks up half a step on his opponent
every time go watch them carefully when
they're in the flow of the point they
they don't do a split step like this but
they actually do what we call a flow
split they'll land on the opposite foot
from where the ball is so that the
opposite foot can drive the leg closest
to the ball to the ball okay let me just
show you the drills I do with my players
to do to teach them that flow split we
spend quite a bit of time on this
because I think it's a it's a it's a
very important move if you want to go to
a high level of tennis but it doesn't
matter if you're just a recreational
player if you can get the timing of that
flow speeding you can have a huge
advantage because you just gonna get to
the ball so much quicker so I'm gonna
bring Elizabeth in and we're gonna put
her on the Box just like before so that
she can on the way the the purpose of
the box is just to elevate their feet
already so she doesn't have to think
about it right so she's on the box
and I'm gonna have her elevate their
feet and first we're gonna make it
predictable I wanted to land on their
left foot and push a little bit off to
the right so we pretend the balls coming
to our right so I wanted to land
left and little left leg open the right
hip right do it a few times up and yes a
couple of times land on your left foot
up and can you see how when she lands
she doesn't split step on both feet
she actually split step on one foot one
foot already in the air and turned watch
watch her right foot oh it's in the air
and already turned so you can understand
the advantage of that of that flow split
now land on your right foot and push a
little bit left up very good two more up
okay and turn in the air turn in the air
yeah make make sure when you when you
land your foot turns in the air land and
turn in the air there you go alright now
we're gonna give it a little bit more
flow so I'm gonna ask her to stand
behind the Box ignore the ladder step
over the box and land on the right foot
so she's gonna step on the on the on the
on the box with our left foot land on
the left foot and push right or step on
the box with our right foot land on the
right foot and push left okay let's do
the left foot first step on the Box with
your left foot land and open the hip
perfect one more time step on the box
with your left with land and push gonna
step on the Box with your right foot
land and push okay push out the bit
stronger and more turn in the air okay
it's pretty good alright now once I feel
she can do that then I'll take the Box
away so I'll start to take the Box away
a little bit and I want to see if she
can do it without the Box so now I want
to see if she can elevate herself land
on the right on the left foot and push
to the right so you're gonna jump in the
air a little bit right when I say ball
right so when I say boy you go up in the
air you'll land on your left foot and
you push to your right ready and pop
very good ready and pop one more time
and pop very good perfect
now push one step to your left open your
left hip and pop very good
and Bob very good and Paul okay every
time I say boy you can see her feet are
elevated
but-but-but the box basically taught her
how to do it and you don't have to come
up much higher than I remember you
didn't want to jump in the air you just
want to get yourself you just want to on
wait they'll hire you jump the more time
it takes to come down then you become
slow but as I said before in the
beginning it's probably not a bad idea
to jump a little bit to give yourself
that feeling alright so that's it for
the split step now after the split step
of course you have to move to the ball
and there are actually four different
movements ons on the court that require
different movement patterns so in the
next video
Ian will introduce the four different
movements ons and he'll explain in
detail how you should move in what we
call the rhythmical zone which is one of
the most important zones on the court so
make sure you check your inbox for that
video in the next couple of days for now
if you have any questions on the first
two videos please post them right here
underneath this video