The fundamental idea with footwork in tennis is that on every ball you hit, you want to: 1) be on balance, 2) rotate your hips into the shot (except for shots with which you are trying to absorb power rather than generate power) 3) recovery efficiently for the next ball.
Ready position
Ready hops
Footwork in hitting tennis strokes is comprised of these basic movements:
Side Step
Pivot
Jump/Transfer
Hop
Spin
And then every stroke also includes a recovery step, with the purpose to push off and get moving in the direction where you want to be positioned for the next ball.
- Front shuffle front foot pivot
- Side shuffle one foot pivot
- Rear 2 foot pivot
- Quarter 2 foot pivot
- Quarter jump
- Mogul move
- Power jump
- Transfer step
- Front foot top
- Lateral foot top
- Transfer Jump
- Closed pivot
- Rear foot pivot
- Rear foot hop
- Reverse transfer Jump
Your challenge as a tennis player is to instinctively know, in the instant that you see the ball come off your opponent’s racket, how you are going to approach the ball and execute the stroke so you can be on balance, rotate your hips into the shot, and recover. This is relatively simple when your opponent is nice and hits a medium height ball right to you. Things get much more interesting when the ball is wide, or short and low, or pulls you back to the fence.
By practicing and mastering the 15 patterns above, you will be prepared in the heat of the moment to make the right decision on how to execute your footwork and recover for the next ball.