Footwork

**airforce1** · 08-31-2009, 09:21 AM

Nice piece!

**tcuk** · 08-31-2009, 10:41 AM

Great read! Don't you just love floaters, gliders? Federer, Nastase, Mecir, all spring to mind.

**uspta990770809** · 08-31-2009, 01:42 PM

Absolutely awesome graphics

Great articles. Great animation.

I tell my players they have to play without making a sound and I ask them what they have to do to do it. They make a lot of noise with their feet. It's only against my machines, but they are a little puzzled at first when I, a 60 y.o., can run a drill with silent feet. It's not about how fast you are (although that certainly helps, but I'm slow), but how early and balanced you are. And how you plan your movement in advance, ALMOST unconsciously. Of course, they hit the ball a lot better when they quiet their feet.

My coach when I was trying to play, the late Jerry Alleyne, taught me to try to be like a tiger or a jaguar stalking it's prey in the jungle: placing each foot silently, creeping up on it's prey, never slipping or sliding or making a careless step in preparation for the final assault. Of course, things look a little different once the strike begins, but the stalk is a great image for tennis. Most tennis players would starve in the jungle!

don

**carrerakent** · 08-31-2009, 05:46 PM

tennis to ballet to tennis

i don't know why but i noticed as a college freshmen tennis player that athletes were starting to take ballet. it made sense to me, so i enrolled in ballet to make my tennis movement better. three years later i quit the tennis team and went to the Boston Ballet and pursued a professional ballet career, leaving tennis behind for 15 years.

jump forward to me at age 44...struggling to move better on the court, refusing to be old. my coach jason was trying to teach me how to move like federer. he focuses his players of hamstring loading instead of quad loading and running on the heels much more. (i had always been taught to stay on the balls of the feet. thanks again famous coaches for being wrong yet again)

anyway, jason being a 20 something genius in my opinion, stopped the lesson and said, "kent, do some ballet for me." i was surprised and confused. he said, "how would you choreograph a male dancer moving across the court from one diagonal to another and back?"

i thought about it for a minute and with sneakers on and 44 years old took off. i just came up with stuff leaping through the air and moving like a dancer.

then jason said, "i'm just trying to teach you how to move like federer and you already know how. just move like a ballet dancer."

from then on i have focused on quiet (because on an old wooden stage you cannot make noise with your feet) low, rolling through the foot movement with long strides. no more choppy, squeaky, balls of feet stuff.

as jason says, federer gets from center of court to alley in two to three steps. everyone else takes more. fewer steps are faster and more efficient.

when i feel my movement getting "old" i put my racket aside and shadow stroke with my hands and move around the court low and heel first with big bounding split steps.

i hope this inspires old guys like me to be young again. all of those quick foot drills were stupid to begin with. use the hamstrings instead.

**uspta2331024484** · 09-04-2009, 04:07 PM

Footwork - Ditto

You nailed it on the head. You can even take it one step further in that he floats through the air on many shots releasing his feet from the ground so he never has to take those little adjustment steps which as you noted are old school for the most part.

**stumphges** · 09-05-2009, 07:34 PM

Originally posted by carrerakent

i don't know why but i noticed as a college freshmen tennis player that athletes were starting to take ballet. it made sense to me, so i enrolled in ballet to make my tennis movement better. three years later i quit the tennis team and went to the Boston Ballet and pursued a professional ballet career, leaving tennis behind for 15 years.

jump forward to me at age 44...struggling to move better on the court, refusing to be old. my coach jason was trying to teach me how to move like federer. he focuses his players of hamstring loading instead of quad loading and running on the heels much more. (i had always been taught to stay on the balls of the feet. thanks again famous coaches for being wrong yet again)

anyway, jason being a 20 something genius in my opinion, stopped the lesson and said, "kent, do some ballet for me." i was surprised and confused. he said, "how would you choreograph a male dancer moving across the court from one diagonal to another and back?"

i thought about it for a minute and with sneakers on and 44 years old took off. i just came up with stuff leaping through the air and moving like a dancer.

then jason said, "i'm just trying to teach you how to move like federer and you already know how. just move like a ballet dancer."

from then on i have focused on quiet (because on an old wooden stage you cannot make noise with your feet) low, rolling through the foot movement with long strides. no more choppy, squeaky, balls of feet stuff.

as jason says, federer gets from center of court to alley in two to three steps. everyone else takes more. fewer steps are faster and more efficient.

when i feel my movement getting "old" i put my racket aside and shadow stroke with my hands and move around the court low and heel first with big bounding split steps.

i hope this inspires old guys like me to be young again. all of those quick foot drills were stupid to begin with. use the hamstrings instead.

Nice post Kent - thanks.

**10splayer** · 09-06-2009, 04:05 AM

Originally posted by uspta990770809

Great articles. Great animation.

I tell my players they have to play without making a sound and I ask them what they have to do to do it. They make a lot of noise with their feet. It's only against my machines, but they are a little puzzled at first when I, a 60 y.o., can run a drill with silent feet. It's not about how fast you are (although that certainly helps, but I'm slow), but how early and balanced you are. And how you plan your movement in advance, ALMOST unconsciously. Of course, they hit the ball a lot better when they quiet their feet.

My coach when I was trying to play, the late Jerry Alleyne, taught me to try to be like a tiger or a jaguar stalking it's prey in the jungle: placing each foot silently, creeping up on it's prey, never slipping or sliding or making a careless step in preparation for the final assault. Of course, things look a little different once the strike begins, but the stalk is a great image for tennis. Most tennis players would starve in the jungle!

don

Perfect!

**uspta146749877** · 09-17-2009, 10:31 AM

Articles by Bailey

How does an original animation relate to articles by Bailey?

julian mielniczuk
Bedford,MA
uspta pro 27873

Not Found

https://www.julianmielniczuk.usptapro.com

juliantennis@comcast.net

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