When it comes to footwork in tennis, many players lean heavily on their natural form. They just started playing one day and allowed their footwork to find its rhythm spontaneously through action.

However, if you are getting serious about tennis and want to tighten up every aspect of your game, then excellent footwork can offer huge advantages, allowing you to move about the court as quickly and effectively as possible.

Here are three things you can do right away to start improving your tennis footwork today.

Many players are not aggressive enough with their split step. They are more concerned with not jumping the gun than they are with maximizing the benefit of this footwork by timing it perfectly.

Putting in the time and effort to practice your split step can benefit you immensely in a short amount of time. Dedicate an entire practice session or two to making sure that your feet are already off the ground as your training partner makes contact with the ball.

To get yourself used to anticipating rather than reacting, for the first few training sessions, it is better to be early than too late. Allowing yourself the feeling of being too early on some of these steps (instead of always falling back on being too slow) will help you to dial in the timing to nail this footwork each and every time.

Fast legs lead to fast feet—it’s as simple as that.

The first thing that happens when our bodies start to get tired is we start to stand up straighter. When we don’t bend our knees as much, we have a much slower reaction time to move across the court to the ball.

If you are dedicating time to squats, wall sits, and other exercises that target the major muscle groups of your legs, then you will continue to see improvements with your footwork as your leg muscles develop.

With stronger leg muscles, you will be able to maintain a stable, wide stance with a generous bend in your knees that will keep you light on your feet and quick to the ball.

In the heat of play, our bodies go into reaction mode. We don’t think about what we’re doing, we just do what our body has been taught to do all along.

If you have never put in dedicated effort towards your footwork on it’s own, then you are likely moving out of gut instinct, which can lend itself to bad habits.

Choose just a few moves at a time to focus on for this training. Go through the motions slowly at first to pick up on any bad habits and fine tune your control, and then slowly pick up the pace as you repeat the same moves over and over. Repetition of perfect form is key for this kind of training.

Taking time once every week or so for shadow strokes with conscious, intentional footwork will make an incredible difference in your gameplay footwork. No practice partner is needed, not even a ball or a net! There is no reason not to put in that time to find your rhythm and perfect your footwork in tandem with your swing.

Welcome to TennisRacquets.com! For over 42 years our dedicated and seasoned staff have been providing tennis, golf, running and fitness enthusiasts top-notch brand name merchandise and unparalleled customer service.

Learn more...