Tennis Approach FOOTWORK − Hitting While Moving Forward

What's up, athletes? I'm Day Day, and you're here because you believe that you can max your potential on the tennis court with the law of success. Learn, apply, and win. Now, in today's video, we're going to be covering three approach shot footwork patterns that you can hit on a low, short ball. Let's go. The hop is a great footwork pattern for attacking short, low balls, either at the baseline or transition to the net. You can use it when the ball is anywhere between your ankles and your shoulders. If you guys want me to cover what to do when the balls are below the ankles or above the shoulders, let me know in the comments, and I'll be sure to bump it up on our priorities list. The hop is a great way to hit a forceful shot while maintaining forward momentum to get to the net, both on the forehand and the backhand side. You could also use it moving laterally on the one-hand and two-hand backhand, and you could use it moving backward, but we'll cover that in another video. What's unique about this shot is that you hop and land with the same front foot, while the other foot kicks back as a counterbalancing act. We'll cover three hop types depending on whether you have to move around your backhand, you're moving straight forward, or you're moving wide on the forehand side. Let's kick things off with the front foot hop. This shot's used when the ball is short in front of you and you're looking to close into the net. After splitting and reading the ball, do your initial unit turn and turn sideways immediately. Side shuffle or crossover depending on how far up the ball is. For shorter balls, the crossover is more efficient because it allows you to cover more ground per step. Shuffle steps are good for moving closer distances because smaller steps allow you to adjust your positioning better. Once you're in position, you'll want to prepare your stance. Gauge the ball's distance with the back foot about two feet in front of contact. In the front foot hop, the back foot should always point to the side. The front foot steps out and triggers the swing. At this point, it should be slightly bent so that it can hop off a little later. The front foot should point somewhere in between the side and front. Now, the contact phase. Initiate the forward swing and leg drive with the front leg at the same time. At contact point, the front foot should be still on the ground, but the back leg should be kicking back. By the time your front foot actually gets off the ground, you should be finished or almost finished with the follow through. This is one of the main differences between the hop and other footwork patterns that you get off the air with. Even though it's called a hop, getting off the ground and hopping forward should only be a result of your forward momentum and leg drive. The angle of the front leg should not change in the air. And finally, the landing and recovery. By the landing, your front foot should be pointing toward the net or slightly to the side at most. The back foot should immediately come forward as you transition to the net. The same mechanics apply to the two-handed backhand hop. The one thing that will be different is that you want to step in more of a closed stance on the backhand while you want to remain neutral on the forehand side. For the one-handed backhand hop, there are some slight differences. In the one-handed backhand hop, you will also be stepping in a closed stance and it's a little bit more unique from the forehand side because it requires for the hips and torso to stay sideways longer. As the front leg straightens, your back leg should come into your body. When your swing is finished and you're in the air, your hips should turn as a result of the forward swing. The second type of approach shot is the inside front foot hop. This shot's good when you're getting around your backhand side to hit an inside in or inside out hop. First, move sideways with either side steps or cross steps. A step or two before you've gotten around to hit your backhand, you'll want to get into a neutral stance. The path you take is a sort of loop since you gradually start to turn and move forward. If you need to, move further up until you're in position. Because you're moving around the backhand side and forward, your momentum might slightly be diagonal depending on how far over on the backhand side the ball is. If it is, you'll want to be in a semi-open stance and hop on the front foot diagonally and land on it. Step the back foot around in front of the other foot for the next phase. Once you've landed, it's not easy to return to the center. Depending on how far back you are, sidestep into the position to hit your volley or crossover. For the crossover, you're running forward while crossing over. The last approach hop is the lateral hop. This one's used when the ball is wide, meaning you just can't take a few steps to the side. Upon reading the ball, pivot the inside leg to the side. Your first step should be with the outside leg crossing over in the direction you want to push off to. Even though you're not turning sideways immediately, it's still important to start the backswing because by the time your inside leg takes its last step, you should be ready for the forward swing. This footwork pattern is a little different from the other two hops because you're making more of an active effort to run through the ball. As you make contact, the left leg, if you're a righty, should be coming forward and the right leg, like before, should still be on the ground until after contact. For the recovery, instead of landing on the other leg like you would if you were running through the shot, you want to land on the same foot you hopped off of. When I play, I found that this allows my transition to the net to be more efficient than simply running through it. So as you probably noticed, we started creating drills in each lesson because as students of the game ourselves, we understand what good is knowledge if you can't practically apply it. For these drills, you'll need a marker of some sort for positioning. You could use a string, ball, cone, or some sort of visual cue to know where to go. I used an equipment called long lines. Place your markers sort of like this, one close to the baseline, one close to the service line, one each slightly wide to the forehand and backhand side. Now start the progression drills with shadow motions, moving to each side and hitting each variation. Once you're more comfortable with these shots, start using the medicine ball. If you don't have a partner, you could throw it against a wall. Do enough repetitions until the footwork becomes ingrained, then once you remove the markers, it will feel a lot more natural. So that's it, guys. I really hope you enjoyed this video. I just wanna take this time, if you're still watching, to say thank you. A little over a month ago, we started this channel in hopes that we could help a couple people out, you know, get 100 views, but the support you've actually given us so far is just mind-blowing, it's phenomenal. And Daysha and I have been so overwhelmed with gratitude from hearing from you guys that stuff that we share actually help you gain in your life. We really appreciate it. As always, if you have any comments or feedback, you know that we love to reply in the comments section. I'll leave you with this. Go out and train hard. See you in the next video.