How to train tennis footwork properly and stop doing junk drills
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- A lot of the drills proposed for footwork are junk volume: they do not respect the performance model of the tennis player or any principle of training. We can do better!
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Thanks for the attention! :)
The only feet movement training i did for tennis is knowing how many steps it take to reach both sides and how to optimally reduce those steps
The main reason why drills exist which don't involve ball striking, is to allow you and concentrate on the things that you want to become part of muscle memory eventually.
1) footwork drills allow you to consciously focus on the legs and feet; you'll teach yourself putting the weight on the front foot, to use your upper legs for stability, and develop muscle through these drills.
2) shadow practice allows you to focus on the upper body, torso rotation, start and finish position of the stroke, etc. There is some controversy on shadow practice in tennis, because the element of the (incoming) ball might be too crucial for timing; but striking a vertical drop ball is almost uncontested, and we don't see this in match play eitther
Do ball striking ONLY instead and your brain will likely focus on striking the ball, forgetting to do the proper footwork or stroke mechanics.
By your assumption that all exercise should be directly related to match play, one could argue that only matches will suffice. But that isn't true:
3) regular ball striking drills will allow you to repeat a particular stroke many times
4) irregular ball striking combines multiple strokes and adds the decision making process
5) eventually, match play adds the mental pressure
Your claim is ridiculing any sports training program that builds up from the basic physical to the full tactical, isolating elements in a composite technique. Of course scientific research can improve such programs, but I wouldn't rank your dismissal as an example of that.
I have seen many ladder footwork drills. I guess most of them are useless.
Well not completely, it allows you to train to move your feet without tripping over them. They use it in American football, soccer etc for that reason. Last thing you want it to trip over your feet when adjusting fast
I wouldn't say they are useless, they help with balance and foot movement.
I guess a real drill for exercise and speed would be going to and from a position quickly while being able to split step and set and then repeat. Most common, cross court and drop shots and approaches.
Obviously having a person would be better to this or a ball machine you can set for random shots that make sense.
I could say definitely useless for high level players, because tennis performance has other characteristics. Potentially of some use for beginners: in that case practically every motor activity is conditioning and improves the coordination level when the level is basic, but clearly not comparable to playing tennis
Yes running round cones and jumping over hurdles are not the way to learn correct footwork.
The hurdle jumping indeed looks unrelated to tennis. The shuffles around cones give you many repetitions of an actual movement in tennis. It's not because an actual match doesn't have cones, or so many successions of shuffles, that this would be a bad training. A marathon doesn't involve intervals, yet marathon runners do interval training.
boxing footwork might help?
it's definitely better because there's a more complex coordination, you respond to external stimuli and you also use the upper body. it may be ok for an amateur, but when the level increases the training requires to be more and more specific
First thing you say that is correct. Because what you are promoting is for advanced players only. And even then like I said elsewhere, even Djokovic still does agility ladder drills. @@tennisscientist
These drills are not to simulate real game situations but rather it serve as plyometric exercises, to increase the player fitness, balance reaction time etc. So it's not totally redundant as you said.
Consider watching Karue Sell - going pro at 30, another tennis UA-camr. He fully endorsed these kinds of intensive exercises. He said after training these exercises, he started to win more matches.
Another instance is Jasmine Paolini, her fitness coach gave her all these intense drills to increase her fitness level. And she managed to be a finalist in grand slams twice this year.
The keyword here is intensity!
Also, please consider improving your English, it's very hard to understand. And you called yourself a tennis scientist! What a joke!!
in training a sport that requires so many variables for performance, it is very complex to extrapolate the variables that make one improve, so it is not obvious to "endorse" exercises by players, that is why there is scientific research. As for "the keyword is intensity" and that my English is not good at all, you are absolutely right, I apologize..😞 I am improving it😞
I dont buy this. what you called junk Drills are fundemental training that increases your ability to control your leg and keeping balance. Then you do tennis specific drill to train for tennis movement. Both are important
Unfortunately, thinking of training skills differently from the required performance and then "transforming" them or making them specific only later, is below optimal. In the end, it makes you waste time, training skills that will not be used or only relatively in tennis
Clickbait. Footwork drills being useless is too much to say
You are suffering from tunnel vision@@tennisscientist
The excersises you suggest are fine (and very commonly used) but in edition to the other stuff.
So all the footwork training Djokovic and Alcaraz fot example have done with the ability ladder (tons lf videos on youtube) were bullshit and a waist if time? Im sure you know better and if you were hus coach he would have won 35 grand slams by now 🫢
ua-cam.com/users/shortsch6tzVWfndg?si=iQTtM5JwTCVl6y51 just came across this today and had to think of your video again. Call Juan Carlos Ferrero that you found the reason why he lost at the US Open this year! He probably started doing this AFTER he won his 4 grand slams at 21 years old. Now everything has fallen apart due to these unspecific agility ladder drills 🥱
I try to give my contribution to improve the knowledge in the world of tennis training. If those improve, training improves and that is why the players who will come after this generation will be better than the current ones