Developing Advanced Footwork: Page 2

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As Pete releases the ball, he starts to shift his weight forward, letting his knees bend.
Pete reaches the full knee bend with the tossing arm extended.

Watch the start of Pete’s serve in the animation. He begins with his front foot raised. Don’t be distracted by that raised foot. That’s idiosyncratic –
a personal, stylistic touch in Pete’s motion that has nothing to do with his core bio-mechanics. Recently, I was in an elevator with a woman at a tennis club who was telling
her friend how much better she was serving since she started raising her foot like Pete! I don’t think so.
Maybe she experienced a placebo effect, but the raised foot has nothing to do with his actual motion or the advanced footwork pattern.

Note: As Pete’s arms drop, he lowers the front foot until it’s flat on the court. Then, as he releases the ball, his weight begins to fall deeply onto the front leg.

Try it like Pete if you absolutely must, but, the simplest starting stance is with both feet already flat on the court and your weight evenly balanced. The key is the shifting of the weight to the front…