Footwork: Ready Position

Start from a low ready position with a wide stance, learn when to split step,
stay low with knees bent when moving to the ball and when recovering.

Ultimately the secret to great tennis is great footwork! Great footwork means the ability to move into position to hit the ball and then recover and be ready for the next shot. Great footwork will improve your reactions
to the ball and how you well judge it. It will move you consistently into better position and improve your strokes. It will help you generate power from the ground and up through your body. Good footwork will provide the
rhythm and timing of the point, and much, much more.

This may sound simple, but it takes work and discipline to develop. Tennis teachers teach the ready position in the first
lesson to beginners, but may not emphasize it enough with every level of play. I find myself coming back
to the ready position in almost every lesson. If students can make the first move correctly and get back
into the ready position, they can make the first move to the next shot the same way. That consistency
builds confidence.

The starting point for…