The Contact Move

Pro Contact Moves: Two Foot Pivot, Lateral Transfer, and the Mogul Move. Tennis is a game of steps, stops, stances, and moves. Footwork and balance create the foundation for a reliable swing and good contact with the tennis ball. In a fully developed player, footwork patterns, directional changes, shot execution, and recovery all merge to become flowing, instinctive, and efficient. I have spent the past 15 years researching the steps and movements in professional tennis. When I met John Yandell several years ago, I began studying the film resources he had developed, which allowed me to test, validate and improve my understanding, looking frame by frame at the movement of the top pros. These articles present the results of some of this work, focusing on the concept of the Contact Move. >We need to go beyond the basic hitting stances. Most coaches and players believe there are 3 basic hitting stances in tennis: netural, open, and closed. What my research shows however is that the movement of the feet during the contact phase is more complex and dynamic than those simple distinctions. This is because players move their feet before, during and after the contact, and do this is in...