The Building
Contact Moves

David Bailey

In this new series for Tennisplayer, we are looking at the incredible variety of movement patterns in pro tennis, and specifically, the concept of the Contact Move, which describes how the feet and body move before, during, and after the hit. (For an introduction to the Contact Move concept, Click Here.)

My life's work in researching tennis movement has established that there are 15 Contact Moves used by elite players. These contact moves have four categories: Attacking, Building, Counter-Attacking and Defensive Contact Moves.

In the last article we looked at the aggressive Contact Moves when players are looking to finish the point or force a weak reply to finish with the next ball. (Click Here.) Now let's look at the second category, what I call the Building Contact Moves.

The Building Moves are used when players are standing their ground in rallies, looking to maneuver their opponents in order to open the court, and/or trying to generate a response from the opponent to go on the attack. There are four Building Contact Moves. Let's look at them in detail.

Low Spin

Players use Low Spin typically when moving sideways along the baseline, or sometimes a slight diagonal backwards. Players use the Low Spin to deal with high velocity balls, but high velocity balls that are either relatively low bouncing, or that they intend to play on the rise. This makes the contact at around hip to waist height, versus the higher contact points on the High Spin move as we'll see below.

The Low Spin begins from an open stance, either fully or semi open, with the weight loaded on the outside leg. The player spins the hips and feet through the hit. But the player keeps the body relatively low and close to the court-hence the name.

As he spins, the bend in the both legs remains roughly the same. After the spin he usually lands on the outside foot, or the foot closest to the ball, although he may come down at times on both feet simultaneously.

Because the legs stay bent, the landing on the outside foot is usually flat with the toes pointing in the direction of the shot. This means the toes will point straight ahead on a down the line, and at more of an angle on the crosscourt.

Notice how the player is spinning through the ball but at the same time maintaining his position relative to the baseline. From this position he can hit another building shot, or make a more aggressive move depending on the response. The Low Spin can also be used when the ball is hit at the body or when the player moves around the ball to hit inside, again depending on contact height.

High Spin

The High Spin move has similar elements to the Low Spin, but is hit on high balls with heavy topspin. Typically players use the High Spin contact move from deeper positions behind the baseline. The contact height ranges from around chest to shoulder level. Again the player is spinning his body through the shot to maintain his position in the rally and/or open the court for attack.

Like the Low Spin, the set up is with the outside leg loaded in a semi or open stance. The big difference is that the player explodes upward off the back leg to the higher contact height. Rather than both legs staying bent at angles similar to the set up, the outside leg straightens, while the bend in the front leg further away from the ball can actually increase.

The landing on the high spin is virtually always on the outside or set up leg. The amount of body spin varies somewhat with the shot placement, and ,again, the toes of the outside foot--the foot that was closest to the ball--will point in the direction of the hit.

As with the Low Spin, notice how the player stands his ground-even though the ball is higher and heavier. In this way he defends his position relative to the baseline. This means he stays in the point on the same footing or hopefully pushes the opponent sufficiently to attack the next reply.

Lateral Hop

The Lateral Hop is the third forehand Building Contact Move. The Lateral Hop is hit when the player is trying to maintain court position, but cannot fully set up behind the ball.

The player loads on the outside leg with some version of an open stance. But as he uncoils, he hops laterally or to his right, landing on the same foot as in the set up. The hop can be to close the distance to reach and strike the ball, and/or to deal with and control the momentum of the movement.

The Lateral Hop can be hit on balls at different heights but is generally hit on lower balls, with less rotation in the torso than the first two building moves. The shoulders typically finish parallel to the net or close. This, in addition to the hop, separates it from the spin contact moves.

On lower balls, the legs will tend to stay bent, while they will straighten out when the player goes higher off the court. As with the spin moves, the player lands on the outside foot closer to the ball.

Closed Backhand

In pro tennis, most wide backhands--hit with either one or two hands--are hit with some version of a closed stance. The Building Move on the backhand is hit with a more extreme version of this closed stance. I call this building move the Closed Backhand.

On the Closed Backhand, the player is unable to get fully behind the ball and set up. Because of this, he uses a cross step that is more to the side. sideways. Usually, when the player takes the final step into the closed stance, the toes of the front foot will point directly at the sideline.

As with the other Building Contact Moves, the Closed Backhand is used to maintain position in the rally, and deal with a wide ball with retreating further behind the baseline. The Closed Backhand allows the player to stay in the rally. It can also create pressure on the opponent that can lead to attack.

As with the spin moves, the player is rotating through the shot on the Closed Backhand. After the hit, the front foot leaves the court and pivots around until it faces the net. The trailing leg will come around the outside of the body then plants for a push back recovery step.

Watch the top players. See how they all build points using these moves to maintain or create the opportunity to attack.

So that's it for the Building Moves! Although I developed the concept of the Contact Move years ago, it is still unfamiliar in the tennis lexicon to many players and coaches, and the variations are complex.

So post your comments and questions in the Forum and let's discuss it all! And stay tuned for the Counter Attacking Moves and the Defensive Moves coming up in future articles.