So basically it's a good thing if you set up the speed ladder in the double's alley and you are basically moving sideways as Alexander does here. And you want to make sure you jump over the sidelines just as a visual quo. And you always want to make sure you push off with the outside leg. That's very important in this drill. This drill is really great to also improve dynamic stability cause you are on one leg, gotta stick the landing, control the body and push off to the other side and you have to do that again.
Again, those are things you would be doing on the tennis court. That's why it's really great to do it as a speed ladder drill...to emulate the movement patterns that you encounter on the tennis court. Ok, next we are going to show you the T-Agility Drill as we have a T pattern on the court.
So we have 2 green agility rings in the center of the court, which is where we initiate the split step. Then we have the purple rings on the outside extension of the sideline and the blue rings right here in front. So, how we are going to do the drill is to initiate the drill we are going to split step into the green rings, then we move in sidestep as fast as we can to the purple side. Then we jump in, stick the landing. It's very important to be on one leg, stick the landing and push off to the other side. It's very important because we take advantage this way of the stretch-shortening cycle. You can think of as a spring. So you jump in, the spring goes down and then you push off and the spring expands propelling you to the other side. So you actually have a burst of energy propelling you to the other side. That's why we want to do the stick landing on one leg, jump in jump out. So do not have 2 feet on the ground when you change direction. And Alexander is going to demonstrate it for us. One time he does it slowly and then we are going to do it at maximum speed.
Ok, here we go. Ok, now. Slowly. In sidestep fashion jump in one leg, jump out, sidestep to the other side. Jump in left foot, jump out then forward sprint. Both legs in, backpedal, and once you are past the baseline it's done. Ok.
So, next we are going to do it at full speed. So, here we go. That's the way to work! Come on, come on! Good. As you can see, the agility rings are a great teaching cue because they don't allow the athlete to cheat. Ok, next we are going to have the H-Drill because we have the movement pattern of and So, you split-step in the center of the baseline to initiate the drill. Then you move via sidestep along the baseline. Split-step again, sprint forward, split-step in the blue rings. Sprint to the yellow ring, left foot sticks the landing, sprint to the other yellow ring, the right foot sticks the landing.
Sprint back and backpedal all the way to the back. So, this is an all-court agility drill that is great for tennis players because we really mimic the movement mechanics you would see on the tennis court. Ok, so we are going to initiate the drill the split-steps occur. Ok? So here we go. Whenever you are ready!
In. Good, good, good, good. Stick it, good! That's it. Stick it, good. Sprint, sprint, stick with the left. No, was the wrong foot. And backpedal.
Ok. 15 seconds. In today’s session we want to introduce you to on-court tennis drill that aims at improving the inside-out forehand, lateral movement on the court and also court awareness, depending on where you are hitting a shot. So stay with us and Alexander is going to demonstrate the drills for us.
First I’m going to show you how the setup for the drill works, where you need to put the cones and what you need to pay attention to and while the drill is going on I will also explain what’s important, why we are doing it and the benefits associated with this drill. We hope you stay with us and enjoy. Ok, this is how the drill is setup.
We basically have two target areas you can setup with the cones. One is here at the corner end where we hit the groundstroke down the line and then over here we have the target area for the backhand cross-court or the inside-out forehand cross-court depending on which ball is coming. This will be the neutral zone that Alexander needs to return to in order to be ready for the next shot depending on where the opponent is going to hit the ball.
So this will be the neutral zone here where we have the orange ring, which is important for court awareness after you hit the groundstroke down the line. Now, one thing I want to point out regarding the footwork for the inside-out forehand is the following: The way we do it is that we are moving in sidestep fashion this way. Then we are doing a posterior cross-over and then we step into the ball all the way.
Now, I’m aware that Nadal has a different technique, which is also ok, and both techniques have their advantages and disadvantages. For example, Nadal moves this way backwards. Quick steps and then hits the shot. Now, this way, when you move backwards this way, it is more difficult to maintain dynamic stability. When you go really really fast it’s more difficult Nadal’s way than our way because
during our way the base of support is wider so are more stable during the movement. So, you are more stable this way and you can load on the right leg, or the posterior leg so to speak, to then rotate in and follow through the action. That’s the reason why we move laterally, then do the posterior cross-over and then hit fully through the shot instead of moving backwards with fast steps and hitting this way.
Now, when you move backwards quickly like Nadal does it the advantage is that you can fine-tune your movement and the distance to the ball but the disadvantage is that it is much more difficult to stable during the shot or while you are moving this way. I hope you find that information useful and can make your decision on how you want to move for the inside-out forehand. So first ball to the forehand side, good, second ball you feet to the backhand side,
middle, third ball again to the forehand side and now again towards the middle cone there for the inside-out forehand. And again. Bravo. Afterwards, after you hit the four balls you want to give him 20 seconds rest because that’s what we mimic during a match, where, after each point, we get 20 seconds rest.
If you work with beginners you might give them a little longer rest period so that they can recover and still be able to maintain the drill in perfect form. Well, that’s it again for today’s episode. As usual, opinions can differ. What’s your point of view? Let us know below in the comment section. A brand new episode will be available next Sunday. So make sure you don’t miss it and subscribe!
In the meantime I recommend you watch some of the previous episodes – you should really watch them all! If you like what you saw tell your friends – I’m sure they will appreciate it. I’m Philipp Halfmann, Thank you for watching and Auf Wiedersehen!