Movement on Offense
By:  Scott Baker | Tennis4you  | Tennis Forum  | E-mail

When you are looking to be on the offensive end of a point your footwork can help you. One of the key elements of good offense is to set up for your shot early. The quicker you can get to your opponent’s shots the easier it will be for you to take control of the point. Recognizing when your opponent hits a short shot and moving to it early will help you get to the ball when it is closer to the net and the ball will still be higher in the air which makes it easier for you to attack.

One of the key elements of offense is stepping into your shots. Moving to the ball and stepping into the court with your weight behind your shot will help you hit harder shots and you will be taking the ball earlier. A lot of baseliners today will stand far behind the baseline and let the ball come to them which helps their opponent to recover after they hit each shot. If you can step inside the baseline to hit your shot you will be cutting down your opponent’s reaction and recovery time and hopefully setting yourself up for another offensive shot.

For serve and volley players the quicker you can get to the net the closer you will be to the net to hit your first volley. The closer to the net you are the easier it is to hit an offensive volley. The same holds true for those already at the net. If you see your opponent has hit a slow moving ball you should move to the ball as quickly as you can. Not only sideways, but moving forward as well. Close the net and hit your volley. The closer you are to the net the better angle you have, the ball will be higher and the percentages go up that your volley will be in.

Moving to your opponent’s shots quickly will help you take control of the points. Being lazy and not moving to shorter and slower hit shots by your opponent will help lower your chances of hitting better shots that can dominate your opponent. Recognize your offensive opportunities early and take control.