Movement and Footspeed

Most videos online are about the technical side of the game.  My videos are broken down into various aspects: technical, mental, tactical, movement, drills, etc.  On this page I am mainly providing an ongoing, growing library of videos regarding the movement aspect of the game.  In many ways I try and provide what I teach players of all levels and in many cases things that you will not find discussed on line usually.  Much of this comes from working with college players but also young and adult students I have. You can also go to my podcast page (The Coach Steve Clark PhD Show) and listen to some of my shows regarding speed, fitness, nutrition etc from world recognized authorities and practitioners among elite US players, college players and touring professionals.  These principles apply to all levels.

Offense, Defense, Neutral: I have used this movement sequence for many years at all levels (8 years old to college, beginners to advanced).  It is a great way to get warmed up while working on open and closed stance movement, balance, recovery, and proper use of the hips etc.  There are innumerable combinations and things to focus on as well when doing this aside from even the fitness aspect.  In this video I demonstrate the basics and some more advanced movements and there is a short clip of my daughter when she was 8 years old doing group movement with other eager young players.

 

Offense/Defense/Neutral footwork

Here are a few video clips that I have used for all levels and ages of players (young kids like Joy and friends here at age 8, club level ladies, and collegiate players). The first two drills I have used for all levels of players (juniors through collegiate) and even ATP players have used the second drill, the basket drill.

The first drill is Offense, Defense, Neutral. This particular drill and video turned out to be the most watched video at Stanford’s Nike camp on line of all time. It is Joy (8) and several of her drill group buddies with me working the drill.  The goal is footwork in all positions, cardio, and fun.  The first player does all the hitting with the others having to shadow the same distance and pattern so they can work on the footwork and rhythm as well.

  • Offense is closed stance moving into the court with as much rotation and “roll out” as possible when needed.  The cross step, shuffle, shuffle movement is important as well.  Joy has very good foot speed (later used in an elite soccer team) and balance at 8 years old.
  • Defense is when I toss the ball back and she has to learn to move back and hit open stance with even some rolling back to open up the hips etc.
  • Neutral is hitting along the baseline open stance.

The second drill is a basket drill which gives the player feedback (Graham and Joy in this case) on keeping the arm away from the body. Too often peoples’ elbows are like Chicken wings and too close to their body.  Having the arm out reasonably so allows for faster rotation and getting into contact position faster and more efficiently.  The player circles around the basket with the arm back and ready then runs to the ball. You can alter the distance running to incorporate cardio work as well.

The music is Let It Rip by Mike and Bob Bryan (yes the #1 ATP dubs team plays great music in addition to great dubs).  This is the same song I use for the intro to my podcast (The Coach Steve Clark PhD Show) that Wayne Bryan introduces. Wayne was my first guest and has been a great support over the years.

 

Creating Space: Many players, at various levels, get jammed when trying to hit inside out forehands. Or, since I coach players to hit more forehands (see my podcast with Craig O’Shannessy (Djokovic’s strategy coach) on The Coach Steve Clark PhD show) they need to learn how to move better to do that. I show you how to move more efficiently in fewer steps to do this.