Beginning tennis players often fail to pay much attention to their footwork. However, players tend to take too many steps, which often makes the game much more difficult than it needs to be. Shuffling feet interfere with a player’s coordination, because a swing ideally involves the entire body, all the way down to the legs. When players take an excessive number of steps, they also eat up valuable time. Amateur players tend to take a step, or even two, toward a ball that is already coming toward them. These unnecessary movements result in poor, rushed strokes with limited power. By standing still, coiling the body, and concentrating on the swing, players can send the ball back with greater speed and control.

When the ball falls short of a player, he or

she must move forward to hit it. In these

cases, new players often take two or

three steps to get into position, instead of

simply pivoting on the outside foot to

step into the shot. Maneuvering this way

requires only one step and gives the

player valuable extra time to line up the

return shot.