Chapter 11 - Master Footwork
Footwork is the soul of all ball sports.
Excellent footwork allows players to always hit the ball in a comfortable position. Conversely, without good footwork, players have to hit the ball during moving, which causes more mistakes.
The purpose of footwork is to leave enough time and space for the body to hit the ball from a comfortable position.
Footwork Types
Common footwork includes stride step, cross steps, jump step, and split step.
Stride Steps refers to the action of striding the legs out in the direction of motion. The stride is large and is generally used for the last step in running, which can help stabilize the body.
Cross Steps are the movements of moving your legs crossed quickly. Cross steps are smaller steps and are generally used to move quickly or fine-tune your body position.
Jumping Steps to the action of moving quickly by jumping. The jumping speed is the fastest and the moving distance is the largest. It is generally used in the situation when you do not have enough time to hit the ball by running. You need to stabilize the body as soon as possible after landing.
Split Steps are small jumps to quickly open feet to low the position, and adjust the body to prepare to hit the ball or to move.
Single game player has a larger running range and can use the Cross or Stride steps mainly with the running movements. In doubles games, the players covered range is mostly not far, hence players can more Cross or Skipping steps, and pay attention to properly lowering the body and improve the stability for the shot.
When to Use
Typical footwork scenarios in double games include:
When Dink, follow the ball to move left and right, back and forth quickly;
When Drop, run with the ball to the net quickly;
When the opponent Lobs, retreat to smash the ball quickly, or run to the backcourt;
When the opponents get a good volley opportunity, move back proactively to defend.
Typical footwork scenarios in single games include:
When there's a good opportunity, run to the net to prepare to attack;
When the opponent returns the ball with a large angle, run to the ahead of the ball quickly to return it;
When the opponent Lobs, retreat to smash the ball quickly, or run to the backcourt;
When the opponent gets a good volley opportunity, move back proactively and defend.
Master Footwork
Usually a complete footwork can be divided into four key phases: starting, movement, braking and recovery.
Starting means that the athlete quickly adjusts the body to a ready state through split steps for movement. Movement means quickly moving your body into the best hitting position. Braking refers to decelerating the body to balance as quickly as possible and adjusting it to a relatively stationary state for hitting the ball. Recovery means to quickly move to a suitable position on the court after completing the shot to prepare for the next shot.
First, you should understand the characteristics of the various footwork and their suitable scenarios, so as to achieve a natural response.
Secondly, if you want to move fast with footwork, you must learn to control and adjust the height of your body's mass center. When the center of mass is high, the body can move fast, but is not stable. Therefore, when moving a long distance, it is necessary to quickly raise the center of mass by starting steps first. When you are ready to hit the ball, adjust the body’s mass center and maintain a stable hitting position.
Finally, you should use the training to improve the leg strength and the torso core strength.
Training Methods
Footwork trainings mainly include two parts, one is leg and core strength exercises, and the other is footwork dexterity exercises.
Supporting system exercise: Planks for at least 5 minutes. Do more than 20 push-ups in a row.
Squat exercise: squat against the wall and gradually increase the time, which should last more than 10 minutes. The squat should last for more than 3 minutes;
Burpee jump training: 50 jumps training, 3 sets per day;
Running practice: jog in the front, back, left and right directions, experience how to move quickly in different directions, and pay attention to relax your body. 1 minute in each direction;
Cross-step and turn around practice: Run left and right using cross-step to learn how to turn around quickly. 10 reps per set, 3 sets per day;
8 points running practice: Run 8 points around the court side in sequence, 10 runs per group, 3 groups per day.
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