Bailey’s Blog

There are so many times where I have been approached by parents and coaches to assess their child/student in relation to their footwork, athleticism and I guess their overall potential as a tennis player.

So what do I look for?

It is important to see natural instincts first….and this tells me a lot about potential!

I have devised a set of 9 different feeds with very simple instructional tips i.e. ”I want you to hit this fed ball ONLY off your front foot” or “Hit everyball off one foot” or “Move back off the baseline, hit, then recover back to the baseline” etc…..I video and then write a comprehensive written report which includes a rating system, areas for improvement and final comments. Then, after teaching them The Bailey Method I then film them at the end of each term and again assess and review. This becomes a ongoing process! Remember that moving well is moving well in ALL DIRECTIONS and being well balanced and strong in every offensive , defensive and rallying situation i.e. You handle a variety of different approaching balls with similar ease and confidence!

So the first assessment is to see ’What they do naturally’…..but let me say that most footwork is NATURALLY BAD not naturally good! I have been involved in numerous talent ID days …..however, once in a while you DO see a player with that X Factor!

What is this X factor? The X factor is something you see and feel that is within a player that sets them apart from others. There is something special about them that catches your eye and stands out. And mostly it comes from within….. the child has a love for competition and a love of the sport itself …..this I believe is crucial!!

But, I am a movement guy….so what do I look for?….I think that a key ingredient are  they have a GOOD SENSE OF RHYTHM, ANTICIPATION and REACT QUICKLY. Another crucial factor is self motivation, they LOVE TO RUN and chase everyball. I can train them, and of course they need great swings but above all they have this GREAT ENERGY, which you can’t teach! Look at Nadal and Hewitt! There quickness comes from their heart not there legs!   

The last blog on positioning on the court relates to how you should position your BODY in relation TO THE BALL.

Your shoulders should be squared up to the location of the ball in your opponents court. For example, if the ball is in the center of the court, your shoulders, hips and fet should be “squared up” directly towards the net. If the ball has bounced cross court or down the line the shoulders, hips and feet should be facing directly towards where the ball has landed.

Previously we looked at court geometry and where and why we recover to the correct location, but just as important is how we position ourselves up and down the court i.e. depth of court.

How deep you stand will vary with your style of play, personality, skill level and court surface. It will also vary on whether your taking control with offensive contact moves, maintaining control with rallying contact moves or regaining control with defensive contact moves.

The fundamental starting position is 3 to 5 feet behind the baseline when rallying and both players are maintaining control of the point. But, if your opponent moves away from the net or is stretched out wide , you should move in closer to the net….. In extreme cases when you are attacking the ball with your feet and putting the opponent under great pressure, you should stay inside the baseline and anticipate a short ball or a floating ball that you can take out of the air. However…..if you hit a short ball and your opponent is in a aggressive position you might want to take a step back and give your self more time to react.

This is the second blog on POSITIONING on the tennis court. Positioning relates to how, when and where is the best place to LOCATE yourself on the court when the opponent is getting ready to hit the ball.

There are 3 important factors when positioning yourself on the court:

1.) Where you GEOMETRICALLY position yourself on the court in relation to where the ball is being hit.

2.) The DEPTH of your position on the court.

3.) How you position yourself in RELATION TO THE BALL when the opponent is about to make contact with the ball.

This blog will concentrate on geometric court positioning.

In tennis it is crucial to understand geometrically how to position yourself on the court as correct positioning will give you maximum time to react and minimal distance to move to your opponents shot. Geometric positioning is UNDERSTANDING where YOU need to recover to and/or position on the court according to where your opponent is ABLE to hit his shot. In a nutshell…..you need to bisect the angle of your opponents greatest possible range of shot or …..position yourself at the MIDPOINT of the greatest angles that your opponent can possible create. Thus I like to call this the mid point recovery position.

For example, if you hit the ball to the center of the court, your mid point recovery position should be the middle of the court.

If you hit the ball cross court you position yourself a few steps to the same side of the centreline so you can cover your opponents sharp angled reply. Remembering, if your opponent goes down the line the shot is coming towards you but a down the line shot is going away from you.

However, if you hit down the line the mid point recovery position changes a few steps to the OTHER SIDE of the centerline as now you need to ready for your opponents sharp cross court angled reply. The take home message is that when you go the line you must recover a lot further than when you go cross court.

This brings up a couple of important points about playing a shot down the line. You must understand that firstly……you must recover further….secondly…..understand what contact move suits a down the line shot……thirdly….be very balanced as the shot is more difficult and risky i.e. you hit over the high part of the net, the short part of the court, have less court to hit into and usually are changing the direction of the ball flight. My rule of thumb is only go down the line when you are in control of the point and your feet are well up in the court!