Bailey’s Blog

• Balance is beautiful
• Balance is a more encompassing term term than footwork training as it involves the whole body just not the feet
• A fundamental for balance in tennis is get the outside foot behind the ball and both feet facing the side fence
• Another fundamental is always keep your base when moving to the ball  and setting up the hitting stance- feet wide apart
• You need to feel balance and sense timing
• Beautiful is simple, simple is beautiful
• It begins with a wide stance so balance is maintained through the swing
• To maintain balance while constantly shifting the weight is an art few ever acquire
• The easy way is usually the right way
• Weight distribution, proper finish and balance all hinge upon proper preparation
• Freeze your finish - be fully conscious of your follow through and balance. Poise like a photo and you will hold your weight down and stay on balance. It also makes you put more feeling attention on your point of contact.
• We all focus on our own balance but what about the balance of the opponent! The second you see the opponent off balance, react and explode in and take the ball out of the air. Your aim should be attack and take advantage of your athletic ability. Look at Venus Williams….she is a great example.
•  Upper body sits atop of the pelvis and legs like a jockey sitting on a horse. The jockeys job is to stay balanced, the power comes from the horse (lower body)
• Achieve balance by proper positioning of the chest and minimizing side to side and up and down movement
• The way you carry your arms also helps balance. The movement of the forearms doesn’t as much as the movement of the elbows.
• True effectiveness requires balance
• The better your balance the more power you have
• The better the footwork the better the balance
• When someone is balanced it is poetry written with the human body
• Sinking into the legs and great body alignment is crucial to balance
• With balance, be sure to keep the feet under you
• Dynamic balance is Ying/Yang. Be soft but not yielding/ be firm but not hard.
• True effectiveness requires balance, with balance we become effortlessly effective.
• Balance is daily decrease rather than daily increase - making it simple is difficult.
• Great balance comes from constantly adjusting. these adjustments might be small but they involve adjustment of the head, feet, hands, racket, hips, shoulders feet and stance. 

I am a huge fan of the TV show “So you think you can Dance?” (US version) because it show cases the fantastic challenges and talents of both the dancer and  choreographer.

It was interesting watching one segment last week where you see the choreographer (Latino dance expert) working with 2 dancers. The Russian male dancer was well practiced and comfortable with the Latin Ballroom style and the American female dancer had never danced Latin before.

It was fascinating what the choreographer said to the female dancer who was struggling with the steps. He said “You don’t need to remember the names of the steps, because your partner knows them, I call them out so he understands what to do next! Just follow his lead!” 

Why have I mentioned this?

Because this is what language does: It’s main purpose is to help you understand what needs-to be done. Understanding is the keystone to learning!

With the Bailey Method, the reason I have named all the steps and moves in tennis,  is because with a set language you have a communication process where players can understand what you want them to do. By having a set language you understand what to do next and what needs to be done. It takes away confusion which is essential for good learning and teaching.        

Professional Players all have one thing in common when returning serve. They have a set return of serve routine and use all the 5 R’s every time they PRACTICE THEIR return of serve.  The 5R’s are 5 progressive footwork techniques that you use when moving to and from every ball when playing tennis. 

I always list them as getting ready then reading then reacting then responding and finally recovering on the court. The 5 R’s slightly differ when hitting ground strokes, approach shots, serves, volleying and returning serves but the general 5 principles do not.  Below is how the 5 R’s relate to the return of serve -

1^st Getting READY on the toes – 

A.)          Walk up in a confident and relaxed manner to their preferred returning position on the court B.)          Perform ready steps when the opponent is bouncing the ball in preparation for the serve C.)         Get into a strong athletic position when the opponent has stopped bouncing the ball and is getting ready to serve  2^nd READ the toss of the serve -  D.)         Take a small step with the dominant foot (player preference) when the player STARTS the up phase of the ball toss 

3^rd REACT with a split step  E.)          Split step when the player hits the ball and adjust the feet (out steps) into the relevant hitting stance 

    4^th RESPOND with an offensive, rallying or defensive  contact move depending on the effectiveness of the opponents serve and the returning player’s mindset      5^th RECOVER  F.)          Regain balance with a brake step (if needed) 

G.)         Followed with recovery steps to the MIDPOINT RECOVERY POSITION (this depends on where return landed i.e. cross court, down the line or middle of court)

Note: The depth of the midpoint recovery position will also depend on the effectiveness of the return i.e. are you inside, on or behind the baseline?  

As a footwork coach I am questioning and exploring teaching methodologies and class content: what to teach, how and why I teach.

With every footwork lessons there is aural, visual and kinaesthetic element that needs to be seen, heard and felt by every student to understand certain concepts that are trying to be taught. To focus on only one of these is to limit the students understanding of this art form. Fed ball, live ball, shadow tennis, drop feeds, match play etc.. all need to take their place along side technique, tactics and pyhsical preperation to give students a well -rounded education.

The Bailey Method is a syllabus if a syllabus is viewed as a progressive way to fundamental movements for tennis. It is about using a set language of steps, hitting stances, approaching balls and contact/balance moves. It is about putting it together like building blocks- brick upon brick -to build your house.  

I think however a syllabus should be more of a reference and more of a resource. You have to be careful not to stifle creativity and freedom of movement. I perform every class off the student, and really try to teach the lesson specifically for them. Im not going : ‘well this is lesson number five so we are going to do a mogul move” …that being said …the langauge and steps don’t change but it is working out what works and what feel conmfortable for each student.

I can teach my students maniupulations and footwork but more importantly I encourage self observation. If we wrap our ideas too tightly , we can kill them rather than let them evolve and expand.

I am a strong advocate for self exploration. You must have a syllabus or teaching method that is interested in developing techniques that help students become there own teacher and develop their own uniqueness - a teaching method that helps the player identify and refine their own style. Learning a dictionary full of steps and moves does not make a tennis player.

We need a syllabus that is like a menu of moves and steps. The moves are there to to be recognise and used but always applied to each individual.  

Every morning you wakeup, stumble out of bed and flick on a light switch to see where you are going.

From this daily moment on till the time you go to bed, be like that flash of light, be a person who is positive, loving, exciting, fun and safe to be around.

Try not to be a person who turns off their switch and walks in the dark, avoid being a person who is negative, scared angry, left out or lonley.

 Switch yourself on not off. 

I read this in an article written on footwork by Jose Higueras (has worked with several top 10 ATP professionals) and I totally agree which his analogy (which I think is brilliant and indeed so accurate)

“How many times have you heard the following phrases: “don’t give any ground”; “always move forward for the ball”; “don’t hit off your back foot”? In the United States, “hug the baseline” and “take the ball on the rise” have become self-evident truths; to play well, you must play this way.

This is a myth. If you want to proof, look at the pro game. The world’s best players frequently hit the ball while leaning backward, not into the court, or while retreating from the baseline. The pros don’t do this because of nerves or bad technique, but out of necessity. As Rafael Nadal, who might have the best feet in the world, explained when a reporter asked him why he spent so much time well behind the baseline against Fernando Verdasco in the Australian Open semi finals, “Did you see the speed of the ball or not?”

Nadal points out a simple fact about footwork in today’s modern, baseline-oriented game: You can’t fight the ball. If it’s coming slowly, move in and take the offensive. But if it’s coming quickly, you need to adjust. Imagine you’re standing in the middle of a circle, ready to react to the ball from 4 feet behind the baseline. You have four obvious choices – forward, left, right or back – along with all directions in between. In other words, footwork is a 360-degree skill. It requires reading the ball immediately and taking the most efficient path to the ball. This is because it’s essential for the players to learn these skills as early as possible. “

Jose Higueras

Through all the contact moves that I teach I have developed a great way to explain 360-degree footwork skill. I call it Concentric out step footwork zones.

This means that any ball that comes on your side of the net you have no doubt that you can handle this ball because you have mastered movement in all directions.

Below is a very basic guideline of moving to the ball.  It is based on moving out through a series of concentric circles of out steps so you can cover the above mentioned 360-degree directional plane of movement to the ball.

0 steps to the ball – out steps are pivot steps. Contact moves are 2 foot, 1 foot and step down pivots

1 step to the ball – step out with the foot closest to the ball. Contact moves are step downs, 2 foot pivots and 1 foot pivots

2 steps to the ball – rhythm step to the ball with a heel strike action while keeping a straight body axis and the weight back. Contact moves are step downs, 2 foot pivots and 1 foot pivots and front foot hops (with baseline recovery)

3 -5 medium steps to the ball-  adjust the feet the feet to the ball with the weight back into semi-open stance, always make sure you keep the angles in your legs and attempt to hit off a stable stance. The last step should be wide to help with stability and weight transfer. Again move with the weight back and hit with a back foot front foot action. Contact moves are front foot hops (attack the net), step downs, low spins, reverse spins and transfers. Always hit off a stable stance.

Cross out to the ball with big steps-  if challenged to reach the ball start with a drop step or a pivot step if cutting the angle  i.e. moguls, lateral hops, back foot hops  and closed pivots. These contact moves  will probably be hit off and unstable stance.

Run to the ball – widen the split step and always use a  drop step as your first movement of the foot closet to the ball. Contact moves are power moves and running for drop shots. Mostly hit off an unstable stance.

Please note: The out steps are suggestions only but at least it gives some guidance and a loose syllabus to work from. See Question and Answer section in website to see photos of contact moves if unfamiliar with the terms.