Positioning Part 4 of 4: Recovery

This could be the most important part of these four parts on positioning. So often players feel like they are slow and unable to cover enough ground to play effectively, when in fact they have all the necessary foot speed (not as much as you might think), they just don’t recover effectively from the previous shot. It’s like being a sprinter with a ten pound weight on your foot. Recovery primarily means two things: regaining your balance and getting back into position.

Regaining your balance: It’s amazing to see most players below (and sometimes at) the elite level and how often they are unnecessarily unbalanced. For example, they play an aggressive forehand and make their forehand so off-balance that they have difficulty recovering for the next shot. While the weight should end towards the left foot on a strong forehand (for a right-hander), the weight should not be so far that you are off balance. Instead of doing that, rotate your body more in a circle, and you’ll ultimately be more balanced and ready to recover for the next shot.

It’s not just forehands; many players lose balance by leaning to the side to stroke or push, and place their weight on that side’s foot, throwing them off balance. They are then rushed to steady themselves for the next shot. Instead, step or slide toward the ball and stay balanced the entire time.

Follow back to position. It is not enough to regain your balance, then look where you need to go, and then move. After almost every shot you move out of position. And so some of your follow-up action should get you back into position. If you are right-handed and play a forehand or backhand from the forehand side, follow it to the left, back into position. If you play a forehand or backhand from the wide backhand, follow it to the right, back into position. It must be part of the natural progression.