Welcome back to the Road to Pro Newsletter!

Let's jump right in.

Here's the thing nobody likes to hear: Most points you "lose to your opponent's great shot," you actually lost a second earlier with your feet. The thing is, most players are beating themselves by being in the wrong spot on the court.

Here are the three major mistakes I see often, and quick fixes for each one:

1. You're split-stepping too late. Don't split-step when your opponent hits the ball or after. You need to be split-stepped and balanced before your opponent makes contact with the ball. This way, you'll be able to react to the shot they hit to you and move in any direction you need.

2. You're freezing after you hit your shot. Assume that the ball is always coming back. After every shot, reset your feet, get balanced with your weight on the balls of your feet, and put your paddle back up at ready position. Hit, reset, repeat. Don’t sit and watch your shot land, otherwise you won’t be ready for when it comes back.

3. You're crossing your feet to get to wide balls. Shuffle your feet instead. Keep your hips more square to the net, get behind the ball, and be steady and balanced at contact. If you're moving and off-balanced as you hit the ball, you have far less control over your shot, and it's a lot harder to recover for the next one.

If you want a deeper dive into advanced footwork, check out the footwork section of the video below (starting at timestamp: 10:47).

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I challenge you to pick one footwork technique from this issue and start working on it this week.

Feel free to send this to your doubles partner if this helped you.

See you in the next one!

- Shea