Dominating Tennis

How to get a faster first step in tennis

Fall toward the ball. Never step away from it.

Key facts

  1. 1

    Planned change-of-direction speed and reactive agility share less than half their variance, so a fast time on cones doesn't mean a fast reaction to a ball.

    Young, Dawson & Henry

  2. 2

    In tennis movement, the first two or three steps matter more than top-end speed.

  3. 3

    Step-pattern research finds no single fastest start: sprint times differ by pattern, and the differences depend on direction and distance.

  4. 4

    Elite men run the spider agility drill in about 14.5 to 15.0 seconds and elite women in about 15.5 to 16.5 seconds.

Why it works

You can't push before you lean. Let your centre of mass topple toward the ball, then drive the outside foot into the ground. The ground pushes you the other way, toward the ball.

The fastest movers on a court are rarely the fastest sprinters. What separates them is the first step: sideways, off the outside foot, started by gravity. A step away from the ball feels like getting set. It costs time you never notice, because you were already moving.

Cover ground with long strides, then fix your spacing with short ones in the last couple of metres. Long strides all the way in make you over-run the ball.

At full speed almost nobody sees their own false step. You diagnose a first step on video, never by feel.

The line to say on court

“Fall first. Then drive.”

Drill: Point and go

12 min · with a partner
  1. Split step. After you land, your partner points left or right. Fall, push, take three steps, come back. Do 10 each side.
  2. Repeat with a ball fed to the corner. Hit and recover. Do 10 each side.
  3. Film from behind. Count the starts that begin with a step away from the ball.
Number to beat9 of 10 starts without a false step

More drills like this: footwork

Faults and fixes

The false step
Getting set feels safer than falling.
FixDo gravity-step reps: lean until you must step, then step toward the ball.
Standing tall at the split
There's nothing to fall from.
FixLand low, with your hips below your ready height.
First step forward, not sideways
Sprint instinct takes over.
FixPoint your first contact at the sideline, not the net.
Over-running the ball
Long strides all the way in.
FixTake short adjustment steps in the last two metres. Use spacing cones.
Treating ladder work as agility
It feels fast.
FixKeep ladders as a warm-up. Add a cue to react to once you're already moving.

Questions players ask

What is a false step in tennis?

It's a small step away from the ball before the run begins. It's a common club start, and at full speed almost nobody sees it, including the player.

Which foot should move first to a wide ball?

Push off the outside foot. It drives the ground away from the ball while your body falls toward it, and the inside foot only follows.

Do cone and ladder drills make you faster on court?

They train planned movement, not reacting to a ball. Planned change-of-direction speed and reactive agility share less than half their variance, so add a cue to react to.

How do I know if my first step is improving?

Film from behind and count starts without a false step. Retest every four to six weeks with the spider drill, which checks your legs but not your reading.

What this doesn't cover

Timing a first step from one camera gives a frame count, not a force-plate measurement. The step-pattern research has no single winner: which start is fastest depends on direction and distance. The spider drill is planned, so it tests your legs, not your reading.

Sources

Read next

Move and reactWhat is a split step in tennis, and when to do itA split step is a small hop you make before every ball, timed so you land around the moment your opponent hits. Start it on their forward swing. The landing pre-stretches your leg muscles like a spring, so you push off harder toward the ball. Land too early and the spring goes slack. Land too late and you're still in the air.Move and reactWhere to recover after your shot in tennisAfter you hit, recover to the line that splits your opponent's widest possible replies, not to the centre mark. That bisector moves with where they hit from: it matches the centre mark only when they are in the middle. After a sharp cross-court, it sits toward the side you hit from, so you can reach both of their widest replies.TrainHow to get faster on the tennis courtTo get faster on a tennis court, train the stop and the read, not the sprint. A point is a few short bursts that each end in a brake. Planned cone drills and reactive agility share less than half their variance, so drills where a partner calls the direction after your first step transfer to the court better than ladders.Serve and returnHow to return a fast serve: split, read, commitTo return a fast serve, read the toss and racquet before the ball is struck, start your split as the server hits and land it just after. A 200 km/h serve gives you about 333 ms and simple reaction takes about 200 ms, so you can't just react. On court, experts land about 133 ms after contact and move about 177 ms after it.