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A thread on hard court sliding & movement (ATP)
1/ There have been plenty of lightning fast athletes throughout tennis history. But todayâs game, alongside its high-margin, spin-laden power, has spawned a fascinating development in terms of on-the-run hard court movement
1/ There have been plenty of lightning fast athletes throughout tennis history. But todayâs game, alongside its high-margin, spin-laden power, has spawned a fascinating development in terms of on-the-run hard court movement
2/ Sliding on-the-run has almost always been commonplace on clay courts. But consistently sliding on the stretch on a hard court, making contact with the ball *whilst simultaneously stopping*, is, generally speaking, a new invention of the last 15-20 years.
3/ Here we have the traditional, on the run, change of direction courtesy of Pete Sampras. On both sides when faced with a ball that was nearly out of reach, we see traditional recovery steps. He makes contact, in a closed stance, and *afterwards* stops and turns around
4/ This was seen as the accepted technique for much of tennis history when hitting from these kind of positions.
Because contact & stopping/turning-around are 2 separate actions in this method (1 *hit ball*, 2 *slow down/turn*), recovery back to the middle of the court is slow
Because contact & stopping/turning-around are 2 separate actions in this method (1 *hit ball*, 2 *slow down/turn*), recovery back to the middle of the court is slow
5/ In contrast, here's the more recent development of the one step jump & slide, on the full stretch, courtesy of Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal (the trailblazers of modern baseline movement) + Auger-Aliassime & Monfils
6/ NB: the Sampras vs 'modern' comparison is simplistic, & isnât meant as like-for-like given Pete had a singlehander & no 2 points are the same. Comparison is merely to show difference in recovery time, footwork & body positioning from on-the-run positions between the techniques
7/ Modern players (above video) can plant their outside leg in 1 big leap, in an open/semi-open stance.
*simultaneously stopping & making contact*
This means a player is ready to push off that outside leg & move back to middle of the court almost immediately following contact
*simultaneously stopping & making contact*
This means a player is ready to push off that outside leg & move back to middle of the court almost immediately following contact
8/ Not only does this streamline 2 motions (ball contact & changing direction) into one, but it also has various biomechanical advantages WRT to power generation & stability (wide base: legs, freer rotation of upper body etc)
Here's @_markpetchey with a great visual explanation:
Here's @_markpetchey with a great visual explanation:
9/ This evolution of movement has produced baseliners who seem impossible to hit through. Tennisâ age-old advice of âtaking time away from the opponentâ is orders of magnitude harder when players can recover back to a central position in the court faster than ever before.
10/ Positional advantage has almost certainly never been countered more successfully than it is these days, in the baseline tennis meta that we find ourselves in. Hereâs Novak again to demonstrate:
11/ This evolution has simply enabled the more athletic modern players to:
- Hit offensive shots, that historically would have been defensive
or
- Retrieve balls, that historically would have been un-retrievable
+ then recover for the next potential shot in record speed
- Hit offensive shots, that historically would have been defensive
or
- Retrieve balls, that historically would have been un-retrievable
+ then recover for the next potential shot in record speed
12/ This improvement in on-the-stretch power/stability & shotmaking, is in exchange for significantly more extreme joint (ankle, knee, hip) pressure caused by the more abrupt stop inherent in a large-step slide (compared to spreading the impact over multiple steps)
13/ Finally, an interesting aspect of this evolution is the emergence of 'fast giants'. Despite tennis getting taller (Zverev 6ft5, Tsitsipas 6ft4, Auger-Aliassime 6ft4, Hurkacz 6ft5) it's also becoming more nimble & building on top of Djokovic et alâs work
14/ Each of these up-and-comers regularly employ the sort of lunging slides (and therefore faster recovery back to the middle of the court) mentioned above, regardless of surface
15/ This wasnât true of the emerging next-gen in the late 90âs (& even into the beginning of the 2000âs), which makes this evolution all the more fascinating with regard to its relatively fast adoption
16/ Some notes:
Federer burst on the scene at a time (late 90âs) when the above technique wasnât prevalent. But Fed managed to learn a version of it mid-career & you can now occasionally see him utilising it on his forehand side to great effect. An impressive form of adaptation
Federer burst on the scene at a time (late 90âs) when the above technique wasnât prevalent. But Fed managed to learn a version of it mid-career & you can now occasionally see him utilising it on his forehand side to great effect. An impressive form of adaptation
17/ Chang & Srichaphan for e.g were early e.g's of players sliding on hard courts, but the vast majority of their slides came after contact rather than during. Neither consistently employed then open stance, single leap into contact of the more modern players.
18/ Modern players are also better than ever at hitting the ball & then stopping by way of a slide (especially on short balls) rather than taking recovery steps. But players had started to do this, albeit less impressively than todayâs borderline gymnasts, in late 80âs/90âs
19/ Players are now better at retrieval & point elongation than ever, and while some courts have undoubtably slowed, the perception of speed will also have been influenced by increasingly impressive movement abilities from the sports biggest stars.
20/ Lower-bouncing/faster courts, more grass/carpet, more volleying, heavier racquets, less forgiving strings, smaller racquet heads, meant that players from previous eras didnât need to, or couldnât, develop their movement as modern baseliners have in past 20 years
21/ This thread should by no means be read as a criticism or marginalisation of what previous eraâs achieved with regard to mobility, as those bygone stars were merely optimising for what the game of their own time demanded/allowed. They were extraordinary in their own ways!
22/ Fin.
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Bonus/ Another great e.g from Hubert Hurkacz today vs Thiem.
Just 20 years ago it would have seemed very unusual for a 6ft5 player to be able to move like this.
Backhand foot-plant lunge/slide, straight back to the middle of the court for the next ball. Awesome.
@TennisTV
Just 20 years ago it would have seemed very unusual for a 6ft5 player to be able to move like this.
Backhand foot-plant lunge/slide, straight back to the middle of the court for the next ball. Awesome.
@TennisTV
Raw footage credits:
