One of the variants of footwork for net shot is to have your left leg cross the right one behind before extending your right leg. I have seen some pro doing so, but personally, I find this way awkward. Does anyone out there use this method? Why so if you do? Thanks.
This is confusing, can you rephrase it? You're suppose to go behind the leg that is stepping next before you move it. At least that is what I was taught.
Personally I think the difference between crossing in front and behind lies in the distance one can cover. You can go farther using the front crossing method. Crossing behind method - depending the situation, does not give you the same coverage but in comparison can be executed faster and also uses less energy.
Finally, I could remember the website this was at. Anyways, here's a link to an animation showing footwork to both forecourt corners with the leg crossing behind. http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~zt8s-oon/ftwork1.htm http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~zt8s-oon/ftwork2.htm This is the type of footwork I use. I'm not sure if I should use a different style to suit my height. I am fairly short, about 5'5". Phil
My coach in Hong Kong told me to do this too because the chances of touching your other leg will be slimmer and it makes you even strives longer than usual because for me, it has this awkwardness to get out of. I also forgot to say that you could change directions from say going to the right front court to the left because your left leg won't be in the way, but this is only for right-handed players. Wildstyler
Thanks for the link, Phil. It certainly doesn't look natural. It's something that a player would have to practice for a long time just to keep from tripping over his own feet, let alone gain mastery of it.
No problem, Californian. That's exactly what I thought when I saw it. I was like, man, that would feel so weird, but now it's what I do. Except of course in such cases as approaching from the rearcourt, because then it would take like 5 to 7 steps. Phil
In my opinion, for changing direction there's no difference crossing the legs in front or behind. It's easier for one to change direction with small steps. Most of the players here adopt the 2 step approach as far as I know. First one is a step and second the lunge. If you are in the lunge phase, whichever method (crossing in front or behind) you use I don't think you can change the direction. It is possible to change during the step phase. It's not easy but possible with training.
Interesting. In my opinion, there are various ways to move on a court. It depends on how tall you are, how fast you are, your positioning on the court, where the shuttle comes from, is there one leg more powerful than the other, etc. So, you can cross in front or behind, you can do one short shuffle and then a long lunge, you can do the three steps as you walk with the first one really short to gain more speed (as a sprinter), etc... Basically, you take the move that fits better for you.
The crossing of the legs in front do gives you a better distance and thrust forward and would be more suited for deep net drop shots (ie. the shuttle dropping very close to the net). For fast drop/chop/slice shots where the shuttle drops faster and closer to the short serve line, a crossing behind would give you a better reaction time!
to better attack Hi guys it's been a long time since I posted, but I think you're missing the point of doing the footwork this way. Notice that by crossing "behind" the upper body stays in an offensive positition (the racquet stay in front and can attack the shuttle faster) as oppose if you cross in front then you're racquet moves away from the front. Norm
I can't visualize the racquet positioning difference using either crossing in 'front' or 'behind'. As far as I am concerned your upper body is relaxed when you move, so you should be able to position the arm either in a more or less aggressive way. Basically I believe it depends how you use it on court. My opinion is still the coverage - crossing from behind method move you less far but should be faster.
I tihnk what Normand means is that when you cross your foot infront of the other, naturally the shoulder of your nonracket side will be nearer the net, there fore your racket hand behind you (further away from the net). The main disadvantage is the speed though. Instead of you having your speed accelerating towards one point all the time, you have one acceleration when you cross your foot over, then standstill, then another acceleration in the othe direction (a change of the angular velocities around your centre of pivot)
Sorry, I still can't see it! Suppose I am positioned at the base with my raquet foot forward. If I move with 2 steps towards the net, I still can't feel the arms difference either using behind or front leg crossing method!?
Right you stand like you say with racket leg forward, and racket out in front of you, ready to recieve. If you move you nonracket leg to cross over (when moving to forhand net) the shoulders will rotate around a pivot point of you neck, so your non racket shoulders are, momentarily at least closer to the net than your racket side shoulder. make any sense?
It's more a case of how the hips are oriented. From base to right front corner in three steps, right, left, right. If you move the left leg normally (as in running and walking), you hips will rotate and your body will turn to face in the direction you are moving. diagonally towards the corner. Your shoulders will tend to follow your hips, so your right arm endsup away from the net. If you chasse with the left leg by taking it behind the right leg, your hips stay more facing toward the net, and so the rest of your body tends to as well.
