If you’re read any of my blog posts, you’re familiar with the split-step - and you know how much I value it’s importance. No matter what your level, if you’re not maximizing this quality, your movement (and everything that follows), will inevitably suffer. 

But it’s not just juniors or club players that have issues with this quality. Believe it or not, even touring professionals aren’t maximizing this basic skill. Some in the tennis world believe it’s a reflection of tennis’ evolution. I disagree. 

In my professional opinion, the split-step is arguably the most relevant movement quality an elite tennis player must possess. If a player lacks it - or doesn’t perform it correctly (we’ll get into the details below) - they won’t be able to reach their full movement potential....irrespective of their physical abilities.

There are 3 primary components that make up the split-step: timing, technique and reactiveness.

Timing

Timing begins with the moment the split-step should be initiated. It’s the most critical determinant of all the factors contributing to this quality. So much so that most tennis researchers (Genevois 2014) believe that optimal timing will likely decrease the number of errors a player commits. 

While that’s speculative, it highlights how getting off to a good start, has big implications on timing - and hitting the ball with quality (especially when we combine the split-step with the set-up from lesson #3!).

To outline the basic split-step timing sequence let’s use the serve and return as an example (check out the kinograms of Polmans below - he is late on the 1st and on-time on the 2nd):

1. As the server accelerates the racquet towards the ball (prior to contact), the returner initiates their ‘split jump’. 

2. The returner gets to the peak of their split jump at about the moment the server is making contact with the ball (sometimes earlier if possible/the situation warrants it).

3. While airborne, the returner attempts to pick up various cues from the server (ex: ball toss, racquet face angle at impact etc).

4. As the returner begins their descent, prior to hitting the ground, they should already know which direction they’ll initiate their movement. That means that they begin organizing themselves - and their first step - while still in the air.

Contrary to what many advocate, the initiation of the split does not occur at the moment the opposing player is making contact with the ball. 

If you’re less advanced or a developing junior, you might get away with this ‘split at contact’ timing sequence. But as soon as the level begins to get better - and the ball is coming with more speed and spin - you’ll be lucky to find any type of consistent timing.

This is the same whether you’re at baseline in a rally situation or at net looking to put away a volley (and I actually encourage you to practice your split-timing - before contact - on groundstrokes, returns and at net too!).

Notice below that the initiation begins during the acceleration phase of the serve and the returner is at peak jump height when the server makes contact with the ball (image sequence 2).

While you may not always be able to time the split before your opponent makes contact with the ball, players must have the intent to do so. There may also be variations depending on whether you’re on defense, offense or in a neutral rally. But training this particular split timing will have a positive transfer to all phases and point scenarios. 

Technique

Timing and technique are related. So much so that if you time the split poorly, the technical execution will be altered. 

There was even once a time when players were instructed to land on both feet simultaneously and then initiate their first step towards the oncoming ball. Because of the evolution of today’s game, this has obviously changed.

In terms of technique today, differences exist depending on the phase of play. In general, if a player has initiated the timing of the split correctly, they will pick up cues while in the air and have a good sense of which direction they’re going to initiate their movement. So when they first make contact with the ground, they usually do so with one foot/leg first - and it’s the opposite/exterior leg to the intended movement direction.

Prior to hitting the ground, the interior/lead leg opens up toward the direction of the movement, and at the same time, the opposite/exterior leg begins an explosive action. This ultimately initiates a lateral displacement (and the first step). This means that when the interior leg eventually does touch the ground, the foot is in-line with the centre of mass (CoM) - this allows the player to be in a better position to accelerate. 

On more difficult balls (and those that are further from the player), there’s a greater lateral push with the outside leg. There’s also a uniqueness to the split-step - it turns out that before actually making contact with the ground, the opposing leg shows muscle activation patterns. In other words, the leg is preparing itself with a pre-contraction so that when it does touch ground, it’s not losing any potential energy (the same is true during plyometrics…which is why they transfer so well to split-step abilities).

Sometimes, landing on 2 feet is still possible, even if your timing is optimal. This usually happens on very fast hit balls (when players are on offense) like the serve. The player performing the split just doesn’t quite know which direction the ball is heading, so they’ll have to react after the fact. 

Reactiveness

Reactiveness is a type of plyometric activity which relies heavily on the fast stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) action - i.e. what is seen during plyometrics. On top of that, ankle and leg stiffness are key underlying components of reactiveness - and ultimately, an efficient split-step (as we just saw with the pre-contraction patterns).

Think of a spring - if it’s too bouncy, a lot of energy will be lost and there won’t be a lot of rebound. If, on the other hand, the spring is too rigid/stiff, it doesn’t release it’s potential energy and again, no rebound. But somewhere in between, there's a spring that has just the right amount of stiffness/compliance - and thus, a high amount of rebound.

The same principle applies to the muscle-tendon complex of the ankle, the leg and even the entire body (think of it as one entire unit). So when a player hits the ground after a split step, without a good balance between stiffness and compliance, the potential energy of the system will be lost - in other words, there’ll be too much force absorbed by the ground. 

While training stiffness & reactiveness is best achieved off the court with specialized plyometrics and weight training, below we will outline drills that emphasize all aspects of the split-step. So even if a player possesses reactiveness, they must transfer it to the court by having a high intent to ‘use the ground explosively’ while still airborne. 

Take Action

Fundamental Split-Step Drill

Call ‘SPLIT’ (either out loud or in your head) as your opponent is accelerating at the ball (before they make contact with it) and initiate the split-step action. This is the timing portion we need to get right. Using video to review and analyze is mandatory - things happen too fast for the naked eye; to truly know if you or your players are timing it correctly, using slow motion or still photos is the only way. 

Second, while in the air, on the descent, you must already be thinking ‘react’. Recall that the support/exterior leg has greater gastrocnemius (calf) muscle activation patterns compared to the lead/interior leg on the descent from a split jump. This tells us that elite players, while in the air, are already thinking about moving explosively even before they initiate the movement.

Once you make contact with the ground, the feeling is as though you’re being zapped/jolted into the direction of the oncoming ball. 

Lastly, according to constraint-led principles, your body will organize the technique as efficiently as possible if you a) time the split well and b) have the correct intent to move explosively/be jolted towards the oncoming ball. Only in extreme cases should technique training of the split be ‘closed’ off entirely. In the long run, it will become more efficient as this drill is practiced more often. 

Split-Step Variation Drill - Corners to Middle

see video below: