Relish

Space and footwork

Give yourself room to play a controlled shot. See how your feet create that space, how balance keeps it through contact, and why room in front of you means cleaner contact.

Use your feet to make space, then hit the ball comfortably in front of you.

Builds your control

Space is room to hit in front of you

Give yourself space. Spacing means keeping enough room between your body and the ball to play the shot you want, with normal, repeatable mechanics.

Meet the ball comfortably in front of your body. Not behind you, and not too close to you.

Your cue: Create space before you hit.

Why space gives you control

With room, you have more shots to choose from and you can swing the way you normally do. Without it, you compensate. You get jammed or rushed, you reach too far, or you fall back on smaller, less repeatable movements of the wrist and hand.

Small joints can still make fine adjustments, but they should not cover for poor spacing or positioning. Spacing is body control that leads to better ball control.

Your feet and your timing make the space

Space does not appear on its own. Your feet put your body in the right spot, and your timing decides when you hit. Together they give you room, and room gives you a better contact point. Here is that chain, step by step.

  1. 1

    Move your feet

    Use your feet to put your body in the right position for the incoming ball.

  2. 2

    Judge your timing

    Judge when to move and when to hit. Timing gets its own lesson next: Timing the bounce.

  3. 3

    Give yourself space

    Footwork and timing together leave room between you and the ball.

  4. 4

    Meet the ball in front

    With room, you meet the ball comfortably in front of your body.

  5. 5

    Swing simply

    From a good contact point, you can use normal, repeatable mechanics and keep the swing clean.

  6. 6

    Control

    You control your body, the ball and the flow of the rally.

Footwork: move your body, not your swing

Footwork is one of your main tools for creating space. When the ball is not where you want it, do not reach for it, and do not bend your swing around bad positioning. Move your body so you can hit comfortably.

Two coaches in the Videos tab show what that can look like:

  • Drop step. When the ball comes toward your right or left foot, drop the foot it is coming to. That gives you more time and more space to get behind the ball, instead of taking it behind you.
  • Walk your feet. Move in efficient, purposeful steps, not busy ones. Take small steps toward the same contact spot every time, with nothing rushed.

Balance: stay steady through contact

Balance means being stable enough before, during and after contact to play the shot you meant to play. Space does little good if you then hit while leaning, reaching, crossing your feet over or moving too violently through the ball.

Many errors that look like paddle errors start there, so check your feet and body before you blame your paddle.

Your cue: Get steady before you hit.

Where space gets tested

Spacing shows up in four places. Watch for each one as you play:

  • Baseline depth. Managing how deep you stand at the baseline.
  • Side to side. Making space when the ball is to your left or right.
  • At the kitchen line. Making space at the non-volley line, the line at the edge of the kitchen.
  • Balls at your body. Creating space when the ball comes right at you.

The classic miss: drifting forward after the serve

The most common spacing mistake is drifting forward after you serve, then getting jammed by a deep return. A deep return is one that lands near your baseline.

In the Videos tab, Richard calls this crowding the line: you stay right at the line, the return comes in, and you pop the ball up. His fix is to take a big step back after you serve. That gives you room to step into your shot rather than back from it.

It is the same cue every time: create space before you hit.

A few things you might wonder

How far in front of me should I hit the ball?

There is no exact distance to memorize. Aim for comfortably in front of your body: not beside you, not behind you and not jammed against you. If you can swing your normal swing without reaching or crowding, you made enough space.

Do I need to keep my feet moving all the time?

No. One coach in the Videos tab says players often overcorrect and get busy with their feet around the kitchen line. His answer is to walk your feet: efficient, purposeful steps to the right spot, with nothing rushed. You still move. You just waste less movement.

Why does a deep return jam me after I serve?

You often drifted forward after your serve, so the return arrived with no room left. Take a step back after you serve and give yourself space. Then you can step into the shot instead of back from it.

Can I fix a bad position with my wrist?

Small joints, like the wrist and hand, can make fine adjustments, but they should not make up for poor spacing or positioning. Fix the space with your feet first, so your normal swing works.

Is balance only about standing still?

Balance is not only about standing still. One coach splits it into static balance, when you are still, and dynamic balance, when you are moving. They are closely related, and what you want is to stay steady through the strike.