Roger Federer said, "the best movers are the best players." The top 20 players in the ATP and WTA are the top 20 movers in the world. So, if Roger Federer tells us the best movers will reach the top, we can agree that movement is key to becoming a great player. But do you know why?
Movement is what gets you in position to hit the ball. So, if you move well on the court, you're more likely to get in the correct place and hit the ball with minimal added difficulty. On the flip side, if you're movement is lackluster, then you're making it far more challenging to hit the ball the way you want. Moreover, there is a negative long-term effect of poor movement: bad technique.
Yes, in the long run, poor movement will make your technique worse. When you move badly, you're unlikely to get into a good position, right? A bad position means you are either too close or too far away from the tennis ball. Now, think of what happens to your swing. When you're too close, you will be cramped or jammed and your arm will not be able to swing naturally. You will have to compromise your technique to somehow get the ball over. Same when you're too far from the ball and your body is forced to lean off balance so you can hit the ball. If that happens occasionally, then your technique won't change because, as Aristotle once wrote, you are what you repeatedly do. But if the majority of your shots are hit from a position that's too close or too far, then over the years your technique will be formed around that cramped style. You won't get enough repetitions to practice swinging clean and naturally. Federer was able to develop his beautiful strokes because he became such a great mover and almost always ends up in the right position. Roger was not that smooth when he was a teenager -- her worked very hard on his legwork to reach that level of smoothness and gracefulness.
The Four Tips to Moving Better
(1) Stay on your toes, move continuously, and be in the athletic stance (which just means legs racquet wide apart and knees bent). These might seem like three different things (they are) but for tennis purposes, it is just one thing. You want to package continuous movement while being on your toes and in the athletic stance because those three elements combined make you more ready to move quickly and efficiently on the tennis court.
(2) Split-step. Split-step when your opponent is swinging to hit the ball. That resets your momentum and helps you get ready to change direction quickly toward the area you anticipate the ball will land.
(3) Recover. Recover back quickly to the center or off-center (when you're covering for cross-court angles). If you recover, there will be less open space for you opponent to attack and less distance for you to run. If you do that consistently, you'll have an easier time control most of the of points.
(4) Anticipate. You must anticipate where the ball will go and where you need to be after it lands. The more actively engaged you are with observing the tennis ball and anticipating its trajectory, the sooner and more efficient you'll move. When we're in a passive mode, our reaction time gets delayed putting the player at risk of hitting late.