JEFF COHEN: Hi, I am Jeff Cohen. In this segment, we are going to talk about footwork. Without a doubt, footwork is the key to your success. I do not care how good your strokes are, how you are going to swing the racket, how you are going to grip the racket. If you can not get to the ball, you can not hit the ball. So it is very, very important that you set up to the ball. A couple of quick things, number one, a common mistake I see all the time is that the average club player when they are waiting on the ball, they are always flat-footed. You actually want your feet moving all the time. So a former number one once told me, your feet should always be moving except when you are hitting the ball. That is what you want to strive for. So think about it. When you are waiting for your opponent to hit the shot, you want to be moving. You want to be up on your toes. And then in a perfect scenario, you want to run to the spot where you need to set up and hit the shot; and then hopefully, you are stationary and then you hit the ball. Unfortunately, that is not always the case and you are forced to hit the ball on the run. But remember, you always want to be up on your toes and you always want your feet moving while you are waiting on the ball. So now, we are going to talk about moving left to right. If you want to go to the left, there are a couple of ways that you can accomplish this. Number one is you want to push off with your outside leg. So for me going to my left, I am going to push off with my right leg and I am going to--my first step is going to be with my left and then I am going to run to the ball. If I want to move to my right, I am actually going to use my left leg as a post. I am going to push off with my left leg, and my first step is to the right. Another way to accomplish this, if that is too difficult, is just point your toes where you want to go and then run in that direction. In summary, remember these things. Always keep your feet moving. If you want to move to your left, remember, your first step is with your left. If you want to move to the right, your first step is with your right. And last but not least, you can't hit the ball if you don't get to the ball. So make sure you keep your feet moving, keep your eye on the ball and good luck.
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