Being late means the ball reaches you before your racket reaches a point in front of your body. You feel rushed, contact happens beside your hip or behind it, and a right-handed forehand tends to go to the right. Swinging faster rarely solves this, because the time was usually lost earlier in the sequence.
Find where you lose the time: four video checkpoints
Film a rally from behind the baseline or from the corner, so the frame shows both you and your opponent. The filming guide covers the setup. Use 60 frames per second if you can. Pick 10 balls, pause at each of the four moments below and mark each one pass or fail.
| Moment to pause | What you want to see | If it fails, work on |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Your opponent hits the ball | You are in your split-step, with your feet off the ground or about to land | Split-step timing |
| 2. The ball crosses the net | Your shoulders have started to turn and your feet are moving | Reading the ball and your unit turn |
| 3. The ball bounces on your side | Your racket is back, your shoulders are turned and your feet are close to position | Earlier preparation and a shorter take-back |
| 4. Contact | The ball is in front of your hips, with your arm at a comfortable distance | Swing length or spacing, if the first three passed |
Now find the first checkpoint that fails on most balls, and work on that one only. Later checkpoints often fail because of an earlier one, so work on contact alone may not last. Coaches differ on exactly how far back the racket should be at the bounce, especially against fast balls, so treat checkpoint 3 as a guide. If contact is hard to judge from this angle, film a second clip side-on.
When are you late? Use the pattern to narrow it down
| You are late on | Likely cause | Start with |
|---|---|---|
| Every ball, even slow feeds | You start preparing only when the ball bounces | Bounce-hit calling |
| Only fast balls | A long take-back | A half take-back rally |
| Only wide balls | A slow first step | Split-step timing and your first step |
| Balls hit at your body | Poor spacing: you do not move away from the ball | Small adjustment steps |
| Return of serve | Split-step timing and a big swing | Timing your hop to the server's contact, with a shorter swing |
| Only in matches | Tension and flat feet | Filming points as well as drills |
Split-step on time
The split-step is a small hop that lets you push off in any direction. In one study of 10 male collegiate players, a step-and-reach task took 764 ms with a split-step and 868 ms without one. Timing mattered too: landing too early gave a 7.8% miss rate, against 0.8% with a well-timed landing. This was a small study of a reaction task, so it shows a direction and no more.
Another study found that world-class returners start the split-step around the server's contact and land as early ball-flight information becomes available. A separate study found that each player has an individual timing that adapts to the situation. A practical starting cue is to leave the ground about when your opponent's racket meets the ball, then adjust from there. The split-step guide has more detail and drills.
Turn early and keep the take-back short
Your first move after reading the direction should be a unit turn: shoulders, hips and racket turn together. That single move puts you side-on and takes the racket most of the way back, so your arm has less to do later.
If you pass checkpoint 3 and still fail checkpoint 4, your swing may be too long for the ball you are getting. A common cue is to keep the racket in the edge of your vision at the end of the take-back. Against fast balls, try half your normal take-back. Coaches differ on how big a take-back should be, but a shorter one gives you more time.
Read the ball and your opponent earlier
- Watch your opponent before contact. Shoulders and racket position can suggest direction and depth before the ball is hit.
- Judge the ball as it leaves the racket. Decide forehand or backhand, and short or deep, by the time it reaches the net at the latest.
- Mix up your practice. Ask for feeds in a random order. In one study of training to anticipate tennis shots, random practice beat blocked practice at 7-day retention and gave faster decisions in a field test. That study trained anticipation and did not look at stroke mechanics.
Get your spacing right
You can be on time and still feel late if the ball gets too close. Running straight at the ball leaves you jammed, with no room to swing. Aim to arrive early and finish with small adjustment steps, so the ball ends up at a comfortable distance. The contact point guide gives the target for each stroke, and these footwork drills train the steps.
Drills to fix late timing
The targets below are suggestions. The first time you run a drill, note your own number and try to beat it next time.
- Bounce-hit calling (20 balls). Say "bounce" out loud as the ball lands on your side and "hit" at your contact, in a rally or on feeds. The calls make you track the ball, and "bounce" becomes your signal to start the forward swing. Speak loud enough for the phone to hear, then check on the clip that each word matches its moment. Once that is easy, add "split" as your opponent hits.
- Let it pass (10 balls each side). Have a partner feed medium balls. Split-step, turn and get set, then let the ball go past without swinging. Freeze at the bounce and check your position. Then play 10 more balls with a swing, keeping the same early turn.
- Turn at the net (20 balls). Say "turn" as the ball crosses the net and start your unit turn on the word. Film it and check checkpoint 2. Target: 8 of 10 balls pass.
- Half take-back rally (20 balls). Rally with half your normal take-back and a full forward swing. Target: contact in front of your hips on 8 of 10 balls. Go back to a bigger take-back only if you stay on time.
- Step-forward test (about 10 minutes). Start about 2 metres (6 feet) behind the baseline and rally 10 balls with a partner at a steady pace. If you are late on fewer than 3, take one big step forward and repeat. The spot where you reach 3 late balls is your current timing line. Test it again each week. If the line moves forward, your preparation is getting faster.
TennisAI's stroke analysis gives automated feedback on timing and footwork from a clip you upload, along with scores for your forehand, backhand and serve. A stroke that is not in the clip shows as "Not in video" and is not scored, so film the shots you want checked. The feedback can be wrong, and the four checkpoints are still worth doing by hand.
Frequently asked questions
Why am I always late on my forehand?
The usual reason is that you start your preparation too late, often with no split-step or no early turn. Less often, the take-back is too long for the ball. Film 10 forehands and check your racket position at the bounce.
How early should I prepare for a tennis shot?
Start turning as soon as you read the direction, which is often before the ball reaches the net. A common benchmark is having the racket back by about the time the ball bounces on your side, although coaches differ on how far back.
Does the split-step help with timing?
It can. One study of 10 male collegiate players found a faster step-and-reach with a split-step than without, and more misses when players landed too early. This evidence comes from small studies of reaction tasks.
How do I stop being late on the return of serve?
Time your split-step to the server's contact, turn early and use a much shorter take-back than on a groundstroke. If you are still late, stand a step further back and move forward as your timing improves.
How can I tell if I am hitting late?
Pause a side-on video at contact. If the ball is level with or behind your hips, you are late. Ball flight also helps, since a right-handed forehand tends to go to the right when it is late.
See this in your own game
Upload a practice or match video to TennisAI and get feedback on your forehand, backhand and serve.
Sources
- Journal of Sports Sciences: A split-step shortens the time to perform a choice reaction step-and-reach movement (Uzu, Shinya and Oda, 2009)
- Journal of Sports Sciences: Relationship between split-step timing and leg stiffness in world-class tennis players (Mecheri et al., 2019)
- Journal of Human Kinetics: Split-Step Timing of Professional and Junior Tennis Players (Filipčič et al., 2017)
- Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise: Contextual interference effect on perceptual-cognitive skills training (Broadbent et al., 2015)
This article is general information about tennis training and does not replace a coach or medical advice. Stop and see a professional if something hurts. TennisAI is made by Pace, the publisher of this blog.
