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This rally highlights well, the different variations in footwork to the back of the court for different situations.

First up Nick plays this shot with his right foot on the forehand. Next Chris plays this ball with his left foot forward. Now we go to the backhand, and Nick plays this with both feet almost together, Chris responds with just his right foot forward this time, and finally on the backhand Nick plays this off his left foot, so we’ve had left foot forward, right foot and both feet parallel in the back corners. Let’s see if we can make some sense of when to do which option.

Here Chris and Nick play forehand drives with both feet parallel. This is most often used when you have some time. When you are under more pressure, you might need to use one foot forward, as this will be quicker into and out of the corner. Finally, when you cut the ball off at the back of the service box area, players will often use the back foot, so that’s the left foot on the left hand side and right foot on the right hand side.

It’s important to note that whilst these rules usually work, there will be instances when a different movement pattern is more comfortable than the norm for you, and different players will prefer different patterns so you don’t need to panic if your movement works for you, but it doesn’t look exactly like this. That said, Nick Matthew is possibly the best