Frankie Dell: I am Frankie Dell. I am a Professional Tennis Instructor. You are watching ground strokes. Next, I am going to show you the Split Step and Ready Position. Now we are going to talk about the Split Step and the Ready Position. So now hopefully you have chosen a grip. I am going to choose the Eastern Forehand Grip to use and then I am going to just hold the racquet in front of me and I am on the balls of my feet and I am ready to move either to the right or to the left and the racquet is in front of me, so I can move to the right or the left to hit a forehand or a backhand equally as well.

Now let's talk about the Split Step. The Split Step is called the Split Step because you eventually split your feet apart and you do this just as your opponent is about to make contact with the ball. Then you know which way you can go and you are ready to move to the right or to the left. Split and then you could move. It's important to keep the racquet out in front of you and not down here because if the ball is hit to you, either to the forehand or to the backhand, then you got to raise up and turn to the side. It's just takes too much time. So just be here ready in the Ready Position.

1