Stopping and Crossover Step Drill

The new Netflix docuseries “Break Point” has turned out to be a treasure trove of helpful tennis training techniques that competitive recreational players can use for their own development. Fittingly enough, as the tennis world heads into grass court season in real-time, the next player to make a cameo appearance on the show while training is Sir Andy Murray.

His appearance was so brief that I was required to extrapolate the drill he was likely doing. Murray is seen running hard to a point and then quickly reversing direction. His feet are never visible. Despite that, I have high confidence that he is performing a “stopping and crossover step” drill. The orientation of his body is a very important indicator. Additionally, it is one of Murray’s well known training techniques.

As I have written before during this series, one of the most underappreciated aspects of tennis is that deceleration is just as important as acceleration. Getting into a good hitting position requires stabilizing the body following rapid movement. The stopping aspects of this drill are an essential skill for tennis.

The crossover step is a descriptive term for a movement technique used in the sport. It is an efficient way to quickly change direction and recover position to the center of the court. It is commonly used after the player is pulled wide.

To perform the “stopping and crossover step” drill, cones or dots are placed on the court to mark the transition location. The player then sprints to each location, plants their “forward” foot for the groundstroke from that side, and then crosses the back foot in front of the planted foot to change direction.

I found a really good video on YouTube demonstrating the drill in super slow motion. The technique would not have been as good if I had recorded a video of me doing that exercise. It would also look like the video was in slow motion even when run in real-time.

The “stopping and crossover step” drill is one that all players should perform on a regular basis. It builds good muscle memory and strength for efficient on-court movement. It can also double as a cardio interval training that is extremely tennis-specific. You should give it a try.

Next week… the Netflix docuseries moves into some training exercises performed by Maria Sakkari. Spoiler Alert: That will include some things that I probably won’t recommend to recreational-competitive tennis players.