Tipbit #25 – Anchor Foot
 

In Tipbit #23 I talked about using good footwork, about Lilith’s quick feet and taking baby steps to get you into the ideal strike zone. Quick feet are usually a good thing. But, at the kitchen line sometimes less is more. Too many steps can leave you off-balanced and out of position.

 

My example for this tipbit is the *GOAT Ben Johns . Here the concept of an Anchor Foot involves Ben keeping his one foot planted on each shot taken from the kitchen line, usually when the opponent’s dink is at his feet, wide or just beyond the NVZ line. If the ball is to Ben’s right, then his left foot is his Anchor Foot. If it's a wide dink to his left, then his right foot becomes his Anchor (see below picture) Foot.

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 The Anchor Foot makes your movement more efficient on the NVZ line. It eliminates unnecessary steps that could trip you up or leave you off balance. With it, you can easily maintain your position at the kitchen line. Plus, having that one-foot planted lets you know exactly where to return to after hitting your shot.

 

This way you don’t have to look down to find the line, just return your stepping foot in line with the Anchor Foot to get back to ready position. The Anchor Foot concept also helps me break my common habit, from years in tennis, where I used a crossover step on my dinks and volleys. In pickleball, the crossover step is only really necessary on extremely wide dinks.

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* GOAT: 108-match winning streak in singles,124 PPA gold medals and 21 Triple Crowns.

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                                                                                C’ ya on the Glen Park courts, President Lueck