A ball-free footwork drill that grooves the right-left-right-left (left-right-left-right for lefties) tempo and plant-and-load rhythm of a 4-step attack approach.
15 minNo equipment
Steps
01Set up two steps behind the 10-foot line in a low athletic stance, weight on the balls of both feet, ready to lead with your right foot (mirror for lefties).
02Take a small, slow tempo step onto the right foot. This is the step that separates a 4-step from a 3-step: it sets the rhythm and buys you time to read the set, so keep it short and unhurried.
03Step onto the left foot to aim the approach, starting to build speed. The whole approach runs slow-to-fast, so this step is longer and quicker than the first but still not full pace.
04Drive a long, low, accelerating step onto the right foot and plant it heel-first to brake your forward momentum, then snap the left foot down beside it to finish the quick 'right-left' plant, braking heel-to-toe so momentum redirects straight up while your hips stay open to the court.
05As the feet plant, swing both arms back behind your hips to load, then throw them up as you leave the ground: non-hitting arm reaching to the ball, hitting arm loading into the bow-and-arrow.
06Freeze at the top of the imaginary jump and check that your chest is up, hips square to the target, and hitting arm loaded high, then reset and repeat.
Common mistakes
Reversing the step pattern: a right-handed hitter goes right-left-right-left and finishes with a right-left plant, so leading with the left foot flips the footwork and kills the load.
Rushing the first step. The opening tempo step is deliberately slow; taking it at full speed turns a 4-step into a hurried 3-step and removes the time it was added to buy.
Floating or coasting through the last two steps instead of accelerating into a quick, heel-first plant, which kills upward drive.
Leaving the arms in front instead of swinging them back behind the hips to load before the plant.
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