Recover to the middle! WRONG! You don’t need to recover to the middle! Well, you kind of do, but not to the middle of the court. You need to recover to the middle of where the next ball might be hit. This means, if you hit a ball cross court, you should recover facing the ball you just hit, off set diagonally across from it. You are near the center line of the court, but not quite on it. This is important for understanding the tactics of when and why to hit down the line versus when to hit cross court, as a down the line shot requires more recovery steps to get to the recovery zone. This is the type of thing that probably isn’t making a whole lot of sense in text, so I made this handy little graphic to help you.
If this is all too confusing then remember one thing. Face the ball that you just hit, with your whole body. Toes, racket, shoulders and face directed towards the shot you just hit and not square to the net. This will help you to be better positioned for the next shot that will come to you.
