In this lesson, we examine the first movement: the lateral sidestep. In this movement, your first steps in adjusting to the ball are lateral. However, you do not proceed by alternating steps, one foot on the ground at a time, but rather by repositioning your feet while both of them are in the air. The effort to lift both feet is only slightly more than lifting a single foot; hence, repositioning both feet at once is more efficient. However, many players, such as Maria Sharapova, do not do this. The video below illustrates this movement as well as other movements to be discussed later.

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Because this movement is difficult to master, we advise you to study this video and internalize the style, which is almost dancelike in its rhythm. Practicing it with music could be helpful.

The key concept here is to move laterally while giving the illusion that you are floating effortlessly above the court as seen in the photo above, taken from the video. In general, a key to efficient footwork is combining multiple movements into one effort, rather than executing them sequentially.