This could be the most important part of these four parts about positioning. So often players feel they are slow and are unable to cover enough ground to play effectively, when in fact they have all the footspeed needed – not as much as you’d think – they just aren’t recovering from the previous shot effectively. It’s like being a sprinter with a ten-pound weight attached to a foot. Recovery means primarily two things: regaining your balance, and following through back into position.

Regaining your balance: It’s amazing to watch most players below (and sometimes at) the elite level and see how often they are unnecessarily off balance. They’ll play an aggressive forehand, for example, and finish their forehand so off-balance they struggle to recover for the next shot. While the weight on a strong forehand should finish toward the left foot (for a righty), the weight should not be so far over that you are off balance. Instead of doing that, rotate your body more in a circle, and you’ll end up more balanced and ready to recover for the next shot.

It’s not just forehands; many players go off balance leaning to the side to stroke or push, and put their weight on that side’s foot, thereby going off balance. Then they are rushed trying to get balanced against for the next shot. Instead, step or shuffle to the ball, staying balanced throughout.

Follow through back into position. It’s not enough to recover your balance, then see where you should move, and then move. After essentially every shot you move out of position. And so part of your follow through should bring you back into position. If you’re a righty and play a forehand or backhand from the forehand side, you’d follow through to your left, back into position. If you play a forehand or backhand from the wide backhand, you’d follow through to your right, back into position. It should be part of the natural follow through.