Master Lateral Footwork with Susanna Bar: Professional pickleball player and coach Susanna Bar is helping players improve their lateral footwork at the kitchen line through a series of simple but effective drills. The training, focused on balance, reaction time, and agility, was shared during a session aimed at beginners and advanced players looking to elevate their game.
Why Footwork Matters
Susanna Bar, who has played professionally for over three years, said footwork is the foundation of pickleball. “So one of the things that I’ve really started to focus on for myself is improving my footwork,” she explained. Good footwork helps players stay quick and balanced on the court, avoiding the feeling of being “stuck” or “growing roots,” as Bar described.
In pickleball, players must move both laterally and forward-backward. Lateral movement is especially important at the no-volley zone, or kitchen line. “We want to avoid that and if we can increase our footwork, increase our timing, we’re going to improve our game significantly,” Bar said.
Starting With Basic Drills
Susanna Bar began the lesson with a warm-up drill using simple dinks along the kitchen line. Players focused on moving side to side without rushing. “All you guys are going to be doing is dinking the ball back and forth moving along this kitchen line,” she instructed.
She emphasized a key movement tip: “Instead of moving with our outside foot towards where we want to go, we actually want to build the habit of moving with our inside foot and then out.”
She added, “There’s a very clear footwork pattern in pickleball. We move when the ball’s in the air.”
Players practiced setting their feet before hitting and moving only between shots. “So that was that little tiny bit of improvement of making sure we were actually set when we were hitting and then moving when we needed to move,” she said.
Progressing to Volley Drills
Next, Bar had players volley while moving sideways. “Now we’re going to volley. Keeping that ball in the air and moving laterally,” she instructed.
She reminded players to switch between forehand and backhand: “Don’t be afraid to switch between your forehand and your backhand.”
She praised improvements: “There was a combination of things but one of them was that you actually were bending a little bit more and you were set when you were hitting that ball.”
Figure Eight and Reaction Drills
Bar introduced a figure-eight drill to work on quick steps and direction changes. “We’re going to dink crosscourt line, crosscourt line, keep this pattern, this figure eight pattern stepping from side to side,” she demonstrated.
To increase difficulty, she added a second ball: “Now this time we’re each going to feed this ball straight ahead.”
The group laughed through a few missed tries. “That one’s fun,” Bar said, “just gives you something else to do again working on your movement keeping engaged.”
Using Hoops to Train Directional Speed
To finish, Susanna Bar used a hoop to train directional push-offs. “We’re going to be doing… increasing our lateral footwork,” she explained. One foot stayed inside the hoop as players reacted to dinks sent to either side.
After watching Jamie practice, Bar said, “Nice job making sure we set our feet when we hit that ball.” She pointed out how cardio comes into play too: “We’re like it’s such an easy little drill and yet we find ourselves starting to breathe a little hard.”
On the backhand side, she noticed a difference. “You’re a little slower pushing off to your backhand. That’s just something we can work on,” she told the player.
Why This Training Matters
These drills help players improve movement and reaction during real matches. Bar believes they’re a great warm-up tool and a way to make actual gameplay easier. “The more you do this the easier it’s going to get and then you’re going to be able to start to implement it in your actual game,” she concluded.
News in Brief: Master Lateral Footwork with Susanna Bar
Professional pickleball player and coach Susanna Bar launched a footwork drill series to boost lateral movement along the kitchen line. Through warm-up dinks, shuffle steps, and crosscourt patterns, Bar emphasizes moving while the ball is in the air.
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