JOHNNY WATTERSON ON TENNIS:Former professional player David Bailey is trying to get footwork the respect that it deserves

VERY OFTEN the things that allow players stand out and distinguish them from the rest are their athleticism and balance. It applies to any sport and when fans watch the grace and movement of gifted athletes, even operating at the extreme of their game, they get a sense of those players' ability and potential and how removed they are from the pack.

Brian O'Driscoll in rugby, Ronaldo in soccer, DJ Carey in hurling and in tennis Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are many people's favourites because of it. Federer makes a big impression because of his movement. He rarely hits a shot off balance and if he does he delivers it with finesse and poise, his hallmark.

Footwork is one of the keys of success in tennis and all of the players in the top 100 pay careful attention to it. In rugby Ireland didn't have a specialist kicking coach until a few years ago, when it became fashionable under the guru David Alred. Now everyone has a kicking coach, a lineout coach, a defensive and scrum coach, a fitness coach and video analyst.

Specialisation in the game, brought so close to perfection under England's Clive Woodward at the 2003 World Cup, acknowledges that one person rarely has the entire set of skills to coach on his own.

Australian David Bailey, who is a former professional player, was in Leopardstown this week - invited over by local coach Dave Cooney - talking to players about the importance of footwork. The idea a person should specialise in just one aspect of the game would have been laughed at even 10 years ago. But endorsed by Nick Bollettieri (Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova, Jim Courier, etc) and the Chris Evert Academy in Britain, Bailey's idea is simple.

He is trying to revolutionise a small part of tennis.

"I call myself a footwork specialist, not a coach," he says. "I do work on footwork in other sports as well but I'm really focused on tennis. By footwork you think cones and ladders but what I really want to do was take it onto the court.

"I went onto a website with 30,000 video clips, so you can go on to Andre Agassi and see the way he moves back, sideways, out wide. What I looked at was what he did athletically, the steps to the ball, what he did when he hit the ball, which I called a contact move. Okay, they're shifting their hips, or pivoting on two feet or pivoting on one foot. I'd name them and I created a language and then I came up with 15 moves you do when you hit the ball."

Bailey's idea is to allow players learn a sequence of moves that are ingrained by practice and then applied during matches. Because they are based on what top players do, his belief is the pre-choreographed footwork will have a dramatic effect on improving the players.

"I'm trying to bring a language into the game where everyone is calling it the same thing," he explains. "It means they (players) can go and actually practise on their own by doing some really specific moves. My goal is trying to get as many countries as I can, get it endorsed by tennis federations and licensed coaches.

"Look at rugby league or union and you have specific coaches. In tennis the coach is the jack of all trades. But this means if a player has trouble with footwork they can come in and the player will be seen by someone who knows what they are looking for. You are just focusing on one thing. In a nutshell I'm tying to get footwork to get the respect that it deserves.

"It never ceased to amaze me during the last rugby world cup the referee would blow his whistle and say, 'hands in the scrum'. Then in the replay you would see the hands in the scrum but before that you didn't because you didn't know what you were looking for. It was just a blur of bodies. You need to know what you are looking for before you see it."

It is interesting Bollettieri is on board. His academy in Florida is arguably the most successful in the history of tennis. He was also part responsible for developing players who could hit the ball hard off each wing and develop their physiques to play what is essentially a power game

"Once they learn all the different moves it is a matter of repeating the moves on the court," says Bailey. "There are 15 basic contact moves. Some are attacking moves where you are running for the ball, others you are keeping your feet on the baseline, you have defensive footwork where you are pushed back or out wide. You learn them as you go. You have the same sort of moves on the volley and on the return."

Some federations don't believe the product is sufficiently tested and proven. Australia is one, although Bailey has worked with top-100 Australian players.

This week Bailey left Ireland to go back to work with the LTA. You either buy into it or not.

With regard to Federer? Well he has no coach, hasn't had for months.