TERMIUM Plus®
From: Translation Bureau
On social media
Consult the Government of Canada’s terminology data bank.
WRONGFOOTING SHOT [2 records]
Record 1 - internal organization data 2012-01-13
Record 1, English
Record 1, Subject field(s)
- Racquet Sports
Record 1, Main entry term, English
- shot
1, record 1, English, shot
correct
Record 1, Abbreviations, English
Record 1, Synonyms, English
Record 1, Textual support, English
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 DEF
The result of hitting the tennis ball with a tennis racquet; sometimes refers to the actual placement of the ball or manner in which it is struck. 2, record 1, English, - shot
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 CONT
A shot is the combination of a stroke and the situation in which it is used. 3, record 1, English, - shot
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 OBS
"Long" is an informal expression used to indicate that a shot went out past the baseline. Important nuance: a "stroke" implies early preparation and a complete follow through. If one were to envision a stroke, one would see a series of sequences, ending with a "shot", i.e. the result of all of the above. Consequently, a "shot" is the result of the "stroke". "Shot" implies a quick, sharp movement because one is focusing on the end result, not the series of sequences leading up to it. A "blow" is rather an imprecise, general term similar in meaning to "shot". Although many would like to maintain these nuances in English, "shot" and "stroke" are often used synonymously. "Blow" is used only rarely. Note, however that although there are two possible equivalents ("coup" and "frappe") in French, neither are semantically identical to the English offerings. The Spanish term "pegada" works well as an equivalent for "shot", although technically the term more specifically refers to the actual hitting action caused by the racket coming in contact with the ball, and not to the end result [cause vs effect]. 2, record 1, English, - shot
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 2 CONT
Keeping your feet wide apart is an important key to maintaining good balance and positioning while moving from shot to shot. 4, record 1, English, - shot
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 3 CONT
Since his injury in the first set, he has lost a lot of sting in his shots. 2, record 1, English, - shot
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 PHR
Shape, strength of shot. Barrage, range, string of shots. 2, record 1, English, - shot
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 2 PHR
Shot bounces. Shot drifts wide. Shot has no pace on it. Shot will go/sail long. 2, record 1, English, - shot
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 3 PHR
Accurate, aggressive, angled, approach, bread-and-butter, buggywhip, chip, cinch, crafty, cross-court, crummy, decisive, deep, defensive, delicate, down-the-line, down-the-T, drop, extraordinary, fantastic, fast, floating, floppy, follow-up, forcing, gutsy, hard, hard-to-read, high-risk, inside-out, kill, laser, looping, loose, low, low-percentage, low-risk, mammoth, midcourt, off-centre, offensive, outside-in, passing, percentage, power, pressure, recovery, risky, safe, set-up, shallow, sharp-angled, short, showoff, sloppy, soft, spin, strong, tactical, topspin, touch, tough, tricky, two-handed, underspin, varied, vicious, wide, winning, wrongfooting shot. 2, record 1, English, - shot
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 4 PHR
Irretrievable key shot. 2, record 1, English, - shot
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 5 PHR
To admire, angle, anticipate, attack, baby, block, bungle, center, chop down, conceal, cut off, develop, dip, direct, flatten out, go for, guide, handle, hit, hold, improvise, intercept, lean into, line up, make, meet, miss, move into, muff, muscle, net, place, play, pop up, practice, pull off, put away, retrieve, rifle, run down, rush through, send, set up, smack, spray, step into, take, target, telegraph, time, track, underspin, unleash a shot. 2, record 1, English, - shot
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 6 PHR
To add pep to a shot. To approach behind a shot. To be cute with a shot. To react to a shot. To scoop down for a shot. To put one’s whole body behind shot. To get one’s weight behind/into the shot. To mix up shots. To stream together shots. 2, record 1, English, - shot
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 7 PHR
To raise a shot high. To telegraph shop direction. To whip a shot up/down the line. 2, record 1, English, - shot
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 8 PHR
Crushing shots. Filing one’s body into a shot. 2, record 1, English, - shot
Record 1, French
Record 1, Domaine(s)
- Sports de raquette
Record 1, Main entry term, French
- coup
1, record 1, French, coup
correct, masculine noun, generic
Record 1, Abbreviations, French
Record 1, Synonyms, French
Record 1, Textual support, French
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 CONT
[...] Rien pour embarrasser François dont la régularité des coups en fond de terrain et la grande ténacité font de ce jeune joueur le champion canadien des 14 ans et moins. 2, record 1, French, - coup
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 2 CONT
[...] ses coups assenés du fond du court avec cette insolente précision qui blanchit les lignes. 3, record 1, French, - coup
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 PHR
Coup d'approche, d'attaque, en angle, audacieux, de base, de contre-attaque, coupé, croisé, décentré, décisif, défensif, déguisé, dévastateur, époustouflant, d'expert, explosif, faiblard, fantaisiste, fatal, de grande classe, lourd, mal ajusté, offensif, plat, précis, puissant, raté, retenu, risque, souple, spectaculaire, tordu. 4, record 1, French, - coup
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 2 PHR
Puissance, tempo d'un coup. Déroulement du coup. Gamme, production des coups. 4, record 1, French, - coup
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 3 PHR
Anticiper, appuyer, centrer, ralentir, rater, tourner un coup. 4, record 1, French, - coup
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 4 PHR
Assurer un bon centrage d'un coup. Laisser aller ses coups. 4, record 1, French, - coup
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 5 PHR
Sortir des coups impressionnants. 4, record 1, French, - coup
Record 1, Spanish
Record 1, Campo(s) temático(s)
- Deportes de raqueta
Record 1, Main entry term, Spanish
- golpe
1, record 1, Spanish, golpe
correct, masculine noun
Record 1, Abbreviations, Spanish
Record 1, Synonyms, Spanish
- tiro 2, record 1, Spanish, tiro
correct, masculine noun
- pegada 1, record 1, Spanish, pegada
correct, feminine noun
Record 1, Textual support, Spanish
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 DEF
Efecto de jugar a pegar golpes a una pelota. 3, record 1, Spanish, - golpe
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 CONT
Cualidades que debe poseer un buen servicio [...] Variación constante de la pegada (plana o con efecto). 1, record 1, Spanish, - golpe
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 2 CONT
Vuelta a la posición de espera tardía, lo que hace dejar un hueco en el que nuestro adversario dirigirá su próximo tiro. 4, record 1, Spanish, - golpe
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 1 PHR
Tiro angulado. Golpe definitivo, defensivo, estático, violento. 3, record 1, Spanish, - golpe
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 2 PHR
Un golpe lleva efecto. 3, record 1, Spanish, - golpe
Record number: 1, Textual support number: 3 PHR
Angular un tiro. 3, record 1, Spanish, - golpe
Record 2 - internal organization data 2006-05-22
Record 2, English
Record 2, Subject field(s)
- Racquet Sports
Record 2, Main entry term, English
- wrongfoot
1, record 2, English, wrongfoot
correct, see observation, verb
Record 2, Abbreviations, English
Record 2, Synonyms, English
- hit behind 2, record 2, English, hit%20behind
correct, verb
- go behind 1, record 2, English, go%20behind
correct, verb
- take somebody on the wrong foot 3, record 2, English, take%20somebody%20on%20the%20wrong%20foot
correct, verb
Record 2, Textual support, English
Record number: 2, Textual support number: 1 DEF
To direct a shot to where one’s opponent just was, causing him or her to run back to retrieve a shot. 1, record 2, English, - wrongfoot
Record number: 2, Textual support number: 1 CONT
I’ll trick him with this shot by hitting behind him. 2, record 2, English, - wrongfoot
Record number: 2, Textual support number: 1 OBS
Usually, in two-element words, the nominal form is hyphenated and the verbal form is not. 4, record 2, English, - wrongfoot
Record number: 2, Textual support number: 2 OBS
Related phraseology : To handcuff somebody, to catch somebody running the wrong way, wrongfooting shot, to catch the opponent wrong-footed, to be off balance. 1, record 2, English, - wrongfoot
Record 2, Key term(s)
- wrong foot
Record 2, French
Record 2, Domaine(s)
- Sports de raquette
Record 2, Main entry term, French
- faire un contre-pied
1, record 2, French, faire%20un%20contre%2Dpied
correct
Record 2, Abbreviations, French
Record 2, Synonyms, French
- prendre l'adversaire à contre-pied 2, record 2, French, prendre%20l%27adversaire%20%C3%A0%20contre%2Dpied
correct
- prendre l'adversaire sur le mauvais pied 3, record 2, French, prendre%20l%27adversaire%20sur%20le%20mauvais%20pied
correct
- faire un contrepied 4, record 2, French, faire%20un%20contrepied
- prendre l'adversaire à contrepied 4, record 2, French, prendre%20l%27adversaire%20%C3%A0%20contrepied
Record 2, Textual support, French
Record number: 2, Textual support number: 1 DEF
Retourner la balle dans la direction d'où elle vient, mais du côté opposé à celui où le joueur l'a frappée. 5, record 2, French, - faire%20un%20contre%2Dpied
Record number: 2, Textual support number: 1 OBS
contre-pied : Coup dirigeant la balle non dans la partie dégagée du court, mais dans la partie où l'adversaire se trouve, et du côté opposé à la direction de son démarrage. Il s'agit d'une arme très efficace, car il est pratiquement impossible à un joueur de repartir dans la direction inverse à celle de son premier démarrage si le coup est suffisamment rapide et soudain. «À contre-pied» : tactique qui a pour but de contrer le déplacement de l'adversaire sur le terrain. En français on utilise également le substantif «le contre-pied» là où l'anglais utilise le verbe, par exemple, deux ou trois amortis en contre-pied. Phraséologie connexe : être pris à contre-pied. 6, record 2, French, - faire%20un%20contre%2Dpied
Record number: 2, Textual support number: 2 OBS
contrepied : Cette graphie, puisée des Rectifications de l'orthographe recommandées par le Conseil supérieur de la langue française, est attestée dans le Petit Robert (2004). 4, record 2, French, - faire%20un%20contre%2Dpied
Record 2, Spanish
Record 2, Campo(s) temático(s)
- Deportes de raqueta
Record 2, Main entry term, Spanish
- jugar el contrapié
1, record 2, Spanish, jugar%20el%20contrapi%C3%A9
correct
Record 2, Abbreviations, Spanish
Record 2, Synonyms, Spanish
Record 2, Textual support, Spanish
Record number: 2, Textual support number: 1 OBS
contrapié: golpe que coge al rival corriendo hacia el lado opuesto. 2, record 2, Spanish, - jugar%20el%20contrapi%C3%A9
Record number: 2, Textual support number: 1 CONT
Intentad jugar siempre el contrapié o sobre el adversario. 1, record 2, Spanish, - jugar%20el%20contrapi%C3%A9
Copyright notice for the TERMIUM Plus® data bank
© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2026
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
A product of the Translation Bureau
Features
GCtranslate (available on the Government of Canada network only)
Use this artificial intelligence prototype to translate Government of Canada content up to and including Protected B. Available to employees of selected departments and agencies only.
Writing tools
The Language Portal’s writing tools have a new look! Easy to consult, they give you access to a wealth of information that will help you write better in English and French.
Glossaries and vocabularies
Access Translation Bureau glossaries and vocabularies.
- Date Modified:


