Your stance Open vs. Closed

If you are a club level player with the typical "closed stance" on your ground strokes and you do not seem to be advancing your game, try this. Try opening your stance slightly on your ground strokes. These are a few of the advantages:

It will naturally shorten you backswing, which is the #1 Cause of mis-hits, tennis elbow and loss of control.

It saves time on your recovery. When you finish hitting the ball, you can immediately go forward (a big help in advancing your doubles game).

It makes it much easier to hit when your opponent hits the ball behind you (where you are coming from).

It forces you to use your legs more than your arms. In the long run it is better for you. For a good example, start watching professional matches and you will see a very high percentage of them hit the open stance forehand. You will start seeing a high number also hit the backhand open stance. The nature of the game is forcing players to set up faster, recover faster and be able to handle faster balls. The open stance is the way to go. If you have never tried it, when you are feeding the ball to start the rally, hit the feed with you toes straight on or facing the net. It will seem awkward at first., then you will become more comfortable with it.

Closed Stance

You will develop spontaneity through preparation!

Myth - You must hit your groundstrokes with a closed stance (body sideways to the net).

Truth - You do not have to hit all of your shots with a closed stance. The pros hit with an open stance (body facing the net) on most of their forehands and sometimes on their backhands. The bottom line is this. Hit the way that feels comfortable and natural to you. A closed stance is not superior to an open stance. In fact, the open stance has more benefits than the closed stance. Some benefits are listed below.

One of the most common concerns of tennis players is how to develop more power and control on the forehand stroke. Both power and control can be achieved through the proper development of linear and angular momentum. Linear momentum is the quantity of linear motion that a body possesses. In the forehand stroke, linear momentum is developed through the forces generated from the ground as you step forward and transfer your body weight from the back leg to the forward leg.

Angular momentum is the quantity of angular motion that a body possesses. Angular momentum is also developed from the ground reaction forces (GRF) and tends to produce a sequence of body rotations (legs, hips, trunk, upper limb, and racket). Optimal trunk rotation is one of the outcomes of angular momentum. It has been shown that trunk rotation is significantly correlated with racket velocity regardless of the type of stance used or skill level (professionals or intermediates). The rotation of the trunk not only contributes to the racket velocity (about 10% of final racket velocity) but is also used in the pre-stretching of the shoulder muscles to allow them to produce a larger tension.

When you are finished hitting with an open stance it is much easier to recover back to the center of the court because your body has not moved as far away from the correct recovery position as you would have when hitting with the closed stance.

You can generate more power in the open stance because of the coil and uncoiling affect of the body, along with the ease of swinging upward in this position.

It is easier to regain your balance in the open stance. In the closed stance you turn your whole body completely sideways, making it more difficult to recover your balance after the hit.

The open stance is an excellent, relaxed, natural shot, especially on the forehand. When hitting forehands with the closed stance the arm is behind you. This makes it a more difficult shot to time correctly because your arm is farther away from the ball. Hitting with an open stance brings the arm closer to the oncoming ball.

Today's players must react faster and are forced to hit on the run due to the power developed in the groundstrokes and the serves. Hence, they adopt an open stance. The traditional square stance takes longer to execute but it generates linear momentum; as the player steps forward toward the ball, and angular momentum; from the rotation of the legs, hips, and trunk. In contrast, in the open stance there is little or no transfer of linear momentum since the step is taken side ways, and only the segment rotations are used to generate power for the forward swing.

Now, I am not telling you to never hit with a closed stance. Use whatever comes natural on a given shot. The point is to not fit yourself into a rigid mold. When playing tennis you should do what is best for the situation at hand. Sometimes the situation calls for an open stance and sometimes a closed stance. Practice letting this happen naturally and you will be surprised how your body will figure out the right way to hit the ball.