Three Common Stances Used in Tennis

Tennis is a game of skill, technique, and strategy. Tennis players spend countless hours honing their games; however, like most things in life without a sound foundation everything else is simply problematic at best. There are three primary stroking platforms that all tennis players (with the exception of special needs players) use to hit. They are the closed stance, the open stance, and the semi-open/closed stance. This article will briefly describe each and their pros and cons that are associated with them. Each stance will be described for right-handed players and as if the player was stroking a forehand ground stroke. Simply reverse the directional labels for left-handed players and backhand ground strokes. First up is the closed stance.

CLOSED STANCE

The closed stance is the original stroking platform developed and used by tennis players. This stance is aptly named due to the fact that a player's shoulders are perpendicular to the baseline, giving the appearance of being closed off from the court. To get into this stroking platform a player turns sideway, making sure their back foot (in this case right) is parallel to the baseline. The player's left foot is parallel to their right with the toes at a 45° angle to the baseline. From this position, a player will step forward, towards the incoming ball, to make contact. The primary positive of this stroking platform is that is affords a player to maximize weight transfer into the ball. The major drawback to this stroking platform is that it can be difficult to get into while running for shots.

OPEN STANCE

A modern adaptation to the closed stance is the open stance. From this stroking platform a player's shoulders start parallel to the baseline with their feet side by side and approximately shoulder width apart. Turning their right foot to an approximate 45° angle to the net, a player will place all of their weight on their back foot (in this case their right foot). A player will then rotate their hips and shoulders and drive into an incoming ball without stepping forward. The primary positive of this stroking platform is the easy of hitting balls while on the move. The most notably drawback is increased lack of body control leading to more errors.

SEMI-OPEN/CLOSED STANCE

A natural combination of the closed and open stance, the semi- open/closed stroking platform is design to maximize the strength of the other two stroking platforms while at the same time minimizing their weaknesses. To find this particular stance, a player will place their back foot (in this case their right) parallel to the baseline. Their lead foot will be perpendicular to the baseline causing the player to be half way closed. From this position the player can still get full shoulder and hip rotation while also having the ability to step forward into the oncoming tennis ball. This stroking platform does in fact maximize a player's ability to reach full weight transfer and ability to hit while on the move. It also dampens the lack of control and movement issues associated with the previous two stroking platforms.

In conclusion, developing a comfortable and solid foundation upon which to build your tennis game is critical for the development of a tennis player's skill and confidence. Be sure to develop, first, whichever stance is most comfortable and conducive to your game. However, do not forget to experiment with the other stroking platforms as well. It is always nice to have another tool in your tennis inventory to draw upon should the need present itself.