I'm having doubts about my footwork in tennis?

Question

I am a 3.5 player and use a semi-western grip, and I know that you need to get sideways, meaning perpendicular to the net, and (I'm a righty) your right foot needs to be in the back and your left foot is in the front, but I'm doing the opposite thing and I'm not standing totally perpendicular, but sorta sideways.

To give you an idea, say the baseline is 180 degrees. I'm standing at about 45 degrees. When I do this, it feels more naturally to me and I feel like I can hit the ball harder and more accurate, but I'm worried if this is the right way to hit the ball or not.

Should I continue on doing the thing that comes more naturally to me or should I try to change it to do it the right way?

Answer 1

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Answer 2

As a former tennis instructor, and hard hitter with a semi-western grip, I understand where you are coming from.  What you are talking about is called an "open stance".  I found that lots of times, when I was facing someone with exceptional pace, that I did not have the time to get into perfect position and often hit open stance shots.  Ideally, you should do the work to get into prime position.  With work, you will find that you will be more consistent hitting with your feet perpendicular.  The secret to tennis is getting into the best possible position to hit each shot.  This means that occasionally you will have to hit open stance shots, but always try to work at getting into better position.  

The short answer is hitting open stance is fine, but a short cut that will not lead to better performance in the long run.  Enjoy!

Answer 3

The Open Stance Forehand is not necessarily a bad thing, but you are making yourself more vulnerable for a lot of bad habits.  

1.  (like RV said) You are more prone to turn your left shoulder out of the shot, or open up too soon.  And thus altering your shot, and most likely hitting the ball to the left of where you intended the ball to go.  2.  You are more prone to pull your line of vision away from contact.  In other words your eyes will be more tempted to look at the ball's destination before you've finished hitting it there.

3.  The down the line forehand will be a little bit more difficult than if you had a closed stance, because your body language (the line of your feet) is really aimed diagonally, while your shoulder, elbow, and wrist are trying to hit the ball in a straight line.  Now that's the bad news...

  The good news is that with an open stance forehand, you will be able to get a lot of power, you will get a lot of spin, and your recovery time after hitting the shot will be less due to the fact that your feet are pretty much in position to side step towards the middle after finishing the stroke.  And the other good news is that there are remedies for #1, #2, and #3.  

Remedy #1:Keep your left shoulder turned longer, don't twist out of the shot.  No matter what your lower half is doing, you want to try to turn your shoulders (before contact) parallel to the path that you want to hit the ball

Remedy #2: Search YouTube for "slow motion tennis", and watch Roger keep his eyes towards contact till his follow through is past his ear, and then try to immitate that.  The concept you want to grab ahold of is that the ball is the thing moving, not the court.  Watch the ball, not the ball's destination.

Remedy #3: See Remedy #1

In conclusion, the open stance forehand is a necessity in todays game, but if you have time to turn and step in... Do it.  Lots of great players use an open stance, but they get away with it because they are disciplined.  So make sure that you are to.

  

Answer 4

You really shouldn't open up like that.Exposing your chest while swinging will eventually cause you to lose control, and power as you won't get enough torque from the twisting of the hips.