Backhand Stances:
Pro Women
John Yandell
In the last two articles we've looked at the surprising predominance of closed stances on the men's pro backhand, both for the two hander (Click Here) and for the one hander (Click Here). But what about the women?
Unlike the men, almost all of the top women hit with two-hands. So are the stance choices similar to the two-handed men? No. The women's stances are actually different and more varied. Open stance is the most common choice for most women players, or to be accurate, semi open stance, similar to the dominant stance on the forehand. This means the front foot is closer to the net than the rear and offset at about a 30 to 45 degree angle from the rear foot. (Click Here.)
Some players use the semi-open more predominantly or even exclusively. Venus Williams for example hits virtually all her backhands semi-open and hits many that are from a fully open stance or something close.
