Your Strokes:
Barry Gaines Forehand

Analyzed by John Yandell

If you are an avid club or NTRP and you have studied the Stroke Archives and seen that most balls are hit open stance, is that conclusive evidence that you should do the same--hit 80% of your forehands open?

In this month's Advanced Tennis article, we take a look at open and netural stance in pro tennis. (Click Here.) In the future I plan to write more about the correlations between the pros and the rest of the tennis world and more on what we should model. But when it comes to the stances, the short answer is probably not.

We saw in our analysis of pro stances that ball height and grip style were the main factors that dictate stance. The ball is so high at contact on most pro balls that open stance is a virtual necessity. In addition, the extreme grips and extreme shoulder rotation shared by so many top players make it difficult to step in without blocking the stroke.

But what if you have a mild semi-western or a modern eastern grip? What if most of the balls you play are around waist level at contact height? What if you don't hit your forehand at 90mph with 2500rpm of spin? Now the answer falls the other way.

This month we can see this in our analysis of Barry Gaines. Barry is a Tennisplayer subscriber who lives in the Bay Area and recently began training with Giancarlo Andreani at our tennis school in San Francisco. When we videoed his forehand for the first time, it was obvious that stance was an issue. What we saw points out one of the limitations of copying pro technique.

The video showed that Barry was positioning to hit open stance on virtually every ball. This included balls in the center of the court that were at waist level and lower. This open stance positioning was not related to his grip structure which was a fantastic, modern eastern and perfectly suited for his level. But the stance was having a significant negative effect on his core biomechanics, restricting his turn and also his ability to hit through the ball.

We can see this in the animations. As I wrote in the article on pro stances, the top players turn, load and extend, whether they hit open or neutral. But I have seen that for most players it is much more difficult to develop these elements from open stance. It's much easier to transfer them to open stance hitting once they are established working on more basic balls where it is natural to step in.

If we look at Barry in the open stance we can see that his left arm never fully straightened out or came across his body, and that his shoulders were often less than fully turned. Note also how his outside or left foot points partially forward. This is common when players hit open stance on the wrong balls. Once the foot is planted at this angle it makes coiling the upper body very difficult if not impossible. There is also a tendency with this type of positioning for the player to swing too much across his body, hit short, and give away natural ball velocity.

If we look at Tim Henman, we can see all we need to see as a model for correcting the stroke. Yes, I know he's not exactly the trendiest player in tennis. Yes, I know, he doesn't hit the ball like Fernando Gonzales. but I've got news for you, no one does. Let's face it, unless you are an young South American tour player, Gonzo is probably is not a good technical model (and maybe his backswing is too large even for most extreme grip tour players.)

Henman on the other hand demonstrates the technical elements that will dominate in club or NTRP tennis. A good turn, a reasonable backswing, a simple hitting arm position, great extension, a finish with the racket close to vertical. Watch how he steps in to the ball with a neutral stance and hits through all the way with a beautiful finish.

Working with Barry, it was not difficult to move his swing toward this pattern. The first key was learning the full turn and being able to get there from the ready position. We've looked at this more than once in various articles and contexts, but it certainly bears repeating. The preparation starts with a unit turn. The outside or right foot points sideways. The left arm also points across the baseline. Look how upright Barry is as he models this position.

As Barry improved his turn and got that outside or right foot turned and positioned behind the ball, it was easy and almost inevitable for him to take the neutral step forward into the shot. If you look at the animation, it just feels solid. The stance is right for the height of the ball and the position on the court. The shot doesn't have that strange manufactured look of the first forehands we filmed.

In the Advanced Tennis article, we talked about the complexity of when to hit which shot when from which stance. Because of the emphasis on using the neutral stance at times, I'm fairly sure the article while be misinterpreted by some observers. Any emphasis on stepping in is seen as "old school," and proof that the writer doesn't really understand "modern" tennis. And I can live with that.

But the issue really isn't any different with Barry than with Roger Federer. Both need to hit neutral, and both need to hit open. It's just that the percentages are reversed. Roger usually hits four out of five forehands with some version of open stance. For Barry it may be four out of five neutral. It just depends on the ball. The irony is that by developing a better turn and better extension, Barry is prepared for better technical exectuion with the open stance as well.

We can see this in the final animation. Here is a nice use of open stance on a higher ball that actually dictates it. Barry still makes a good turn, sets up behind the ball on the back foot, hits through, and finishes open. That's the kind of versatility and appropriate decision making every player wants. So, one more time for the record, I am strongly in favor of hitting well from both stances at virtually all levels. That's why for players with eastern and mild semi-western grips, the discipline and familiarity of mastering the neutral stance is a fundamental building block to a sound stroke. It's not a matter of either/or, it's a matter of both. That's the reality of modern tennis at all levels.