Open Stance

It emerged in the 1990s as courts slowed and topspin rallies demanded faster recovery. By planting both feet parallel to the baseline and driving rotation from the hips and torso alone, players can hit with pace and spin even when on the run. This means and recover back to the center of the court immediately after contact. On the forehand especially it relies on strong hip-shoulder separation and a pronounced shift from the back foot to the front. Crucially, good ones are not arm-only. They need the same hip and shoulder rotation a stepped-in position produces, generated without the step. It suits low, short balls poorly, where stepping in gives better forward momentum.

The weight shift here is often misunderstood. Without a stepping foot to transfer weight forward, the weight shift happens through a push-off from the back leg and a loading-and-releasing motion of the back hip. The back knee bends on the backswing to load the hip, then straightens explosively as the hips rotate forward. This means creating a linear weight shift that feeds into the rotational energy of the swing. Players who skip that loading motion produce a genuinely arm-dominant swing that lacks pace and spin despite looking rotational.

Recovery is the hidden advantage. Because neither foot is committed to a crossing step, the player can immediately push off in any direction after contact. This means left, right, or forward. Without first having to unwind from a stepping motion. This is why forehands on the run are hit this way as a matter of course. This means the player arrives moving sideways, plants, swings, and keeps moving back toward the middle without losing momentum. Stepping across first requires reversing that motion before recovering, and the fraction of a second it costs matters enormously at speed.