Jorge Capestany - TennisDrills TV

Open Stance or Not (Recovery Step)

When you look at the game today, there are no limits as far as style of play. Footwork is like that too. The game has evolved and so should your style and footwork. Yet there are still many players and coaches that are caught up on whether an open, square, or closed stance is still the right way.

In reality, they are all correct. While the open stance has become more popular in the modern game, even the players that predominately use this footwork pattern will use the square and closed stance as well. In the end, the best players use all the stances and they are all correct in different scenarios. 

While most experts agree that the open stance allows for a quicker recovery into the court, there are times that a closed or square stance should be used. Namely when the ball pulls the players forward into the court, they more likely the players will use a closed or square stance.

Another theory is that if the player is in the center third of the baseline, they can use a closed or square stance, but if they are pulled wide (toward the outer thirds) of the baseline, they should use the open stance as they will need to recover farther from that position on the court.

In summary, the point I am trying to make is that we should not be getting hung up on which stance or right or wrong as they all correct in certain situations. Simply watch the tour players and you can see that they routinely us all the stances when they play.

Jorge Capestany - TennisDrills TV

Jorge is the Founder of www.tennisdrills.tv - a video based website that shows more than 700 videos of tennis drills and tips. Jorge is one of only nine people world-wide that is a Master Professional with both the USPTA and PTR. Jorge is a 6-time Michigan Pro of the Year a 2-time Midwest Pro of the Year. Jorge has coached hundreds of ranked juniors including 3 national champions.