 Hey guys, so in this video I'm going to be talking through some of the key stances that we have when we play tennis in particular ground strokes, so forehands and backhands, and how your positioning can impact the quality of your shots. So, have you ever wondered how professional tennis players make everything look so easy? They tend to get effortless power on everything that they hit and they tend to always be very balanced and stable even when they're put under extreme pressure. Now, your position or your stance of where your feet are standing when you hit your ground strokes has a massive impact on how well you can execute your shots, whether it be hitting with power or accuracy or just maintaining balance when you're under a bit of pressure. So, first of all, what is a stance? Now, when we're talking about a stance in tennis when you're hitting ground strokes we're talking about where your feet are positioned before swinging forwards to the ball. So, for example, this here is a stance before I swing to the ball. This here is a stance before I swing into the ball as well. Now, the key for a good stance when you play tennis, doesn't matter which of the stances you choose and we'll get onto those in a second, the key is to have a nice wide base. Now, if your feet are too close together, instantly you lose balance. You don't have a wide platform to move from. If you've got your feet nice and wide apart, you're going to be much more stable initially but you'll also be able to transfer your body weight from side to side or from forwards to backwards. So, a wide base is crucial for a good stance on a ground stroke. There are three main stances that you may or may not have heard of. The first one is the open stance. Now, the open stance is when your feet are square onto the court. So, in line with the baseline here or in line with the net. Now, the open stance shot is very good for moving laterally. So, moving out to the right or to the left because your feet, as we said, are nice and wide. It gives you the ability to change direction quickly from side to side. Therefore, it's very good for when you're on the move, when you're on the run, out to a wide ball because it allows you to push off and back into the middle. The downside of the open stance is it's not as easy to get body weight transfer going forwards. So, you'll mainly see this when players are on the run from side to side. With that in mind, it's quite a versatile stance because you can still get really good upper body rotation. And with your feet facing forward, you can see here that my hips can rotate on the way back for my take back but also rotate through the shot to get nice racket acceleration. Some of the other stances aren't quite as versatile and we'll go on to those next. The next stance I'm going to talk through is the neutral stance. So, rather than your feet being facing forwards in line with the baseline, the neutral stance is perpendicular to the baseline, so sideways on. Now, this stance isn't as good for moving from side to side. It takes a little bit longer because you have to step in before the ball gets to you. But it does allow you to get more body weight transfer going forwards. So, it's a great stance for if you're looking to be more aggressive on a shot or if you're looking to approach the net because you can get your body weight coming forwards. You'll most often see this shot when the ball is within the player's comfort zone or they've got a little bit more time to get sideways on and to get that body weight going forwards. So, it's the same on the forehand, backhand, here. The neutral stance is much tougher to do on the run because it simply takes a little bit longer. So, that's why the open stance is much better when you're pulled out for a wide ball because you don't have the time to get behind the ball and then step in. But any time you do have the time, it can help you if you're looking for more power or a more direct shot to be in that neutral setup on your forehand or on your backhand. The final stance we talk about, this one's used less often because it's more limiting with regards to power and control, and it's the closed stance. Now, the closed stance is where your footsteps across your back leg. You can see how that's going to be limiting straight away because my hips are facing this way. So, it's much tougher for me to get my rotation through the shot so I'm not going to get as much power and it's going to be much tougher for me to direct the ball. This stance is most commonly used when you're really, really wide under pressure or you have no time to react. So, it may be on a first serve return. You don't have the time to step in normally. You might have to just step out and reach. And that's the same on the backhand. Actually, more common on the backhand side than the forehand side. But it's much more limiting and we want to try to avoid the closed stance as much as possible. Now, although I've gone through three stances, the open, the neutral and the closed stance, there are obviously stances in between. And you're not very often completely sideways on or completely open. Sometimes you'll be in between the two. And some coaches call this position the semi-open stance. And it's most commonly used out of all the stances because it gives you a nice balance of stability laterally but the ability to step through the shot can still get good body weight transfer forwards and it allows you to move laterally on the court. So you'll often see professional tennis players using the semi-open stance because it almost gives them the best of both. So, if you're going to take anything from this video, number one, try to avoid the closed stance if possible. Number two, if you've got an easy shot which is within your comfort zone and you don't have to move too far or if you've got plenty of time to do it, try to use the neutral stance more often if you're looking to play more aggressively and to hit more accurately. And finally, use the open stance if you're on the run. So any time you're pushed out of your comfort zone and you're moving wide onto your forehand or wide onto your backhand, the open stance can allow you to hit that shot with good balance and recover quickly back to the middle. So, how can you improve your stances? Now, piece of advice, I think it would be a great idea if you film yourself playing. If you're not sure about what stances you currently use or if you're not sure about how to get better, watch yourself in action and you'll soon see if you are doing the closed stance too often or if you're hitting with an open stance when actually you've got the time to step in and be neutral. If you can see yourself play, you'll be able to start finding some of the areas that you need to improve. And to improve them, it's simply a case of practicing it more often. So, if you are somebody that stays with the open stance too much, try to push yourself. When you do have a slower ball and you've got a little bit more time, push yourself to be in that neutral stance more often and you'll find it will help you to be a little bit more aggressive and it will help you get more body weight transfer going forward, giving you a little bit more weight to your shot. If you are a player that is often out of balance and moving with a closed stance, then try to familiarise yourself with the open stance. And you can do this with having a partner hit some balls to you and just practice hitting those forehands and those backhands with your open stance. It will definitely help you to develop some muscle memory. Give those a go, let me know how you get on and hope to see you soon.