Rip It! The Modern Forehand

First and foremost let us define what a forehand is. InIn order to help you accomplish the body and hip
the simplest terms, a forehand is any stroke hit by therotation you can use a very simple mental trick.
dominant side of your body. If you are right-handed thisImagine that you have a large Texas belt buckle on. At
would be anything to the right side of your body, and ifthe beginning of the swing the buckle points towards
left-handed anything to the left side. A forehand is onethe side-line fence indicating that your body is coiled.
of the 2 ground strokes in tennis, the other being theOnce the swing is finished your imaginary buckle
backhand.should be pointed towards your opponent on the
Traditionally the forehand was hit from what isopposite end of the court.
referred to as a closed stance position, meaning thatThe other beautiful thing about the open stance
the toes of your feet were parallel to one another andforehand is that it enables you to swing smoothly.
pointed at the sideline as you hit. With modern racketMany beginners feel they have to swing hard at the
technology players are now able to generateball to generate power. This could not be further from
tremendous power and spin. Because of this, thethe truth! In fact, swinging faster and harder often
closed stance has slowly morphed into the "modern",results in more errors and can lead to injuries that can
or open stance. In the modern open stance forehandsideline your tennis career altogether. The open stance
the toes point at a ninety degree angle relative to oneforehand, and the uncoiling motion of the hips, allows
another, which ultimately allows greater body rotationyour body to generate the power, saving your arm.
through the shot.The result is a smooth controlled swing with sufficient
The open-stance forehand affords both competitivepower.
and recreational players several important advantages.There are several common pitfalls that beginners fall
First, it allows the player to set-up quicker than theinto at this point. First, they do not "load" their weight on
traditional closed-stance position. This is crucial sincethe back foot. This is crucial as the transfer of weight
players of all levels are hitting with increased poweris what gives you strength and stability throughout the
and spin. The quicker you can "set-up", the easier it willshot. Second, they load their weight, but stand up
be for you to handle shots hit with greater pace.during the shot. I call this the "tooth-pick" leg
Secondly, the open stance forehand allows the playerphenomenon. The result is that their weight travels in
to coil his/her body weight and transfer that weightan upward, rather than forward direction. This causes
through the shot by rotating the hips and body. Thisall of the potential energy stored in the form of weight
motion was more difficult to accomplish with theon your back foot, to be converted to inefficient
closed stance because the front foot obstructed theenergy resulting in a "mushy shot" that often falls into
hip rotation. You can illustrate this at home by puttingthe net.
your feet in the positions above and noting how farTo correct these common errors focus on staying low
your hips can rotate. They are more restricted in thethrough the shot. Both knees should still be bent at the
closed-stance position.end of the swing with your weight shifting from the
To review, the benefits of the open stance forehandfront to the forward foot. This will help get your weight
allow you to:"through the ball" resulting in a forehand that penetrates
(1) Set up quickeryour opponents court with maximum power, spin, and
(2) Handle opponents more powerful shots easiercontrol.
(3) Improve coiling and uncoiling of body weight throughNow go out and use your new modern forehand to
the shotrun your opponent around! It is a great shot that should
(4) Increase stabilitybe learned by every tennis player!