forehand stance: open vs. square?

[rabidmonkey]

I've played tennis for almost a year and have been taught the square stance as a beginner. I have also read around this forum and noticed that some of you guys say that square stance generates more power. However, I recently experimented with an open stance and found that I could generate a lot more power on my flat shots by using my back foot as sort of a pivot (sometimes I see James Blake do something similar), which allows me to get monstrous shoulder and core rotation into the shot. So I was wondering, was I just doing something wrong with the square stance or does open stance really give you more power? How about topspin shots? I use a SW grip.

[Solat]

time to mess with the trusty "search" button buddy

you never know what you might find

[Teh_pwnerer]

i dont know but i have a semi closed open medium square stance, lol it works good.

Ok, i mostly hit with an open stance, hitting off my back foot, with a western grip and i really like the ammount of power and topspin i can generate, of course u have to hit the ball infront for any stance to work, its just personal preference and how u feel more comfortable with

[kimizz]

Square stance can bring power for sure but you need to have the step in to the ball which i find really hard to do consistently. Thats why I trust the neutral stance more which you see the pros doing a lot. Maybe some coach here could explain the theory of the square stance+step in. There is some stuff that you can search too...

I think its really about the situation your in that determines the way you hit the ball. When the ball is hit short by the opponent I find myself automatically in a square stance. If im pulled wide I focus on my backswing and the feet automatically sets up for the neutral stance. I dont know if im lazy with my feet since I cant get the square stance working for me in every stroke. My coach says I could hit harder if I just learned to step in and use square stance.

[penpal]

Speaking as someone who is a touch older (40 in Oct.), and who used to hit with an open stance, I've changed to a semi-closed stance.

Why? Because rotating my core to generate power from the open stance began to disagree with my lower back :p

The moral: do what you can do best ... and plan on switching things up as you get older :)