Running Forehands and Hard/Rebound Ace courts

[4HAND]

When you're running to a forehand along the baseline do you hit the squash shot, an angle, a high crosscourt shot or a risky shot/winner? Which shot works the best for you? because i'm not really sure which one is

Also, i usually play on synthetic grass. At a tournament this week it was on rebound ace. I found it very hard to move as you can't slide at all and its hard to cut back to the wrongfoot shot. Are you supposed to take small steps?

thanks
4HAND

[limitup]

If you are running wide you should try to hit down the line. That's the highest percentage shot anyway ...

[nickybol]

Totally not true. It depends on the situation. If you are in the defensive, the better option is hitting a high crosscourt ball, in order to have more recovery time. If you want to go for a winner you can hit dtl.

If you are running wide you should not hit from a closed stance or make small steps, but hit from an open stance.

[travlerajm]

If you can get there in time, plant your right foot to put on the brakes, then step toward your target with the left foot. Open stance forehands require a lot better timing than when you step into your shot. And if you don't step forward, it's harder to gauge the actual direction of your momentum because your weight will still be drifting to your right, making it harder to control your shot direction.

[nickybol]

Open stance forehands are indeed more difficult and require a better timing, but it is worth practising.

[papa]

If you are running wide you should try to hit down the line. That's the highest percentage shot anyway ...

I'm not with you on this. Yes, there are cases where this is the best option especially if you are drawn wide enough to return DTL where the net isn't a factor. However, in most instances, crosscourt is the best shot and it doesn't have to be high either.

You HAVE to learn to hit this shot without being wrong footed - most who have problems with this shot (not everyone of course) are not landing in an open stance after the hit (there are many times when this isn't possible either). If your front foot puts you in closed position your going to have problems with the shot.

BB and others are much better than I in explaining these thing but getting players to hit with wrong footing themselves generally solves the problem. Its actually quite an easy shot to hit - easier than you might think.