Footwork on OHBH CC

[kenshireen]

When preparing to hit my onbh I usually have my front foot slightly ahead of my back foot with boot feet parallel to the net. I asked my coach if its ok to move my front foot across my body to open my stance if I was going to go cross court... or should I stay in my original position and just hit the ball earlier.

He said it is ok to open you stance and step with the front foot across my body (my body would be at about a 45 degree angle from the net).
Is he correct?

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Check the movement by Edberg:
(link courtesy by Andrew D)

Great Slow Motion BH CC pic:
http://edberg.free.fr/videos/edberg_rosset_rg96/edberg_39_revers_croise_a_la_loupe_lent.mpg
http://edberg.free.fr/videos/edberg_chang_rg96/edberg_02_passing_revers_croise_ralenti.mpg

And in general his movement at the baseline:
http://edberg.free.fr/videos/videos_baseline_1.htm

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Being open is OK, you can see Federer or Blake executing these days this way, Blake more.

But I am not sure you mean it that way.

You can see them establishing the open platform with the left foot placed to the left of the right foot, not behind it, both feet facing with the toes more towards the court, not with the toes parallel to the baseline (as in the classical close stance 1HBH), and with body facing more the court.

Also 45 degrees would be fine, IMO.

But your description on the foot movement is not that clear.
Which is your front foot, the right, here? Just to eliminate confusions.

Do you mean advancing your right foot more into the court in the final platform stance for the CC, while still keeping it in front of the left foot? I think that's fine.

To me the most important thing is the shoulder line. It must be kept relatively stable towards the target, which is here CC, while the arm pivots at the shoulder. I.e. don't overrotate the shoulders.

Also, the control of the ball during the contact line and the followthrough.

Now the position of the legs might impede you from turning your torso/shoulders during the preparation, thus this should be a concern.

I'd say that IMO the classical position with the toes pointing parallel to the baseline seems to be the most versatile one, you can go both DTL and CC. While from yours you can go mostly CC, I think.

 

[rfprse]

When preparing to hit my onbh I usually have my front foot slightly ahead of my back foot with boot feet parallel to the net. I asked my coach if its ok to move my front foot across my body to open my stance if I was going to go cross court... or should I stay in my original position and just hit the ball earlier.

He said it is ok to open you stance and step with the front foot across my body (my body would be at about a 45 degree angle from the net).
Is he correct?

It's not clear what you mean by "opening your stance by stepping across my body". Does it mean your right foot (assuming you are right handed) is placed at the right front side of the left foot?
Opening up your body at about 45 degree sounds ok to me (even when you use parallel/square stance).
Anyway, imho, if you use the open stance, it would be better for you to be able to use it for dtl and cross court shots. If you use it only for cross court shots, the opponents will have clear reading of the direction of your bh.