Closed Stance

The traditional position of the body, sideways to the net, while making a shot. The player turns his side toward the net while in the act of hitting a shot, either from the forehand or the backhand side. This involves more than a twist of the torso: one leg should swing around and be so placed that the body doesn’t face the net, but is sideways to it. In modern times, with so many hard-composition, lightning-fast surfaces, even great players can’t follow traditional form all the time, and often hit from an open stance. Many have found they do better hitting from an open stance under any circumstances and do it all the time, but they are defying the teachings of the good book in doing.