If you are a club level player with the typical "closed stance" on your ground strokes and you do not seem to be advancing your game, try this. Try opening your stance slightly on your ground strokes. These are a few of the advantages:

• It will naturally shorten you backswing, which is the #1 Cause of mis-hits, tennis elbow and loss of control.

• It saves time on your recovery. When you finish hitting the ball, you can immediately go forward (a big help in advancing your doubles game).

• It makes it much easier to hit when your opponent hits the ball behind you (where you are coming from).

• It forces you to use your legs more than your arms. In the long run it is better for you.

For a good example, start watching professional matches and you will see a very high percentage of them hit the open stance forehand. You will start seeing a high number also hit the backhand open stance. The nature of the game is forcing players to set up faster, recover faster and be able to handle faster balls. The open stance is the way to go. If you have never tried it, when you are feeding the ball to start the rally, hit the feed with you toes straight on or facing the net. It will seem awkward at first., then you will become more comfortable with it.

Good luck on the courts!