Learn 4 basic tennis stances for forehand and backhand

Gaby tennis footwork, tennis fundamentals, tennis lessons for beginner players

Check out our tennis lesson to learn about basic tennis stances.

In this tennis lesson Javi is explaining basic footwork and four tennis stances for each forehand and backhand shots. He will show you how each stance looks like and for what type of ball or in what play situation you would use each of them. These tennis stances are important for beginner players who are just starting to play points and want to expand their footwork options. Having good footwork and mobility is the basis of any tennis shot.

What is a tennis stance?

In tennis, a stance is the way you place your feet and load your body weight before you hit the ball. As a general guideline there are four different stances which are neutral, closed, semi-open and open. Some are more difficult than others and in this article we will explored the easiest stances that a beginner player should learn first.

A player can use many different stances to hit various types of shots in a tennis match. Typically a neutral stance would be used for easier and lower balls and open or semi-open stance for more complicated, higher or wider balls. There are also stances to attack and hit aggressive shots and others to defend the ball.

We have simplified each basic stance to give you a general idea and we will go into detail about those stances and more in the future videos about footwork.

A tennis stance is the way you position your feet before you hit the ball.

Basic tennis stances for the forehand

There are four basic stances for the forehand shot that a beginner tennis player can use to position themselves correctly in order to hit the ball. They rather depend on the type of ball that is coming from their opponent: whether it is an easy ball, a wider ball or a short ball. Additionally, mostly on clay courts a player can slide into the ball to hit it.

Check out our tennis lesson to learn about basic tennis stances.

NEUTRAL stance for EASY rallies

It is a standard stance for balls that come to us at the baseline, that is, to which we do not have to run much. The typical situation when we would use this stance is during the warm-up before a match or just to rally.

  • place your feet, hips and shoulders sideways
  • transfer your bodyweight forward from your back leg to the front leg
  • lift the heel of your back foot

SEMI-OPEN stance for WIDER balls

This stance has become a preferred stance to use in different game situations and here we teach it to beginners as a way to reach to wider balls that make them play from the sides of the court.

  • put your right leg outside towards the ball, load and stabilize on it
  • keep the right foot a bit behind the left
  • when hitting the ball rotate your hips and feet

NEUTRAL stance for SHORTER balls

We use this stance when approaching a short ball. The objective is to transfer the bodyweight forwards and have more power as well as to step into the court and take advantage of the short bounce of the ball to go up to the net.

  • place your feet, hips and shoulders sideways
  • move your bodyweight forward from your back leg to the front leg
  • step into the court with your back leg

SLIDING on CLAY court

Until recently, sliding has been almost only used on clay court; however, it is such a useful way of getting to the ball that professionals know how to slide on hard courts. This way of reaching to the ball allows the player to get to the wider and more complicated balls that are further away from us.

  • slide with your outside leg (right for right-handed players)
  • when hitting the ball rotate your hips and feet

Forehand stance 1

Neutral stance for easy rallies

Forehand stance 2

Semi-open stance for wider balls

Forehand stance 3

Neutral stance for shorter balls

Forehand stance 4

Sliding on clay court

Basic tennis stances for the backhand

There are also four basic stances on the backhand side that a beginner tennis player should know to position themselves correctly in order to hit the ball. They too depend on the type of incoming ball from their opponent: whether it is an easy ball, a wider ball or a short ball. Additionally, mostly on clay courts a player can slide into the ball to hit it.

NEUTRAL stance for EASY rallies

It is the same stance that we have seen for the forehand, only that it is for backhand. It is a good stance to use for easy balls, which come close to us and it’s often used during warm-up and rally before a game.

  • place your feet, hips and shoulders sideways
  • transfer your bodyweight forward from your back leg to the front leg
  • lift the heel of your back foot

CLOSED stance for WIDER balls

The closed stance is the most common stance used for backhand, especially when the ball goes a little wider and we want to transfer bodyweight towards it.

  • load on your dominant leg (right for right-handed players)
  • step out to the side with your back leg after the stroke
  • pivot with your non-dominant leg and return to the middle

NEUTRAL stance for SHORTER balls

This stance is very similar to the neutral stance with the step forward on the forehand side. We use it mostly when we have to hit a ball that has bounced short and we want to move towards the net.

  • place your feet, hips and shoulders sideways
  • move your bodyweight forward from your back leg to the front leg
  • step into the court with your back leg

SLIDING on CLAY court

Same as on forehand, sliding on backhand is an important way to reach to the balls that are far from us and we need inertia to hit them.

  • slide with your outside leg (right for right-handed players)
  • step out to the side with your back leg after the stroke
  • pivot with your non-dominant leg and return to the middle

One-handed backhand stance 1

Neutral stance for easy rallies

Two-handed backhand stance 1

Neutral stance for easy rallies

One-handed backhand stance 2

Closed stance for wider balls

Two-handed backhand stance 2

Closed stance for wider balls

One-handed backhand stance 3

Neutral stance for shorter balls

Two-handed backhand stance 3

Neutral stance for shorter balls

One-handed backhand stance 4

Sliding on clay court

Two-handed backhand stance 4

Sliding on clay court

Key takeaways

Check out our tennis lesson to learn about basic tennis stances.

The main learning points from this tennis lesson for beginners are:

  1. Knowing different ways of putting your feet for a shot allows you to have a better response depending on the ball that comes to you.
  2. There are 4 basic stances for the forehand and 4 for the backhand that you must master first, before learning more difficult stances.
  3. In the beginning, when you learn to rally use the neutral stance, which is the one that gives a lot of feet stability.
  4. Always try to return to your ready position after the shot as soon as possible.
  5. When you play on clay court, learning to slide will help you reach to further balls.