
So, what are these stances, you ask? Open stance refers to the stance where your left and right leg are parallel to the baseline. Your legs are often referred to as outer leg versus inner leg so as to not confuse lefties. For a righty, your inner leg is your left leg, and your outer leg is your right. Hence why your right leg, or outer leg, is the leg that is stepping out to the shot. If you check out Andy Roddick and ignore the guy talking about open stances/closed stances, you'll the easy way to visualize the inner and outer leg. Inside or outside leg is also a label used. Fun fact: Andy Roddick is not a lefty. I hope you noticed that he was flipped to show how for a lefty the inner leg would be the right leg, and the outer leg the right. :)
The good side: open stance allows for more hip rotation, and thus more power through your torso into your shot. It also is a shot that is focused on side to side movement to get you in and out of the shot, relying on your legs to propel you to step into the shot and then push you back to the middle of the court. This conservation of steps may be both a good and bad thing-- it'll get you back to the middle faster, but does not allow you to adjust to the ball as much as the closed stance does. For windy conditions and approach shots, you do need more adjustment. The bad side (and there always is a bad side): this shot puts pressure on your shoulder if you do not contact the ball at the right contact point.

There is a third stance. How shocking! Yes, this stance is called the neutral stance, because your inner and outer leg are perpendicular to the baseline. If you draw a line through your shoes, this line will create right angles when it crosses the baseline (for those of you who did a math refresher). Federer is completing a sort-of neutral stance in the picture to the right. You'll use this shot when the ball is coming at your body, for approach shots, and for returns often. Is it better than any other stance? Not really, but you'll use it. It's kind of a hybrid of the closed stance, because it allows for more hip rotation but still relies on a forward/backward movement.
Which is the best? There is no "best" stance, in my opinion. It is something that you adjust to, and also is based on preference. Your coach will be able to see which stance is better for you, but keep in mind you'll use all three stances for different shots in tennis, and it is up to the correct execution of these shots whether you get the ball into the court, and well!
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