Open Stance Forehand

Cade Sutherland Lines Up a Mid-Court Forehand...I spend a good deal of time working with players on how to implement their entire body into a shot. Connecting the hip and shoulder on the forehand or backhand ground stroke is crucial to hitting an efficient shot. In this photo taken at the Columbia Lakes Country Club Christmas Camp last year, Cade Sutherland, a junior at West Columbia High School does a good job 'loading' his weight onto his right foot. He's close enough to the target to where he can rotate his hip and shoulder to explode into the ball. He'll end up pivoting the bottom of his foot during the follow-through from an open stance. He's also keeping his head down for balance and his racquet head is dropping below the ball so he can swing up and create topspin.It looks like his left arm may have pulled away a little early from across his body which could cause the swing to become too circular, thereby producing a mis-hit or a ball landing shallow in the court. But over all there are enough good things happening that the end result is a pretty good attacking forehand.