What if there isn't time to step into the ball on the backhand

[dizzychump]

In Scott Murphy's article about preparation for the one handed backhand he stresses that the key is to load all the weight onto the back foot prior to stepping in with a smooth balanced step. I am fine with this.

What i would like to know is: If there isn't time to step into the shot i.e. the ball is very wide, how should i place my feet? Or, if i were right handed which would be the outside or left most foot on the shot?

I'm sure my coach is right, but he is saying my left foot should be the outside foot. My instinct makes me cross my right foot over so my back is more facing the net. Apparently this restricts my choice of shot to DTL.

Any advice welcome.

[scottmurphy]

Dear Dizzychump,

The first thing I would suggest in answer to this good question would be to go to the Stroke Archives and watch the wide backhands of say Roger Federer and Tommy Haas. What you'll see is that with both topspin and slice backhands a combination of both open and closed stances can be used.

On VERY wide balls I think the greater likelihood is that a closed stance will be used most often. This CAN make hitting an offensive crosscourt reply more difficult. The better way to go in terms of percentages in this instance would be to hit a neutral shot or a slice backhand crosscourt, particularly if your opponent stays back. It also brings to mind those incredible crosscourt wrist flicks that Roger hits when he's stretched real wide with an opponent at the net who's figuring he'll go down the line. He's always in a closed stance on those.

Scott Murphy