Every student of tennis in the last 50 years has heard an instructor say, “Hit the ball out in front.” But where, exactly, is that? In the August 1965 issue, Red Buerger gave the magazine a timeless lesson on the two meanings of “out in front.” If you’re hitting a one-handed backhand from a closed stance, like the one shown here, “out in front” can mean the space in front of your body, which is pointed toward the side fence. In this sense, the term means away from your body so you have room to swing. As Buerger puts it, “Don’t crowd your shot.” And then there’s the “out in front” that most players think of, somewhere between them and the net. Buerger advises stepping into the shot, but cautions against hitting too far out in front (no lunging or slouching). “Meet the ball at the farthest extent of your comfortable reach, at a point in line with your forward (closest to the net) foot, making contact well in front of you,” he writes. Watch Roger Federer hit a slice backhand and you’ll see that the same technique still applies today.
