Hey everyone, Simon here with Top Tennis
Training and in this video, I want to
show you how to hit the perfect
inside out tennis forehand in three
simple steps. Now what exactly is an inside-out
forehand and why would we want to hit
one?
So the inside out forehand is where you
have run around your backhand
and hit a forehand, so I'm hitting a
forehand from this side
and I'm going into the player's backhand.
the inside in forehand is when i would
go from this same
shot but down the line into the player's
forehand
now why would we want to hit that shot
so the first reason is let's say your
backhand is a little bit weaker
let's say it's more for consistent shot
but you can produce those powerful shots
where you can really start to dictate
play that would be one option
instead of hitting backhands cross court
you'll run around and hit your forehand
so your strength using it into most
players weaker side
the back end
the other main reason being you can
really take on those higher balls
so let's say you're in a backhand
exchange with your opponent and they've
hit
a slower higher ball it's hard for you
to take that ball on the rise or to
attack those higher balls
with a backhand two-handed or one-handed
whereas with the forehand because you
have the flexibility and the ease of
swing
using more across the chest that follow
through
it's easier for you to now attack those
higher balls be aggressive off them
and start to dictate play
before we get into step one on this
inside out forehand
i just want to mention if you're serious
about improving your tennis
then make sure you have subscribed to
the channel and also you've turned on
the notification bell so step number one
to hitting the perfect inside out
forehand
is to get around the ball and make sure
that you're preparing
while you're getting around that ball
now this is my ready position if i'm in
a rally
cross court with my opponent i've gone
back and backhand for a few shots in a
row
i'd be setting up somewhere around here
now for that inside out forehand
i have to get around to that spot
now if i use side steps it's going to
take me
quite a bit of time and then coil up
you can see it takes me time and also
i'm wasting those first few steps
because
i can cover much more ground with a
simple step
so i'm using one cross behind step and
that almost
acts as my setup step for the stands
so i'm simply going from the split step
position
from here my right leg is now crossing
behind my left leg
so my left leg stays put my right leg
now crosses behind
and i'm covering a great amount of
distance with one step only
and at the same time as i step across
i'm also loading into that semi-open or
open
or in neutral stands so i can be set up
with one step so that one cross behind
step
from the front it looks like this so
cross behind is
here
now the crossover step you can use it
but
the issue is the coil now when i use a
crossover step
my body is staying front on i can't
really rotate the hips
at the same time that i'm using that
crossover step so the crossover step
will look like so
so cross over and yes i can get around
that ball
but i haven't set up with my racket i
haven't coiled the upper body
so i won't have the same amount of power
as when i use the cross behind step
when i use the cross behind step i can
coil up the hips i can coil up the trunk
at the same time i'm doing my movement
around the ball so the cross behind step
is happening
and at the same time my left shoulder is
turning towards the net
i'm calling up the upper body
it's really important that on this
inside out forehand you maximize
that coil if you're front on you can
still get some power
but you won't have that same penetration
you won't have that same aggressive
force
that you want when you're hitting this
inside out forehand as if you coil up
properly
now if you have more distance to cover
let's say the ball
is coming really far into the singles
court even towards the tram lines
can still use that cross behind step to
initiate everything happening
so cross behind step and if i have
another step to cover
i might use the side shuffle step so it
might be like this
cross behind side shuffle side shuffle
and i'm set
so if the ball is slightly shorter if i
want to step up with the neutral stance
i cross behind step to initiate
everything happening and then the side
shuffle step to then take me to that
ball
cross behind side shuffle side shuffle
and i'm ready to hit that inside out
forehand
step two is all about being ready to
attack that ball
now i'm not getting around that ball i'm
not hitting an inside out forehand
just because i want to put myself in a
bad position
take myself off the court and waste
energy
my goal when i'm hitting this inside out
forehand is to start dictating play
and be aggressive i want to put myself
in a position where i can start to
control
the point and this means being ready to
attack
so this means loading up correctly with
the legs
loading up with the trunk so that goes
back to step one where you're coiling up
the upper body
now it's about getting into a good power
position but also
using the correct stance so when you get
around this inside out forehand
you want to use one of three stanzas
either the open stance
or the semi-open stance or the neutral
stance
now the neutral stance when you're
learning this inside out forehand
is the easiest way for you to feel that
body weight going
into the shot so neutral stance is where
you step forward with your left leg
if you're a right-handed player you step
forward like so
so they're in a line your back leg and
your front leg are aligned
now if that's the chord down there from
this position you can see
how i can now transfer my weight from
the back leg the right leg
onto the front leg and then into the
shot
so it's that neutral stance when you're
firstly learning this inside out
forehand
that you want to master because this
will help you to feel that weight
transfer
and that aggressive body weight going
into the shot
so as i get around my forehand i'm now
here
i've set up in the neutral stand now i
can attack that ball
now for the more advanced players you
could also hit a semi-open
or an open stance so the open stance is
where you have your feet like
so so i'm loading up on my outside leg
my right leg
as you can see here almost like a lunge
position and from here
now i'm going to drive onto my left leg
as i hit that inside out forehand
because i want my body weight going
towards my target
and the third option is the semi-open
stance so we have the neutral
we have the open and now we have the
stands between both which is the
semi-open
now before we get into step three i want
to mention that we have a free forehand
guide
the five steps to hitting the perfect
tennis forehand you can download it
right away
i'll leave the link below this video all
you have to do is click on that link
that will take you to our website
you simply enter your email address and
we'll send you the free pdf
right away so step number three is all
about your tactical intentions with that
shot
and being ready for your opponent to
actually reach that ball and their reply
now often when players run around their
backhand to hit an inside out forehand
they think about it as one shot they
commit to that one shot
they get all the way around the ball
they go aggressive but they're not ready
for the
the opponent to actually reach their
ball and get it back in the court
now when you run around your backhand to
hit an inside out forehand
you're giving up a lot of space so if
i'm hitting my inside out forehand from
here
i have to make sure that i hit a good
quality shot because now all that space
is open
to my opponent and the stronger players
will exploit that down the line
by hitting the inside out forehand i can
be aggressive but i can also put myself
in a very bad position because now i'm
here i've hit my forehand
but i have all that space now open and
my opponent can attack me down the line
so it's very important
you know what you're trying to do with
that shot you're not just going around
it
and hitting and hoping that you end up
with a good quality shot
you're actually building that shot in
your mind before you go and execute it
so this means there are a few options
you can go for
i can firstly run around to hear that
inside out forehand
and hit it more aggressive with topspin
so it can be higher over the net almost
like in the dow style shot
where it goes two or three net levels
ball has a lot of height
so it's passing the net high i have a
lot of time
to now recover into a good position and
hopefully
push the player back with this heavy
topspin shot because it's hard to deal
with a ball
up here when it's coming from an inside
out forehand and on the next shot then
they'll hopefully give you
an easier ball which you can step in and
really put away
now the second option is to go for a
shorter angle and this
is when you have a little bit of a
slower ball
so if the ball is sitting up a little
bit more you don't want to go flat
you still want to have some margin you
can hit with more spin
but you're not going as high and you're
not going as deep so you're going more
towards
this area off the court somewhere here
so that when the ball bounces it then
passes the doubles tram line
and it goes outside of the doubles alley
before it's actually past the baseline
so that first option the ball is
bouncing around here
and kicking through the baseline but
with the second option it's bouncing and
going away from the opponent
and even if your opponent hits down the
line from this wide shot
this shorter angle they now have to hit
inside the court so the ball is
traveling more towards you
and it's easier for you to reach so by
hitting this shorter angle
you're pushing the player way off the
court you're opening up the court
completely
on the forehand side and also you're
teasing them to go down the line
but if they do go down the line they're
going into your forehand the ball's
traveling towards you
and now you can hit a running forehand
into the open court and that's almost
what you want to do you want to force
them to go line
so then you have the option to go into
the space
and then the third option would be when
the ball is slightly shorter
you have more time to step inside the
court take on that ball
almost take it on the rise and then come
forward to the net to finish off the
point
now with all three of these options
you'll have to be ready and anticipate
that the opponent is gonna make that
ball
and you have to get back into a good
position on the call so if option one
when you're trying to push the player
back with heavy spin
you're hitting the shot from here now
you have to get back to here
off center on the back and wing so you
have to make sure that you get
around that zone over there now with
option two
if you go for a shorter angle you don't
have to recover as much
because now the angles of the court
change and the opponent's two best
possible shots will change
a little bit so you can recover less
when you go for that shorter angle
so with a short angle i might go here
and only recover here
because now the down the line shot is
easier for me to reach
and then with option three of course i'm
following it in and i have to make sure
that i cover the line
i'm hitting it from here and i'm getting
somewhere here
to cover the line shot now a great drill
for you to
make this footwork a habit and actually
work on that coil
is to simply shadow your inside out
forehand so you set up
a couple of cones or tennis balls in my
case
like so and as you're lining off that
split step your first step is now that
cross behind with the right leg
and at the same time that you're
crossing behind you're also
coiling up the upper body so you're
turning everything as that unit turn
so it's split step cross behind coil
see how far i can get with one step so
split cross behind and i'm set up
now if i practice this over and over
again even if you do 20 a day
you'll start to get the footwork right
you'll start to feel better
on this inside out forehand so once
again split step cross behind
and i'm set up so there you have it how
to hit the perfect
inside out forehand in three simple
steps i hope you've enjoyed this video
and i hope you've learned something new
now if you have make sure you click that
like button
subscribe to the channel of course and
make sure that you turn on that
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also share this video with anyone who
would benefit from watching it this
could be
a tennis friend this could be someone in
your family or someone that you coach if
you're a tennis coach
signing off simon from ttp all the best
and see you soon guys
take care
