The inside in forehand is one of the shots that will help you win more matches and take your tennis game to the next level. In fact, it is commonly used by Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal to dominate their opponents from the baseline. This is more of a finishing shot which can be played to an opponent’s weaker side. Therefore, I do not suggest hitting it unless you are on an offensive position.
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Court positioning, technique, and footwork are three key elements to properly hit the inside in forehand like the pros. In this tennis article, I will explain them individually in greater detail so that you can take inmediate action in your next tennis practice.
Let us get started.
Court Positioning
First of all, let’s talk about your position on the tennis court. I really like to encourage my players to hit their inside in forehand from the baseline or inside the baseline. I think this is an offensive shot that will help you to get control of the point.
Usually, I do not advice hitting the inside in from three or four feet behind the baseline. Instead, that is the time to play the ball down the middle or even high inside out using a buggy whip tennis forehand.
Inside In Forehand Technique
Keep in mind that hitting this shot inside the baseline will change your forehand technique swing path and follow through. You will finish your inside in forehand down by the shoulder or even a little bit lower by the hip. This will help you to put spin on the ball which will get the ball to go up and down quickly.
Next, let us discuss where to aim which require you to increase your awareness around where the ball is landing. Typically, I like to treat this shot like a passing shot where you do not really go for depth. What I do is I put targets for my players just past the service line provided they can hit with enough pace. You can see how I do it here with my student on a live on court tennis lesson.
Then, I make them accelerate with their hand so that the ball drops down in the targeted area. Another thing that I see is many tennis players will miss their inside in forehand wide. If that is the case, make sure that you have plenty of room from the single sideline.
Finally, footwork is critical. One mistake I often see club players make on their inside in forehand is how they move around the ball. They tend to turn sideways, but I consider this a big mistake. As soon as you turn sideways, you might feel jammed or blocked. Consequently, I like to teach two different options.
First, I have my players actually cross in front and then shuffle around the ball to get their hips facing towards the net. This involves getting the front leg to come in front of the outside leg on the first move. The other option to move efficiently on the inside in forehand is to just shuffle with your first move. Therefore, you focus on shuffling around the ball with a semi open stance.
To conclude, let us review the key components to master the inside in forehand technique. To begin with, you need to get into the right position on the tennis court before executing this shot. Afterwards, you got to adjust your tennis forehand swing path and aim to the right targets. Finally, you have to focus on your footwork, which is essential to hit better tennis forehands.
I hope you enjoyed this tennis article and got a ton of value out of it. I am confident that the tennis tips provided will help you to transform your inside in forehand into a powerful weapon.
By Jeff Salzenstein, Founder Tennis Evolution
Jeff is a former top 100 ATP player and USTA high performance coach committed to helping players and coaches all over the world improve.
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