One of the most common strategies that professional players use these days is to hit their forehand either inside out or inside in. This is a very effective strategy because a player with a good forehand can set up pretty much the same way with their feet, and hit the ball in either direction.
The opponent often has to guess where the ball is going to go. If you use this idea, remember that the inside out shot has a greater margin for error since the ball will be crossing the net more in the middle and you are hitting to a bigger area on the court.
In addition, the distance between your point of contact and the baseline is greater on the inside out. I recommend using this one more often, but go to the inside in if the opponent starts cheating towards the inside out side of the court.
Use an exaggerated shoulder turn when executing these shots. Hold the shoulders in that position longer on the inside out shot and let the shoulders open up earlier on the inside in. Both of these shots are very effective so don’t forget to mix it up even if one is working more often than the other.
Steve Annacone, USPTA Elite Pro, is the Director of Annacone Tennis, www.annaconetennis.com and MyHamptonspPro, www.MyHamptonsPro.com throughout the Hamptons, NY. Sam Alexander, Steve, and Gill Gross run the TOP (Tennis Optimization Players-Top Team) program at the Tucson Jewish Community Center (Tucson, AZ) for high level players ages 8-18. Please contact Steve at sannacone@tucsonjcc.org or 865-300-7323