Photo Lesson: The Inside-Out Forehand

An inside-out forehand is basically a forehand hit crosscourt from the backhand side of your court. This photo captures one of the backpedaling steps usually needed to get into position. You have to move your feet farther from the center of your backcourt to hit inside-out, so you should choose to hit inside-out only when you have an opportunity to be fairly aggressive. If you hit an inside-out shot neutrally or defensively, you'll just be farther out of position for your opponent's likely aggressive reply.

The inside-out forehand shown in this series of photos happens to be hit with an Eastern forehand grip, but you can hit an inside-out forehand with the same grip you use for other aggressive forehands.