Footwork

Table Tennis Footwork

Last updated 7 years ago

Ramachandran Sundararaman

Ramachandran Sundararaman Asked 7 years ago

Hi Alois,

I play TT after work hours at the office.  We mainly play doubles.  I just wanted to advance my game & joined a club, but find myself to be a beginner.  I thought I was playing decently,  but when I played at the club it seems to be a different ballgame.

i seem to get stuck close to the table when I serve or play a short ball return.  I then find my foot not moving and I lose the point.  I was playing the forehand & backhand topspin well in the office.  But in the club, they are using a different ball which spins a lot more.  

I don't know how to get around my footwork problem.


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario Answered 7 years ago

Hi Ramachandra,

Firstly well done on getting your self to a club.  As you can see it opens up the level of play that you are exposed to.

After serving, focus on getting back into a good balanced position in the ready position we show you Basic Stance.

To get to the short ball, you need to move your right foot (if you are a right hander) in close to the table.  Take a look at this tutorial on The Push in Detail which will show you the footwork needed for that ball.

You will get used to the better ball.  It is probably a bit heavier and they are probably spinning the ball a lot more than your work colleagues as well.

Keep up the good work.


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Ramachandran Sundararaman

Ramachandran Sundararaman Posted 7 years ago

Thanks for the tips Alois..  I actually didn't see this particular video, since I was playing the push well.  This video added a lot more than what I knew.

One more question- does the racquet matter for improving technique?  The context of my question is - I bought a Yasaka Sweden extra blade with mark v rubbers on both sides after seeing your video.  One of my friends gave me a stiga racquet with hurricane 3 neo on forehand and tenergy tensor rubber on the backhand.

i was comfortable with the yasaka and could feel the brushing action while I topspin.  But I was losing big with that racquet in our weekly league matches.  When I change it to the stiga with better rubbers, my game gets much better.  With the yasaka I also get a lot of spinning balls on my fingers and the ball pops out.  May be the yasaka one handle is a little smaller compared to the stiga.  When I use the shake hand grip as suggested by you, my index finger pops out of the racquet lot more than the stiga one.


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 7 years ago

Hi Ramachandra,

The racket does make a difference at certain level.  It is important to make sure that you are using something that suits your level.

Take a look at our tutorial on Choosing a Table Tennis Table.  However, there is no need to change rackets too much if they are from the same level.  What you have described is that you have gone up a level in speed with the new racket.



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