Speeding up your footwork and reaction time

During a lesson, a Chinese coach had advised me not to use my cross over so much to get the ball, but rather to use simple movements, such as the side-to-side shuffle, the one-step, and the sideways jump where the right leg propels the body to the right during a FH stroke, and then sometimes mix in the crossover when the ball really seems a bit unreachable. This seems like a very practical idea, and as far as I have been able to observe, these footwork methods seem to be used very religiously by Chinese players, which is probably why they tend to be rather quick on their feet, but I'm having some problems applying such an idea. I know the idea seems to work better with a Chinese-style FH loop since the reach tends to be a little bit longer than a European-style FH loop, so I'm still working on that. I'm not totally sluggish on my feet, but I know I do tend to be a bit slow.

Are there any drills that you would recommend for applying such a footwork strategy? I'm a penholder with an RPB that is still developing, and I haven't had a chance to work on my FH as much as I want to because there aren't any great players around, but I'll do what I can. 

And do you suggest anything with my FH loop? I'm still trying to figure out how to use the long arm better when close to the table because I tend to get a ton of awkward, low, and sometimes shallow blocks from my opponents, so sadly I don't know much about mid-distance looping either.... 

Thanks for the help!

If I ever get my loop down pat, maybe I'll demonstrate the Chinese FH loop in a video and send it to you guys for use. But that's an unlikely dream. I'll shoot for it though! 

Hi,

Firstly the advice about the types of footwork is correct.  You should try to keep facing the table with your feet because you will be able to recover more quickly for the next ball.  When you use the crossover step you get yourself right out of position for the next ball.  This should only be used when it is too difficult to reach the ball with a sideways movement.

The best way to train this footwork is to do lots of drills.  Start with the simple one Forehand, one Backhand drill so that you get the sideways movement correct.  Then you can move on you other sideways moving drills like the Forehand, Forehand footwork and so on.  There are plenty of drills available. Just as long as you are doing drills that get you to move sideways.  Do them in a pattern where you know where the ball is going repetitively.

With your forehand loop, again it is a matter of training.  Do a drill where you are just forehand looping from the forehand side, cross court to your training partner.  While doing this, focus on the arm and keeping it relaxed and straighter.

Like anything in Table Tennis it is a matter of doing the action many times until you start to feel more comfortable and get the action correct.  Get your coach to give you some feedback on the stroke to see if you are improving it.