Struggling with footwork and positioning

Hi, I have been told by various people that when i play i am not moving enough. I sometimes get caught out of position or i find myself stretching for a forehand rather than moving towards it. I also find that sometimes i get caught between two shots if the ball is it straight at me. I am not really sure how to correct this and i think sometimes i am too square to the table when i hit my forehand. I am left handed so whereabouts at the table should i be positioned and what do they mean when they say i should move more?

Hi Robert,

Movement is an important part of the game.  You need to remember though what the goal of moving is and that is to be in a balanced position when you are hitting the ball.

A good way to improve your movement and balance is to do a lot of footwork drills.  When you are doing these, go slowly and just make sure you are remaining balanced.  Start with footwork drills where you know where the ball is coming each time.  You can see a lot of ideas for drills in our free download of Training Drills.

It will take a while to get confident with the movements.  I think one more thing is to think about moving your feet before your arm or bat.  So think about moving the base into position and being balanced and then playing your stroke.