Covering my backhand with my forehand

Juan juan diego Asked 13 years ago

Hello, i want learn exercices to move in the table to change backhand topspin to forehand topspin thank bye

Jeff Plumb Answered 13 years ago

Hi Juan Juan,

If I understand you correctly, you would like to be able to move around and play a forehand topspin when the ball is played to your backhand.

There are a number of exercises you can do to improve your footwork to make this possible and we cover these in our Training Secrets Revealed DVD.

The first exercise I would suggest is the pivot exercise. In this drill you play every ball from the backhand corner but you play one backhand and then one forehand. This will get you moving correctly. The movement from the backhand around to play a forehand from the backhand corner is called a pivot.

Another great exercise for this is the Falkenburg drill. In this drill your partner plays 2 balls to your backhand corner followed by 1 to your forehand corner. This is then repeated. You play one backhand, pivot and play a forehand and then you need to move out and cover the wide ball with your forehand. It is an excellent exercise because if you do pivot in a match it is likely your opponent will try and block the ball wide to catch you out. This will help you be able to cover this type of play.

As a variation of the Falkenburg, you can try the Lazy Falkenburg. This drill is essentially the same as the Falkenburg except you keep playing backhands until you are ready to pivot. Once you do pivot and play a forehand your partner plays wide to your forehand and then back to your backhand. You can then keep playing backhands again which gives you a bit more time to recover and once you are ready you pivot once more and repeat. This makes it easier to keep the rally going and helps you improve your consistency and your footwork.

Try out each of these drills and let me know which one you like best.