Footwork vs technique
Table Tennis Footwork
Last updated 9 years ago
D K Asked 9 years ago
Hi again
Because I am quite slow,I want to ask: Do you have any idea how to practise footwork and connect it with the stroke?
I often get in the situation that I do the stroke technically well,but my feet simply do not move as I want,or I move correctly to the right place,but I make a serious error in my stroke's technique or even forget to make the stroke,so I want to correct it
Alois Rosario Answered 9 years ago
Hi DK,
Practice some drills as we show you in the Training Drills free download. Choose some drills to do during training. So you are moving, hitting and then moving again. Also watch the lesson on Footwork Basics.
Thoughts on this question
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Dieter Verhofstadt Posted 9 years ago
I can understand you're not moving and therefore making the wrong stroke technically (reaching). But if you move, you should be able to make the stroke: that's the purpose of moving. So you might have been moving to the wrong spot then? Or perhaps after moving there was not enough time to execute the stroke? I think this should only be really true for pivoting.
What about thinking about moving only and not try imparting spin or speed? This leaves you with basic drives and the occasional push, which are the easier shots, and you can concentrate on moving.
BTW, Alois, I like your saying that we should focus on our improvement points even in competitive matches.
D K Posted 9 years ago
That's it
I can move or make a stroke,but not do both things at the same time,when I need to use a more effective stroke like loop or mainly chop
Also,sometimes it is caused by the fact that I estimate badly if I can reach the ball.
I have a very poor eyes, but I am trying to get used to the fact that I have problems with estimating distances and speed or even with seeing the ball if it is too fast
D K Posted 9 years ago
The problem can be moving to the wrong spot, I think
I am unable to decide where exactly to move to execute the stroke.
It happens very often that I move around the whole court and then I find out that I moved too far (in the middle of the move) so I often hit the ball with my elbow ,forearm or even shoulder (it sounds strange but three or four times I really hit the ball with my shoulder) or miss it due to not moving far enough