With a 1.5 hour interactive footwork lecture and 5 hours of training on the table, the players had a full day of footwork. During the 1.5 we discussed the importance of racket positioning, the proper way to balance, as well as the positioning of the legs and feet. The bulk of the lecture was spent discussing the 10 ways of moving….
#1 Simple side movement (shuffle) with beginner and advanced variations
#2 Long-distance crossover
#3 Simple in-and-out
#4 In-and-out jump
#5 Short game 1-step
#6 Short game 2-step
#7 Lateral blocking footwork
#8 Forward blocking footwork
#9 Smash step
#10 Running footwork
With the demonstrations and explanations of when and where to use each of these 10 movements, this took up the bulk of the lecture time. At the close of the lecture, we watch 2 games of Timo Boll vs Ma Long and analyzed the footwork of each player comparing and contrasting the differences in racket position and balance and discussing the preferences of each player in regards to movement.

The first session of 2.5 hours of training on the table began with warmup, core fitness training, then semi-systematic footwork drills and random footwork drills. The second session involved more random drills and many game situation drills. At the end of each 10 min drill, the players were given 1-2 minutes to complete their notetaking from feedback the coaches were giving and concepts they had discovered on their own. Tomorrow, we will have another 1.5 hour interactive lecture followed by 5 hours of more footwork – targeting a new aspect of footwork.

More updates will be available at www.SamsonDubina.com
Also, the lectures should be available within 1-2 weeks. Check back for more updates!