There are hundreds to table tennis footwork drills. Most of these drills are in one of the following categories. Before reading the article, can you name the 6 types? (No peeking!!!)
Everyone agrees that footwork is important in table tennis.
HOWEVER
Most players struggle to give a concrete answer to why it is important. In this article, I’m going to hit the highlights then show a demo video then give you a homework assignment.
Typically, playing about 60-65% forehand and about 35-40% backhand will allow you to cover the table best. However, for some of my students, I give some flexibility as each player/style/age/conditioning/body type is unique. Because the forehand zone is larger, most players practice forehand footwork or full-table footwork. I have rarely seen players practicing backhand footwork.
For the weekend clinics, we usually have a theme for the weekend such as strokes, footwork, tactics, serving, etc… and each player will do similar drills throughout the weekend that are level appropriate all geared toward the topic for the weekend.
On Tuesday evening, the kids group class goes from 6-7:30pm and the teen/adult group class goes from 7:30-9pm. For the kids, I’ll be personalizing training programs for them in the future. But for now, most of the kids are doing similar drills.
Footwork Mechanics, Anticipation, Visualization, and Fitness
Four Elements of Footwork
“If I can lose 10 pounds, my footwork will really improve!”
This is a common statement made by hundreds of club players nationwide. Yes, their footwork probably will improve, but losing 10 pounds is only 1 of the 4 elements to having excellent footwork. I have seen some great athletes (in other sports) who had very poor footwork in table tennis. I have also seen some 300 pound table tennis players who had decent footwork.
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