Ping Pong Footwork Exercise Drills To Improve Forehand and Backhand Strokes

Footwork is an essential part of the table tennis game, especially if playing on an indoor ping table for a competitive match. Tt is such a quick game and ball placement is very difficult to predict in a competitive match. It's important to get in to position quickly and hit a perfect stroke. To do that, your footwork needs to be on-point. We have teamed up with Eli Baraty, Head Coach at the Harefield Academy to provide this 'Footwork Exercise' video as part of our coaching videos series.

This little workout improves your reactions to the ball, producing the correct strokes and footwork to get in to position when the ball is coming at you from different angles.  Getting good at Table Tennis requires commitment, repetition and good footwork to get in to position to hit a perfect stroke.

This video is a 'How To' that shows you how to improve your forehand and backhand strokes. Eli Baraty is one of the best coaches in the UK right now and has been teaching table tennis for over 10 years. He is so specialist in his knowledge and training of the game, it's a great privilege to get some in-side pointers on how to raise your game. Remember, consistency, repetition and dedication helps you improve your game and become a better player.

Be Nimble on your feet!

Why is this exercise important?

Table tennis is a lot about leg work, fitness and stamina, so the need to be nimble and practise your foot work moving from side to side is as important or if not more important than having the perfect strokes to hit the ball. It's like being a dancer or a boxer because you use your legs, hips and weight of your body to produce the power in your shots and get in to position.  Rhythm is what it's all about! Getting in to the groove and learning how to move is what makes table tennis so cool.

Lots of professional table tennis players do a lot of running to keep their fitness and power in thier legs to make sure their leg work and footwork is on-point during the game. If you watch a lot of professional table tennis matches, you will notice that from the serves they pivot around on each foot and shuffle from side to side to get in to the position of the ball.

Footwork is just as important as having great shots!

What is this Footwork Exercise Tip?

It's a side to side movement training which develops your consistency, fitness and footwork. A key thing to point out that it takes a while to develop good foot work and it's important to practice regularly and work with a coach such as Eli Baraty to learn the correct movements. Or watch hours of professional table tennis videos to see how they get in to the position of the ball, but in reality you still need to practice and do it properly.

Things to consider.

It's important not to be clunky with your footwork don't jump too high in-between the movements, you need to float between the movements. Being light and nimble is key and using your legs to get the power of your shots between the bounces. Professional table tennis players practise footwork exercises most of the time when they are in training. The reason being is that they know that foot work is 90 per cent of getting in to position of the ball. The stroke is also just as important, but if you're not in position, you're not going hit the right shot.

Movement and stamina makes a great player!

Is it important to work with a coach?

Getting in to bad habits will only develop you in to a bad player long term. If you're serious about raising your standards and becoming a good player. Getting a few coaching tips will really help.

Eli Baraty, of the Harefield Academy has given us a great video to show you how to do the exercise and develop good habits within the game. This exercise will really develop your forehand and backhand shots as well as the exercise moves your from side to side switching from your forehand shot to your backhand shot.

This is only one basic exercise to develop your game, there are much more complex exercises and different variations. This one is a good one to get you started and understand the basics and importants of footwork.

We have transcribed the video text below so you can read back on Eli's tip and watch the video below.

Transcription

In order for you to develop your game, you want to try to implement good foot work with good back hand and forehand strokes.

So, if i’m playing a backhand I want to be standing square to the line of play and when I’m playing a forehand, slightly off square. but the key here is to keep my feet when I’m moving very low to the ground, so it should look like this. (hands moving) there, there, rather than moving up in the air, i’m loosing time by doing that. So this is how it goes.

What you’ll notice it, James is quite close to the table. His strokes are relatively short and his movement is quite small. but if you are going back, further back from the table two things happen, you stroke becomes bigger and the angles become bigger therefore you have to move bigger movements. Hope that helps you.

Ping Pong Footwork Exercise Tips [Video]

Ok, party ping-pong players! Keep practicing and keep it up! Don't forget to head over to our TT gear reviews and ratings pages if you need anything.