Performing the Falkenberg Drill

a friend & i were discussing the pros and cons of falkenberg using multi-ball vs rallying

i am an intermediate player whom recently added this drill to my training

could someone help me with the following two questions:

1) why are 2nd & 3rd balls fed with underspin instead of topspin?

2) in your opinion, what is one advantage multi-ball has over rallying?

thank you,

Lycanthrope said:

Half-table forehand two-point is my limit. No more.😁

What? Cross over footwork? No, I never expect I can do it in my entire life.

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of course you can ! you probably have done it many times before without knowing it.
Like i said , it is the natural move your legs will make when you suddenly have to chase a wide FH ball

Littledragonman7 said:

a friend & i were discussing the pros and cons of falkenberg using multi-ball vs rallying

i am an intermediate player whom recently added this drill to my training

could someone help me with the following two questions:

1) why are 2nd & 3rd balls fed with underspin instead of topspin?

2) in your opinion, what is one advantage multi-ball has over rallying?

thank you,

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Lazer said:

I never heard the expression before and just looked it up. Its a ridiculously fancy name for something that's done naturally. Its just taking normal running step(s) to get to the ball... That's something completely different than what I had in my mind. As I said before different nationality, different nomenclature.
I should have looked it up before but I only had my access to my phone and its a pain to surf with it.

Cheers
L-zr

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It isn't normal
normal would be using 2 side steps to get to a ball that you can't get with 1 side step.
But that is 2 movements.

A cross over step is a single movement, and well trained players are also able to complete the stroke in the air and when the landing of the final cross over step is done, then a reverse cross over step is possible to get back to your wide BH with a BH top spin stroke.
Its not just running steps, its a perfect weight transfer.

The whole ideal is modern games require full table attack.
The video I shared earlier is very clear. you should watch it.
Glad you learned something new.
Its been around for 30 years, maybe longer. I was taught this when I was a kid.

Tony's Table Tennis said:

It isn't normal
normal would be using 2 side steps to get to a ball that you can't get with 1 side step.
But that is 2 movements.

A cross over step is a single movement, and well trained players are also able to complete the stroke in the air and when the landing of the final cross over step is done, then a reverse cross over step is possible to get back to your wide BH with a BH top spin stroke.
Its not just running steps, its a perfect weight transfer.

The whole ideal is modern games require full table attack.
The video I shared earlier is very clear. you should watch it.
Glad you learned something new.
Its been around for 30 years, maybe longer. I was taught this when I was a kid.

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VictorMoraga said:

Hey 👋, let me respond the first question
In a real game situation, it should be normal the first ball underspin and then topspin both. By the way, we did that in the same training session.
We made a variation for training: endurance, weight transfer, acceleration and fix the contact point, sometimes I did it too early.
In summary, we can make variations using a drill focusing to a specific improvement.
And I don't want to bother you with all the drills we're doing 😊

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Lazer said:

Sorry to disagree, I learned absolutely nothing useful. Its a natural move the fancy nomenclature is virtually useless and confusing if You ask me. To call it "running step" would make much more sense...

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You can call it what ever you want.
In the TT world, we call it cross over step for 30 years already.

Tony's Table Tennis said:

You can call it what ever you want.
In the TT world, we call it cross over step for 30 years already.

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lodro said:

https://youtu.be/k3kmemvfj6Y
It suddenly came to mind where I new this cross over steps from
Got me back about 60 years and i had to learn this step for throwing a javelin .
That was a whole lot a hard work for throwing a stick about 15meters 😁

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Lazer said:

Different nationality, different nomenclature.
Another difference, we do not call it "multi boll", we call it lazily translated "boxboll"...

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But how is it 'different nomenclature' when a) you did not know this was a standard part of table tennis footwork and b) you do not have a name for that which you do not know?🤔😉

SofaChamp said:

But how is it 'different nomenclature' when a) you did not know this was a standard part of table tennis footwork and b) you do not have a name for that which you do not know?🤔😉

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Lazer said:

Different nationality, different nomenclature.
Another difference, we do not call it "multi boll", we call it lazily translated "boxboll"...

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only Boll I know is Timo

Tony's Table Tennis said:

only Boll I know is Timo

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Lazer said:

Thats what I though a crossover was too, but its not, Its simply running towards the ball an hitting it when Your weight is on the wrong leg.
What You are showing here is a "redipe for distaster".... 😵

Cheers
L-zr

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Hmm, that doesn’t seem right, if your weight is on the wrong leg then you’re doing it wrong. Say you use your right hand to hold the paddle, then it’s the same thing as you loop normally, you load up you right leg then release the energy by pushing off the ground, but instead of pushing to the left now you push to the right. So in order to do this, you weight has to be off your right leg, otherwise you’ll just be standing still.

Also, it’s called cross(over) step not running because you are just stepping with the legs crossed for one step, I’m pretty sure running requires more than one step to be defined as running, it would be more of a jump if you ask me. And usually in table tennis you don’t cross your legs when moving around, that’s why this footwork emphasizes on that “cross”. But it is true in different languages things have different names, these are just some well known translations of the names of these footworks from Chinese. Another one basic footwork for example: 并步 shuffle step, where you move sideways and make a little hop and pull one of your foot to the center while pushing your other foot away when they almost touch.

DukeGaGa said:

Hmm, that doesn’t seem right, if your weight is on the wrong leg then you’re doing it wrong. Say you use your right hand to hold the paddle, then it’s the same thing as you loop normally, you load up you right leg then release the energy by pushing off the ground, but instead of pushing to the left now you push to the right. So in order to do this, you weight has to be off your right leg, otherwise you’ll just be standing still.

Also, it’s called cross(over) step not running because you are just stepping with the legs crossed for one step, I’m pretty sure running requires more than one step to be defined as running, it would be more of a jump if you ask me. And usually in table tennis you don’t cross your legs when moving around, that’s why this footwork emphasizes on that “cross”. But it is true in different languages things have different names, these are just some well known translations of the names of these footworks from Chinese. Another one basic footwork for example: 并步 shuffle step, where you move sideways and make a little hop and pull one of your foot to the center while pushing your other foot away when they almost touch.

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Lazer said:

Bloody h—l that’s the only way you can start to run sideways, can’t be any other way. Totally natural…

The weight is where it is when you reach the ball…
The example I watched was a right handed player reaching the ball stepping on his right leg with all weight on this leg. Weight never shifting. Can’t do it any other way…

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Then that’s not a crossover step, because you land on the leg opposite of the one you started with, i.e. you land on the left leg if you’re a right handed player, which also means your weight will be on your left leg, otherwise you’ll still be standing in the same position. Or in other words, after any jump or hop or walk or run, your weight is on the leg you land on, not the one you started on.