Improve footwork

[Ahmad Arnous]

Hi guys ,
I want some recommendation of exercises to improve flexebility of arms and legs and improve footwork

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Okay. That was just to start. If I start posting photos of flexibility stretches for your shoulders and legs we will be here all day. But I will start with just the videos I posted so far for helping develop coordination, speed in footwork as you increase your cardio endurance.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

And, yes, I have posted those in several threads before because it is interesting how, once every month or so, someone creates a thread with this same basic subject.

 

[Ahmad Arnous]

Oh! Thank you for your reply
And i will start now !

 

[Archosaurus]

Is there anything for in and out?

I mean an exercise/technique for specifically training the right movement for in and out footwork, when playing rallying strokes, not when pushing for example.

If you look at the pros, they have striking foot speed, but surely that's not all to it. I've found high level players' and lower level players' in and out footwork to be very different, yet I find no drills at all to specifically train the right movement.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Is there anything for in and out?

I mean an exercise/technique for specifically training the right movement for in and out footwork, when playing rallying strokes, not when pushing for example.

If you look at the pros, they have striking foot speed, but surely that's not all to it. I've found high level players' and lower level players' in and out footwork to be very different, yet I find no drills at all to specifically train the right movement.

Interesting. I remember seeing a video of Primorac doing a drill where he hit two strokes from close and then two strokes from further and went back and forth: closer, then mid-distance. I saw it years ago.

And the footwork shadow drills I still want to record are Short Push, back to Ready Position and then Open with different ball placements. That is a different kind of in/out footwork than what you mean. But it is fun to practice and it is a good shadow footwork drill.

 

[NextLevel]

http://www.samsondubina.com/coaching/neglected-footwork

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

As far as wrist, elbow shoulder flexibility:

I will post info for leg hip and lower back flexibility later.

And, again, all this has been posted before. There have been many threads on these subjects. Which is why I have all this ready at my fingertips. And I think the images don't need explanation.

When you stretch you only go to where you can. You don't force range of motion on your body.



Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Flexibility exercises for legs, hips and spine.

These go with the same cation about how you do them as the last post. In each stretch you go to where you feel the stretch and it feels good. It should not feel like torture. You don't worry how far you go. You try to relax into the stretch.

Stretching is more valuable after working out or training than it is before. If you did stretches like the ones shown before you practiced table tennis it would actually not be that useful. But after it would be valuable.

Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

 

[Luis Nasche]

Watch some Liu Shiwen tapes, she has such a nice footwork. Ryu Seung-Min and Xu Xin are also great examples.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I've been wanting to record these specific shadow footwork drills for a while and I got to record them tonight. These are short game, over the table drills: stepping in for a short push, setting for the next shot, and then taking either a FH, a step around FH or a BH. The first video is with a push to the wide-short FH and the second video is with a BH push.

So they are for working on stepping in, over the table and getting out quickly to be ready for the next shot, wherever it goes.

That kind of shadow footwork is also pretty worth practicing.


Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

 

[Archosaurus]

Those are good videos, Carl. It looks pretty basic, but I think we can all practice that more. For the coordination.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Thanks Archo. One big thing this really helped me with is, by training in the reset after the push, it made it so I was better at being ready for wherever the ball goes. Many times I used to move in to push and come out setting for a FH or a BH and if the other player didn't push the ball where I wanted or dropped it short, I was in trouble. By training the reset into the movement pattern so it became natural and a good habit, responding to where the next ball was going became much more possible.


Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

 

[Archosaurus]

Thanks Archo. One big thing this really helped me with is, by training in the reset after the push, it made it so I was better at being ready for wherever the ball goes. Many times I used to move in to push and come out setting for a FH or a BH and if the other player didn't push the ball where I wanted or dropped it short, I was in trouble. By training the reset into the movement pattern so it became natural and a good habit, responding to where the next ball was going became much more possible.


Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

A drill I recommend with a partner is to serve simple backspin, have him push short and reset, you push short and reset, and then he either flicks it hard back where it came from, or keeps pushing it short. Make sure to reset every time, otherwise it's cheating. Block/counter the flick and reverse roles.

It's somewhat advanced because it needs actually quite very good footwork to deal with the flick, and it demands that you have a flick, but it trains footwork, pushes, flicks, reading, anticipation, you name it.

Oh, and if you're wondering why the flick is necessary, it's to force you to not cheat and just bob back and forth while you push. It really worked for me at least. Me and my partner used to "cheat" a little but there's no more of that after some of this.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Archo, you try that drill with a 2500 coach and he will make sure that if you mess up and don't reset, the will give you exactly what you are not ready for. And that is great practice. I've done that with Paul David and Matthew Khan. Both great coaches.

 

[Archosaurus]

Archo, you try that drill with a 2500 coach and he will make sure that if you mess up and don't reset, the will give you exactly what you are not ready for. And that is great practice. I've done that with Paul David and Matthew Khan. Both great coaches.

I wish I could drill this with someone who has a backhand flick with the power of my forehand. The ball smacking into you is probably a good reminder.

At it's core, for someone at my level, it's still a footwork drill. The flick is just there to remind you that you can't screw around. So I think it's still productive even if the flick isn't super strong.

 

[ajtatosmano2]

A very good series for footwork: