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Category: Coaching & Tips
Forum Name: Coaching & Tips
Forum Description: Learn more about TT from the experts. Feel free to share your knowledge & experience. Moderator: yogi_bear Assistant Moderators: APW46, smackman
URL: http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=79796 Printed Date: 04/19/2024 at 2:24am Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: foot positionPosted By: aagaagh3
Subject: foot position
Date Posted: 07/27/2017 at 7:00pm
I Have a daughter, she's 9 years old , she is right handed . i want to know what is the best position for the legs while making a top spin . because i heard two different point of view .. one says the legs must be in a straight line parallel to the table and another opinion says that the right leg must returns to the back a little bit .. can u please give me your opinion about this situation .. which one is the correct position..
thank you so much for your help
Replies: Posted By: iamj8
Date Posted: 07/27/2017 at 7:06pm
The way I was taught table tennis was one foot should be slightly behind the other, so the second piece of advice you got. This makes it easier to move around rather than standing with feet parallel.
Another thing you can do to learn more about footwork is watch training or even matches of top players in slow motion to learn how footwork works and changes in accordance with different types of shots.
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Posted By: zeio
Date Posted: 07/27/2017 at 7:50pm
Girls are typically more balanced on both wings as they prefer to play closer to the table given their physique, so they tend to stand with feet more parallel to the end line to better position the body for fast exchanges on both sides.
When the chance comes, girls do step around to make a strong forehand topspin.
If she does a lot of drills where she has to move to get to the ball, her body will naturally adopt the correct position for her, which takes care of the OP's question.
She will learn HOW and WHERE to put her feet.
But contrast, if someone just stands there and does counters all day, all kinds of bad habits creep in*. Table tennis is more like dancing than it is like, say, a baseball hitter or a cricket batsman. You have to learn a certain choreography on how to go from point A to point B to hit a ball solidly and with balance, control and spin. Kids tend to pick it up naturally when they are made to do it. *This assumes that someone already has the ability to actually hit a ball while standing still. But kids pick that up quickly.
That is the key, and not just for kids; learning to hit balls that you have to move to get to**. The thing is for older people, you have to achieve a degree of fitness that means you can do the necessary drills without getting immediately exhausted or hurt. But kids can do that kind of thing all day. ** There are a few people at my club who think they are practicing and what they do is just stand there and hit crosscourt counters all day, and two things happen; they don't improve and they get sore elbows, shoulders, etc.
Posted By: Baal
Date Posted: 07/28/2017 at 9:30am
One other thing. If a child is just standing there, they may put the feet in all sorts of strange places not really ideal (or utterly wrong). But, as soon as they can reliably make contact with the ball and hit a topspin, if you ask them to move a little to get to the ball and hit it, it is amazing how suddenly their foot position becomes more correct.
The best Chinese coaches in my town follow that approach. They get kids moving from side to side at the earliest possible stage.
Posted By: MLfan
Date Posted: 07/28/2017 at 4:00pm
That depends. If there is time, the more the right foot is behind the left (so the more sideways you face), the more power you will be able to get power into the shot. But if there's is no time to use power, then a straight stance would be slightly better (although in reality, forehands should always be played with right foot slightly behind left). It all depends on how fast your daughter is, and how fluent she is with drills.