How important is footwork in Table Tennis?

One might think table tennis does not require footwork for playing, and perhaps it makes sense because the table and the ball are relatively small, so no need to move much, right?

It is reasonable to think that table tennis does not require much footwork if playing at a recreational/social level. Yes, at this level, you can simply stay most of the time in the middle of the table and reach with your arm most of the balls. However, if we are looking at getting into a more competitive level, the situation is completely different.

Table Tennis at a competitive level becomes so fast, and the angles get wider, that even for small movements is difficult to reach the ball, let alone get in good position and hit it back with a good shot.

A coach from Brazil once commented to us: “Let’s think about one stroke, for example, forehand loop against block. A player with poor footwork will need to develop several forehands to compensate for their lack of movement. However, a player with good footwork will only need to learn one forehand because they can use their footwork to get in position and keep doing the same forehand over and over”.

The main message from the Brazilian coach is to highlight how inefficient and difficult is to attempt to learn a stroke with poor footwork. Yes, there are probably some subtleties to be discussed; for example, we could argue that there are small changes in the stroke depending on the distance from the table, or we could argue that a player cannot always be in perfect position and therefore they need to adjust the stroke depending on the time and space available. These are all valid arguments; however, they still do not refute the fact that attempting to learn a stroke with poor footwork is inefficient.

Let's think about it from another angle, which player has more chances to get the ball on the table? the player that has to learn several strokes because they cannot move into position?, or the player who can move into position and hit the same stroke over and over again?

We take the comment from the Brazilian coach a bit further, we think is highly impractical to attempt to improve a stroke having poor footwork. Even worse, a player with poor footwork will probably develop bad habits in their strokes.

Another overseas coach also shared with us this other comment: “When analysing the stroke of a player, look first for footwork issues, approximately 50% of the problems of a stroke are footwork-related”. A classic example that fits within this comment is the player that can perform a decent-quality stroke when the ball comes straight to their “hitting zone” (for example, when doing a regular drill and getting the ball on the same spot), but the quality of the stroke drops significantly when the ball goes somewhere else. Because of this, we encourage players to prioritize footwork training, and don't over analyse their strokes before developing decent footwork first.

Certainly, it is rare to find a good player with poor footwork, and this is another reason why we recommend prioritizing footwork training over other “workarounds”. Some of these “workarounds” might be developing a playing style around finishing the point early, or perhaps using tactics that favour/compensate for your lack of movement, or perhaps use anti/pimples rubbers to slow down the game and give yourself more time to reach the ball. These are all valid options and can help a player with poor footwork to keep improving. However, from our experience, these options can only take you so far without good footwork, and at some point, you will reach a limit and stop improving, and you will likely find it too difficult to reach the next level up.

So, how can we improve footwork? The answer is not that simple of course, it depends on the specific skills of the player, there are also various footwork patterns in table tennis, and perhaps a player is only struggling with one or two specific footwork patterns. However, in general, we recommend doing off-the-table exercises suited to table tennis, some physical strengthening targeting the muscle groups used in table tennis, and doing multiball footwork drills.

Finally, we encourage all players that are serious about improving to prioritize footwork training and they need to commit to it, if you do so, your overall skill level will improve, and if you have a stroke that you are struggling with, there is a good chance that you will improve it by simply improving your footwork.