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Footwork
Sideways Two-Step The sideways two-step is for short distances. It lets you move swiftly and balanced from one side of the table to the other. To move quickly forehand to the backhand side, begin from the forehand corner, raise your left leg so it just clears the floor, then push off with the right foot. (By this you carry and plant your left foot on the left side of the table.) With the momentum from the initial thrust, bring your right foot over until it nearly hits the heel of the left and set it down. The feet do not cross. Finally, move the left foot outward so you are in a balanced position. You can now hit from the backhand corner. It is like shuffling. To get back to the forehand side, do the opposite. Up-and-back Two-Step This step lets you change your depth position as needed. It helps you to move efficiently either away from the table, if you are at the table and being "attacked", or toward the table, if you are away from the table and have to move foward. When at the forehand end (the right side of the table) and preparing to move back to play a forehand, lift your right foot off the floor. With the left foot anchored, move the right back. Then, move your left foot behind the right. Lastly, move the right foot about a foot behind the left. You are now set for a forehand shot. Movement toward the table to play a forehand is merely the reverse of this. At the backhand side, the movement is similar when moving away from the table, but the right foot is even with or slightly in front of the left at the start. First, lift your left foot off the floor and push off with the right, moving your left leg back. With your left foot planted, move the right foot behind the left. Anchor it, then follow by moving the left behind the right. You are now set for a backhand shot away from the table. The amount of space covered by each step will be determined by the total space you need to cover. Movement toward the table will be the exact reverse of this. The Backhand-Corner Two-Step This movement is almost the same as the Sideways Two-Step. Here, however, the object is to enable you to play your forehand from your backhand side. Forehand attack shots from the backhand corner are the most effective shots in the game. To play a forehand while standing deep in the backhand corner, two-step past the left end of the table so the front of your body is nearly parallel to the table's side and perpendicular to its end. The footwork here is the same as in the Sideways Two-Step. The only difference is that you are not moving laterally, but curling around the end of the table, both moving sideways and up. You are now in position for a forehand attack from deep within the backhand corner. To return to a set position in the backhand corner, simply two-step back. Because this footwork takes you around the backhand end of the table (both back and to the right), the footwork combines elements of the Sideways Two-Step and the Front-and-back Two-Step. Overall, learning to play a forehand from the backhand corner is important because the table is not in the way (you may move up past the end of the table) and , therefore, you have a fuller and surer hit from this spot. In addition to this, playing one forehand attack from the backhand zone makes it easier to maintain a powerful forehand attack. The Lateral Crossover The Lateral Crossover is the most difficult footwork technique to practice and incorporate into a game. Use it only when you need to cover lateral distances over four or five feet quickly. When moving from deep in the backhand corner to the forehand corner, first step outward as far as comfortably possible to the right with the right leg. Then, after bringing the left leg over and across the front of the right, swing the right leg out from behind the left foot and over as far as comfortably possible to the right. You are now in a position to hit. When moving from the forehand to the backhand side, step outward with the left foot, cross the right behind the left, then throw the left out again to your backhand end so you are in a set position in the backhand corner.
Grips
There are two grips that are most often used in ping pong:
2. The other grip, extemely popular in Asia, is the penhold. In using this grip, you are holding the handle of the paddle like a pen.The benefits and disadvantages of the penhold grip:
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