Site Products
Tip of the week: Sound and Feet

Tip of the week: Sound and Feet

(By Larry Hodges)
Tip of the week: Sound and Feet

The Chinese know something about table tennis, and there’s a stereotype about Chinese coaches that we can learn from. The stereotype is that in a group training session, they often walk around with their heads down as they do two things – listen to the sound of contact and watch your feet.

They listen to the sound of contact because a good stroke and good timing result in a “good” contact sound. If the sound is wrong, then something else is wrong. By listening to the sound, they can identify there’s a problem, and then look to see what the problem is. (So then they do have to look up. You don’t want them to look up.)

They watch your feet because the feet are the base of everything else. There’s a reason nearly all table tennis drills are footwork drills – many coaches will say alltable tennis drills are footwork drills. Get the feet right, and the rest follows somewhat naturally. Get the feet wrong, and all is lost.

So get the sound and feet right, and you won’t have to face the fury of all the problems they cause when done improperly. (I’d add one thing to this – if you get both the feet and grip right, often everything in between falls into place. Get either wrong, and everything gets twisted in between.)

For full article, please click here

Latest News

Taiwo Adeyinka – Backhand Loop from underspin

October 25, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips,  Taiwo Adeyinka is in action at the Atlanta Open https://youtu.be/TQQMo7vKMqU… Read More

Put Your Whole Bodyweight Into The Table

October 24, 2025
Serve, short game, flip with defense to offense (wait function) Jhon serves short backspin, robot plays short backspin… Read More

Jonathan Pino – Reaction Random

October 24, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips, Jonathan Pino is focusing on a Reaction Random drill to… Read More

Adriana Díaz: Six-Time Pan American Champion And Pride Of Butterfly

October 23, 2025
(By Edgardo Vazquez – Puerto Rico National Coach / Butterfly America Sponsored Coach) Table tennis in the Americas… Read More

Portland Streaks, Princeton Debuts – Bensenville Awaits.

October 22, 2025
(by: Major League Table Tennis) [caption id="attachment_270459" align="alignleft" width="368"] WEEK 4 PREVIEW: CHICAGO[/caption]          … Read More

Keep Your Racket Above the Table Surface

October 22, 2025
Serve, short game, flip with defense to offense (wait function) Jhon serves short backspin, robot plays short backspin… Read More

Use a lot of Wrist and Forearm

October 21, 2025
Serve, short game, flip with defense to offense (wait function) Jhon serves short backspin, robot plays short backspin… Read More

Never Use “Full Power”

October 21, 2025
(By Larry Hodges) When you see a ball you can put away, mentally (and possibly physically) your eyes… Read More
View All News

Get the latest from Butterfly

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.