basic table tennis skills First things first: Stance and footwork FEET - A player should need quite a wide base when playing table tennis. - Somewhere between 1.5 or more shoulders width apart - This will provide a more stable base and a quick side-to-side movement of your feet. - Have your non-dominant or non-playing foot slightly forward that your dominant foot. (For example: a right handed person, their left foot should be slightly in front of their right and the opposite of that for a left-handed. Right foot is slightly further in front than the left foot.) ANKLES AND KNEES - Always keep your knees and ankle slightly bent. - This will keep your body flexible and ready to move forward or backwards as often as it needs. - Don't bend your knees too much. - Ensure that your knees are not bent in a squatting position as well. - All you need to do is bend your knees and ankles a little. BACK AND SHOULDERS - When playing table tennis your body should be crouched. - Your upper body slightly bent at the waist. - Head and shoulders are forward and slightly down. - It would be easier to move/spring around if you adopt this forward-leaning "crouched position" which will prevent you from "squat position" and shift your weights onto your toes (ball of your feet). - As you play your shots, this crouched forward position should prevent you from straying away from the table. ARMS - Arms should be in front of your body, forearms parallel with the ground. - This makes it more simpler to play your shots and assists with the crouching/leaning forward position. - With elbows and paddle in front of your body. - Lastly, for balance, majority of the players aim keep their free arm parallel to their playing arm. HOLDING THE PADDLE - Your grip, or the way you hold the bat, will determine exactly where your hands and arms will be in your stance. - In table tennis, the shakehand grip and the penhold grip are the two fundamental grips. The "shakehand" grip is a traditional European grip where the racket head faces up and your hand appears to be extended in readiness to shake someone's hand. - The penhold grip, which originated in Asia, is used to hold the racket with the head looking downward and is similar to how one would hold a pen or pencil. Joan S. Estrella DVM 2-2 REFERENCE: Ankles and knees https://tttahome.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/thereadyposition.jpg Arms https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/3/31/Serve-in-Table-Tennis-Step-18.jpg/v4-460pxServe-in-Table-Tennis-Step-18.jpg Editing app https://www.canva.com/ Feet https://www.tabletennisspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/footwork-improvement.jpg Handshake grip https://img-shoplineappcom.s3.amazonaws.com/media/image_clips/5916a9bf9f9a4ff82000191b/large.jpg?1494657470 Penhold Grip https://revspin.net/assets/table-tennis-images/penhold.jpg Table Tennis https://issuu.com/pingpongacademy/docs/table-tennis-lessions-for-beginners Table Tennis Illustration https://www.freepik.com/premium-vector/people-playing-table-tennis-illustration_9882790.htm Two rackets for platting table tennis https://media.istockphoto.com/vectors/two-rackets-for-playing-table-tennis-vector-stockillustration-vector-id1356959038? k=20&m=1356959038&s=612x612&w=0&h=29iSrTV6cLOimTdAbyiT-OXy0YIH10g3lN19fFyznUE=
