Site Products
Larry Hodges

Coaching tip of the week: Don’t Practice Hesitation

(By Larry Hodges)

To improve, it’s important to do footwork drills. Some are simple, such as side-to-side forehand-forehand drills. Others are more complicated. For example, you might do a drill that starts with your partner pushing to your backhand, you backhand (or forehand) loop to his backhand, and then he blocks to your forehand.

Advanced players understand that in these rote drills, they are practicing only the footwork and the stroke. But many beginning and intermediate players don’t get that, and try to play it like it was a match. After that first opening shot, they know the next ball is going to the wide forehand – but because they would not know this in a match, they wait until the opponent does the shot, and then move. That would be fine in a random drill, where you don’t know where your partner is hitting the ball, but not in the rote drill described here. And so what happens is you end up knowing where the next balls going – to the forehand – but do not immediately move there. Result? You are practicing hesitation!

So remember that if you are doing a rote drill, don’t hesitate to move immediately to where the next ball is going – you are practicing footwork and strokes, and don’t want to make hesitating a habit. When you want to practice reacting to where your partner is hitting to, do a random drill for that, where you don’t know where he’s going, and so have to truly react.

Latest News

2025 Canadian PanAm Selection Tournament.

May 22, 2025
(by Coach Raymond (Zhaowei) Zhang ) Three10 Table Tennis Club Shines at Canadian Selection Tournament The 2025 Canadian Selection… Read More

Jarvis, Gauzy, and Shunsuke Join Top Seeds in Round of 16

May 21, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) Lin Shidong will face Anton Kallberg in the Round of 16 on Thursday… Read More

What is a Spin Block?

May 21, 2025
Backhand spin block – robot plays spinny shots deep SET TO RING 1 Fethomania Session 3 / Drill… Read More

Kevin Doyle – Backhand Loop, Butterfly Training Tips

May 21, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips, Kevin Doyle is working on the Backhand Loop from underspin… Read More

Jessie Xu Named 2025 Table Tennis Canada Athlete of the Year

May 20, 2025
(by Bowmar Sports) Recognizing Leadership, Excellence, and Sportsmanship On and Off the Table Bowmar is proud to celebrate the… Read More

World Championships Update: Jarvis Powers Through to Round of 32

May 20, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) A few surprises in the early rounds of the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals… Read More

Apply Finger Pressure With Your Thumb!

May 19, 2025
Backhand block (regular block and no spin block) – robot plays very spinny shots deep SET TO RING… Read More

Bowmar Sports Tournament Highlights – Kef Noorani Tournament Highlights

May 19, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) Bowmar Sports Tournament Highlights, Kef Noorani https://youtu.be/68Or5s_S2yg Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment,… 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.