Hi there, I'm Jeff Plumb and today we're going to be talking about footwork for defenders.
Footwork for defenders is quite different from footwork for attackers. The defenders
have got a much bigger distance to cover and also they've got a little bit more time. So
you are going to find that a lot of the footwork when they're back from the table is from a
side on motion.
The other real difference is that they're moving in and out from the table quite a lot.
Let's have a look at the movement now. You'll find that the movement is still a sideways
shuffling movement but I want to get from here back to there to defend that next ball.
I'm going to make a sideways shuffling movement back here to be able to make my stroke. If
the next ball is short I'm going to shuffle in sideways to come in for the next ball.
Similarly if I'm back here on my backhand and I want to go across and get the next ball
from my forehand, again it's a sideways shuffle. This time it's across here. Similar to the
footwork of an attacker but on a bigger scale. I'm across here, make my chop, move across
here, make my chop. And that's the sideways shuffling that you use as a defender.
A lot of the movements of a defender are in a "V" or in a triangle shape. So we're in
here and then we're moving out either way there and across here. So you can see the
triangle of the movement from here to here to here and back to here again.
When you're training you need to practice a lot of your movement in that triangle shape.
We would practice a lot of moving out and back in on that angle. Similarly out and back
in on that angle. And then we also need to practice moving from side to side from forehand
to backhand.
The other important area for a defender is when your opponent is playing into your middle.
So for that it's important to be able to turn quickly sideways to be able to get a good
position to make the chop. If you're square on that middle position becomes really difficult
to chop from. So you need to be able to turn, or turn to the forehand to make that position.
So that involves quickly twisting your feet here and here. Because you're a little bit
further away from the table you do have a little bit more time than you would if you're
close to the table. So from back here if the ball comes to the middle make sure you're
trying to turn sideways to make the stroke, or turn sideways to make the forehand stroke.