Amateur players struggle in matches primarily because of issues with their footwork and center of gravity. In a match, the ball lands in various spots. If your footwork and center of gravity aren't properly positioned, your contact point will be off, leading to a lack of consistency. I find that weak match performance comes down to three things: a limited ability to generate and handle spin, and poor footwork to stay with the ball. Today, we will focus on the body's center of gravity and footwork in table tennis. Let's start with service return. The traditional stance we're taught is left foot forward, right foot back (for right-handers). However, modern table tennis also utilizes a parallel stance. Ultimately, the correct stance is the one that feels most comfortable and effective for you. Second, your feet must be active and move for every single ball. Amateurs often lack the awareness to initiate their footwork on serve return, which makes them feel slow and the ball seem fast. To fix this, the first step in your ready position is to lift your hips and avoid sitting back. Many players have a 'sitting' posture when receiving, which makes it nearly impossible to step in for short balls. Although your feet are flat, your weight should be on the balls and middle of your feet, with your heels ready to activate instantly. Many players sit back on their heels, which prevents them from moving in for short balls. That's the first point. The second point is your knees. Many players' knees collapse inward. You should keep them spread apart, in an 'outward' position. This stance gives you plenty of space to cover both your forehand and backhand sides. Third, you must adjust your center of gravity during the serve return. If your weight is evenly distributed, you have to waste a movement to shift your weight before moving to the forehand. Since most serves go to the forehand short, forehand long, or middle, you should put about 70% of your weight on your left leg. Keep the remaining 30% of your weight on a relaxed right leg, which should be ready to move forward, sideways, or back at any moment. Furthermore, your right knee and foot should be opened up to protect your forehand side. This allows you to make contact in front of your body, which is crucial for handling fast serves and surprise attacks. So, once you lower your center of gravity, open your knees and feet to be ready for any lateral movement. As you step, if the ball is fast, you hit on the move. If it's slow, you plant your feet and then execute the shot. If you master these points on your serve return, your initiation will improve significantly. Alright, that covers the basic ready stance for service return. Second, let's talk about the relationship between center of gravity and footwork, starting with the backhand side. For a ball on the backhand side, many players just use their arm, which is incorrect. When the ball is right in the middle of your backhand side, you need to step forward with your right foot. When your right foot steps forward, your right shoulder will be in front of your left, allowing you to engage your shoulders and body in the shot. If you just swing with your arm like this, you won't be able to generate any real power. So, from my stance, if the opponent serves to my backhand side, my right foot must step forward to be beside or in front of my left foot. At the same time, your body must rotate, and your racket should be positioned slightly to the left of your body's centerline. A central contact point only allows for forward power, but a contact point to the left lets you create an outside-in arc for better control over the ball's trajectory. So even for a serve right to me, my footwork comes first, then the backhand loop. Especially against heavy spin, the further your racket is from the ball, the more you'll be affected by the spin. Therefore, you must get your body into the ball. This will help you generate power and neutralize the spin more effectively. For any ball on the left half of the table, your left foot initiates every movement. Many players use the wrong footwork entirely. For example, when preparing for a backhand return, if I need to step in, my left foot must move forward around the corner of the table. A common mistake is stepping sideways, which forces you to reach and push short balls, setting up your opponent for an easy attack. To cover the backhand half, your left foot must move forward around the table corner, and your body weight must follow. Now, if you want to use your backhand for a ball in the middle, your feet need to be ready to move. Once you read the ball is in the middle, step forward with your right foot, then execute the loop. If you just step sideways with your right foot, you won't be able to generate power with your backhand. For a middle ball, your weight should be on your right leg. For a ball on the backhand side, your weight should be on your left leg. So let me ask you: if the ball is right at your backhand, where should your weight be? Is the shot quality higher when your weight is between both legs, or when it's on one leg? It's definitely the latter. Players who hit with their weight centered between their legs will make many return errors, misread spin, and fail to generate body power. The only time your weight should be between your legs is when the opponent's push is so fast you have no time to adjust. Only when you need to use vertical power from your core can you hit with your weight centered. If the ball is directly in my centerline, I generally prefer to make the contact point slightly to my left. When the ball is slightly to my right, I shift my weight right and engage my right hip. To the left, I engage my left hip. Even for a ball right in the middle, I tend to turn in and engage my left hip. This is my personal habit. Everyone is different, but the key is to transfer power from either your left or right hip into the shot. Your arm can only do so much. Your body is what provides true consistency. Relying on just your arm leads to inconsistent results, so you must learn to use your body to generate power. Next, let's discuss the middle. For amateurs, the most difficult shots are the deep backhand, short forehand, middle ball, and deep forehand. The middle is difficult because of problems with footwork and center of gravity. For instance, I love serving sidespin to the middle or deep side-underspin to the middle, because these are spots amateurs struggle with. Why can't we create space for a deep ball? It's because when returning a deep serve, your right leg fails to get out of the way. If an opponent keeps attacking your middle, simply clearing your right leg out of the way will make the ball much easier to handle. You feel jammed and pressured because your right leg is in the way, and that's exactly what your opponent is targeting. If that leg moves laterally, you haven't created any space. You need to drop your right leg back to make room for your stroke. Even without moving far sideways, just creating that space for your swing will make middle balls much less awkward. If your body is in the way and you're hitting behind yourself, you'll always feel jammed. You must clear your body to create space for a proper contact point. Again, this is a leg problem, not a hand problem. So, create space for your contact point and ensure your body is behind your arm. The shot will no longer feel awkward. If you only move laterally without creating space, any ball you hit from behind your body will feel jammed. Now let's talk about short balls. Opponents love to serve no-spin balls to the middle. For these no-spin, half-long balls, I believe you should use a forehand attack, as it's a very straightforward shot. The footwork should be to first step sideways to create space, then step in with your left foot to hit the ball. By stepping in this way, you can adjust your step length based on the ball's depth and use your body to create power with the ball. If you step in with your right foot, you'll get stuck. A slightly longer or angled ball will jam you, leaving no room for adjustment. After I serve, my opponent pushes a half-high ball, and my loop often goes wrong. What's the problem? The issue is standing too close to the table after your serve. When they push a high, short ball, you're in an awkward spot: too far to stay back, too close to step in. After you serve, you should maintain a distance suitable for looping a long ball. A high, short ball is always slow, giving you time to move in. You must first be ready for the long ball. Once you see a short ball, then you rotate and step in. Always leave yourself space to move forward. If you don't rotate your body first, you can't step in properly. Only by rotating after your serve can you effectively step in and synchronize your body's power with the incoming ball. So, for any short, high, slow, or soft balls, your first priority is to create the space needed to step forward. Because the opponent might also push deep, you must first create space, then rotate, and then move your body and hand to meet the ball. Now let's cover the forehand side, starting with short balls. Untrained players often don't step in far enough. Here's a standard to follow: when the opponent serves short to your forehand, your right foot must land in the forehand half of the court. If your right foot doesn't get there, you'll be reaching for the ball. The further the contact point is from your body, the higher the error rate. So, get your right foot into the forehand side. Second, when you flick or push, your thigh should be close to the edge of the table. This proves your center of gravity is forward. If there's a large gap between your body and the table, you haven't moved in enough, and you can't produce a quality shot. So, to return this ball well: first, your right foot must step into the forehand side. Second, your thigh and stomach must be close to the table. Third, your left heel must be off the ground, ensuring your weight is forward. Third, your left heel must be off the ground, ensuring your weight is forward. Only from this position can you execute a quality long push or flick. And how do you recover? You bounce back. Step in, then spring back. Don't walk back. You should explode back like a spring, pushing off your right foot to return to the ready position quickly. Players often misjudge long and short balls. On the forehand side, you must always prepare for the long ball first and keep your racket up. Many players drop their racket, and when they try to step in, they hit the table or can't reach the ball. My approach is to keep the racket high, ready for a topspin ball. If I then see it's underspin... ...the backswing is incredibly fast. If it's underspin, I drop and loop. If it's topspin, I hit it directly. If the ball is short, because my racket is already above the table, I still have plenty of time to step in. However, if you start with your racket down, the motion to get up and forward is too large, resulting in a low-quality return. So, you should start with your hand above the table, not drop it for a long ball, which makes you late for both topspin and underspin. Because topspin is faster, you should always prepare for the long topspin ball first. If you see underspin, quickly drop your racket. If it's topspin, hit directly. If it's short, step in. Don't rush. The short ball has the slowest rhythm, giving you plenty of time to move in and play your shot. You can't prepare for the short ball first; if they surprise you deep, you'll be late. For long balls, use a lunge step, not a shuffle step. Many young players shuffle because they aren't tall enough. As an adult, you should be using a lunge step to loop. When the ball is fast, the step and the hit are synchronized. This is the correct footwork for long balls. For a half-long ball, your right foot must step forward and in. After you step, keep your racket close to the table and execute the shot immediately. So here's a question: if the opponent serves long to your forehand, do you need to step back? The answer is no. When dealing with deep serves to either corner, your reaction shouldn't be to retreat. Instead, you should use the pace and power coming from their serve. My ready position for return is always one arm's length from the table. If the serve isn't deep and fast, I step in and attack it. If the serve is very fast and deep, I keep the contact point close to my body and use a compact motion with late acceleration. You must understand that table tennis has two types of power: active power generation and using the opponent's pace. For example, on the forehand side, if the opponent's push is slow, I take a full backswing and attack. If it's a normal pace, I use a smaller backswing. If the opponent's push is very fast, I use no backswing and focus on brushing the ball to add spin. Your swing must adapt to the incoming ball. When the ball is fast, my stroke is compact. When it's not fast, I open up and use a full body rotation. You can imagine it like this: if the opponent hits hard, my stroke is as small as doing 'eye exercises'; if they don't use power, I stretch my body out to loop the ball, just like doing 'radio gymnastics'. If their quality is too high, just use a minimal, compact stroke to get the ball back on the table.