Table Tennis Footwork: The Ultimate Guide

Last Updated on April 24, 2024 by Alex Horscroft

There are four types of table tennis footwork: side-to-side, in-and-out, crossover, and one-step. Side-to-side is the most common and involves short and quick shuffling steps to quickly move to the left or right. To move well, you must have a wide stance, bend at the knees, and lean forward on the balls of your feet.

In this guide, I cover each of the different types of footwork in table tennis, explaining when and how to use them. I also detail table tennis footwork training exercises to help you improve, because knowing about proper ping pong footwork simply isn’t enough. You actively need to work on it every single training session.

Why Do You Need Good Footwork?

Despite what many people believe, table tennis isn’t merely a game where you strike the ball with your arm. Heavens no. Rather, you engage both the lower and upper body, and to strike the ball optimally, you need to be in the correct position to do so.

This is a mistake that many players make. They focus far too much on the arm motion and not enough on the footwork. By having your feet in the correct position you significantly enhance the quality of the shots you play.

The Ready Position

Before I dive into the various types of footwork for table tennis, you need a solid stance: a position you hold when you are idle. We call this the ready position.

Its purpose is simple. It best prepares you for the point ahead by making it easy to move in any direction. To adopt the ready position you should:

• Bend your knees in a squat position
• Lean forward with your weight on the balls of your feet
• Adopt a wide stance, preferably 1.5 shoulder widths or more
• Bend at the elbow with your racket out in front of you favoring neither the forehand nor backhand 

The Four Types of Table Tennis Footwork

Side-to-Side Footwork in Table Tennis 

Side-to-side side footwork is the most basic footwork in table tennis and the most common. This is because your opponents will attempt to work angles and move you around the table. Given table tennis is so fast, there is little time to get your feet into position. This is why we use fast shuffle steps, we essentially perform a small hop to get both feet to where they need to go. 

The outside foot leads ever-so-slightly, but for fast rallies, the movement of both feet may seem simultaneous. As an example, if you’re moving to the right to play a forehand shot, your left foot moves first, and then your right. The opposite is true if you move to the left.

In-And-Out Footwork in Table Tennis

You use in-and-out footwork whenever you need to move closer or farther away from the table. This could be in the form of a dart forward when you are far from the table and your opponent hits a drop shot, however, more commonly it refers to the return of serve or playing pushes.

For this footwork, you step in with your right foot under the table to play the ball, and then step back with the same foot (for righties). However, you may want to initiate the movement with a small step with your left foot if you are too far away from the ball. In this case, the complete sequence is left, right, right, left.

I should also note that you may want to hop into position at times. This is much the same as your side-to-side footwork that uses shuffle steps, you simply move forward or backward instead. 

Crossover Footwork in Table Tennis

Crossover footwork is used as a means of covering the width of the table. However, unlike side-to-side movement which excels at fast and precise movements, crossover footwork is king when it comes to traveling greater distances at speed.

This is because it allows you to cross your legs and temporarily face the direction of movement. To perform crossover footwork to the forehand side, you begin with a large step with your left leg across your body. Afterward, you use this foot as a pivot to swing around with your right foot to play the shot. 

For more extreme situations, this crossover step can enable you to run. If you find yourself wide on your backhand and expect a wide forehand shot, use the initial crossover step and then explode off your right leg.

One-Step Footwork in Table Tennis

Sometimes, there’s just no time to get your feet into the perfect position, table tennis is one of the fastest racket sports after all. For these situations, you’ll likely want to use one-step footwork. 

This involves taking a single step to return a ball you otherwise wouldn’t be able to. This is usually in the form of a block on the forehand side. With your feet in a sub-optimal position, you won’t be able to perform more technical shots such as loops. 

Table Tennis Exercises to Improve Footwork

1. Backhand, Middle, Forehand (Side-to-Side Footwork)

For this drill, you are improving your side-to-side footwork, so try to focus on using small shuffle steps. At the middle, you can choose to use either your backhand or forehand. If you’re forehand dominant like most players, I strongly suggest using your forehand as this is what you’ll aim to use in this position during matches.   

2. Short Serve, Push, Backhand (In-And-Out Footwork)

The main time you use in-and-out movement is following serves, so this is a great drill to practice. Begin by serving short and have your opponent follow up with a short push. This is when you will step in and play a push of your own. Your opponent should then hit a loop opener to your backhand. 

This not only trains your inward step but also ensures you are properly stepping out so that you are not too close to the incoming backhand loop.

3. Backhand, Backhand, Forehand (Crossover Footwork)

For this drill, you are covering almost the entire width of the table, so you can’t use shuffle steps like drill 1. After the second backhand, use crossover footwork to hit a forehand shot. To begin with, I’d keep the rally fairly slow with drives as you have a lot of distance to cover. 

You may also want to hit a few more backhands before the forehand hit, as this table tennis footwork exercise gets tiring very quickly. 

More Drill Ideas

The three drills outlined above are just some basics to get started with that train the three main types of footwork in table tennis. There’s really no need to drill one-step footwork — this is just something you will do naturally. 

Below are some further drills you may want to try out.

• FH (BH side), FH (middle), FH, FH (middle) — super tiring!
• BH, FH (middle), BH, FH 
• BH, BH, FH (BH side) 
• BH, FH (BH side), FH (middle), FH (BH side)

Closing Thoughts

Table tennis footwork is one of the most neglected areas of training, and if you choose to ignore it, it will prevent you from reaching your potential. Yet practicing footwork isn’t difficult. It just requires undertaking proper table tennis footwork drills.

By working side-to-side footwork, in-and-out footwork, and crossover footwork at each training session, you give yourself a significant advantage over the competition. 

Want to improve the way you train? Check out my guide to ping pong training. Here, I cover absolutely everything there is to know. It features some annotated drills that you may find helpful.