How’s Your Table Tennis Stance?
Our motto is simple – everybody can get better. So let’s look at the basic stance in table tennis…
Without a good foundation a house will fall down. The same is true of your game – so listen up, or rather, get balanced.
Here’s what you should be thinking as the game begins: nothing. That’s right – your mind should be empty.
Exercise physiologists have found that you are more likely to get into the zone, what psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi calls “flow”, if you practice mindfulness.
You may want to read Cziksentmihalyi’s book of the same name. You probably do not want to try pronouncing his last name though :-).
But I digress. Here’s the easiest way to get to mindfulness in motion — each time the ball hits the table, say the word bounce in your mind. Each time you hit the ball, say hit.
It’s simple, but you have to believe. You’re aiming for a kinetic meditation. In no time at all you’ll manage moments of serenity in motion.
Feet – shoulder width with toes pointing slightly out. When you move to the left or right, do not cross your feet.
Knees – 110′ angle or thereabouts. You are in a semi-crouch so that you already have your body’s leverage prepared for lateral motion in response to the ball.
Torso – bent forward slightly, not just to look fierce, though it can be intimidating.
It’s also so that you are prepared for sudden movement. If you were standing straight up, you’d have to crouch and bend forward before you’d be physically able to either pivot or move laterally.
Racket hand – rock a 90 degree angle and make it perpendicular to the table keeping your forearm parallel to the floor. Visualize a sword that is already out of the scabbard and prepared to slash.
Free hand – it’s for balancing, to use as a counterweight for when you swing your racquet hand.
It helps to approach this sport as a martial art of sorts. Instead of punches flying at your head, it’s a small sphere.
You can then empty yourself as a vessel, so that all you are aware of is your body, the ball, the racquet and the table. You can even incorporate the idea of the kata from karate, in which the practitioner performs movements like a dance to imprint basic moves like kicks and punches.
You can practice lateral movement, pivots for forehand and backhand, running back to catch lobs both left and right and so on. That way, when you’re in game space, you will move without figuring out how to get there.
Now – that’s enough reading. Get out there and play!
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