Expert in a Year Shows Great Progress at Half Way Mark!

Expert in a Year is a new project created by Ben Larcombe to take a beginner level table tennis player and turn them into an expert in just 12 months. Ben, already writing on his site www.experttabletennis.com and now also the expert writer at about.com table tennis page has this year been putting his efforts into www.expertinayear.com. Check out the video below if you want to know more about this awesome undertaking!

Hi Ben and Sam. Thanks for taking a little bit of time to answer some questions for me about Expert in a Year. Congratulations Sam on your progress so far and well done on keeping your great commitment to this half way point of the challenge!

Ben: What was your inspiration for the Expert in a Year Challenge? Where did the idea come from and what made you want to dedicate a whole 12 months of your time to this project?

Well it was something I’ve been thinking and planning in my head for quite a few years now. I guess when I moved to train at Grantham Academy (2007-2009) I really realised, for the first time, the astonishing power of practice in table tennis. I became convinced that high quantity and quality of practice was the biggest factor in becoming a top player.

Then I continued to study the topic of deliberate practice and expertise at university during my coaching and sport science degree. I read all the pop culture books on the subject, dug into the academic papers and then spent a year investigating ‘The role of deliberate practice in table tennis expertise’ for my final year dissertation. You can read a blog post on my results from the dissertation here (http://www.experttabletennis.com/deliberate-practice-table-tennis).

I started coaching full-time in 2011 and my biggest frustration was how difficult it was to create a top player purely down to logistical reasons. There simply wasn’t enough time, money and resources available to give players the quantity and quality of practice they would need to see really dramatic results. I began to dream about what the perfect environment and player would look like and then came up with the idea of the Expert in a Year challenge, high quality practice every single day for a year with the goal of becoming an “expert” player by the end of the year. Achieving in a year what it took me about ten years to achieve!

I assumed there was a good chance I’d never have the opportunity to actually put the theory into practice but then a good friend of mine Sam got into table tennis recreationally and it all just kind of came together. I asked him if he was up for it and he said “why not”.

Ben and Sam undertaking a great table tennis challenge. Expert in a Year!

Sam: Similarly, what made you commit to 12 months of this challenge and wanting to learn this level of table tennis?

Naivety! To be honest I didn’t really have a clue what I was getting myself into. I thought that 365 hours wasn’t very long and I was lured in by this “shortcut” to getting very good at table tennis. I’d thought for a while that I’d like to become world class at something. I’m quite good at a lot of things, but there’s nothing I can really point at and say “I’m an expert in that”.

On top of that my personality is one that gets easily excited by potential projects, and I’m very quick to dive in and give them a go. But I almost always completely underestimate the amount of work involved. In reality it is 365 hours of one-one training, but once you add in all the admin, travelling, self training, matches, video watching, training camps it ends up being 3-4 times that amount. Plus all the training is very high intensity mentally. I need a lot more sleep than I did before I started, I’m eating more and I still have to do all my other work. My social life has pretty much been wiped out, when I finally have some free time I have no energy left. Plus table tennis is so much more complicated than I thought it would be!

Don’t get me wrong, it’ll all be worth it when in January when I look back!

Highlights from Week 2. Lots of videos to follow the progress!

Ben: How difficult did you think the goal you set would be to achieve when you started this challenge and how do you think your progress so far sits so far in line with your goals?

So originally we were going to aim for a ranking inside the England top 400. I saw that as quite achievable and also I think it is a similar level to the 2000 rating in the US, which Alex Polyakov (http://www.breaking2000.com) achieved in two and a half years. Perhaps it is just below 2000, it’s hard to compare the two systems. I spoke to Alex extensively about his project and became convinced that with enough practice near enough anybody could achieve that kind of level of play.

Then I contacted Table Tennis England out of curiosity to find out how many players they had registered in clubs and leagues up and down the country. They told me that there are roughly 25,000 active, registered players that compete and about 100,000 if you include people that play regular recreational table tennis. I think they call that “basement” table tennis in the States.

So I bumped up our goal to top 250, as this would technically put Sam in the top 1% of registered players. As I wrote in a status recently, I think to achieve this in a year is ‘nearly’ impossible. But that’s what makes it so exciting.

It’s really difficult to tell if we are currently on track to achieve anything like that kind of a ranking by the end. We are aiming to turn Sam into a super aggressive player who attacks as much as possible. That means that at the moment if he is missing all his shots he can lose to anyone. I’m judging his performance more on his decision making and technique than the results. We are hoping at some point, before the end of the year, it’ll all click together and he’ll be able to get the majority of his killer shots onto the table.

Sam: Did you think the goal was reasonable at the beginning of the challenge? How has your perception of Ben's goal for you changed over the months?

Again I really didn’t know what being a top 250 player meant! I didn’t follow table tennis, I didn’t know anything about the sport and I certainly didn’t realise just how much skill was involved. Ben said it was possible and so I believed him.

Once we started everyone we spoke to said it was impossible, or if they were too polite to say so just have us a strange look. And after learning a bit about table tennis I’m inclined to believe them. It’s a tremendously complex sport played at such fast reaction times. As time has gone on it has got more and more daunting but Ben says he still thinks it’s possible. I’ve played a couple of people around the 500 mark and thought to myself “my technique is better than theirs!”. If only I could read their shots and serves while getting my own shots consistently on the table I could beat them. That’s a big if, but we still have 6 months of training, a few camps and lots of practice matches ahead of us.

Ben: How has Expert in a Year shaped and developed your ideas about coaching table tennis? What do you see is the most significant thing you have learned so far?

I guess my principles have pretty much stayed the same. Place importance on learning the fundamentals from the start, work heavily on correct technique and then progress to irregular drills, serve and return stuff, working on decision making and finally match play.

I’ve learned loads of specific tools and drills that I’ve never used before though, especially things that work during the early stages of table tennis development. The biggest things for me have been;

1. The importance of mastering the correct stance and balance from the very beginning
2. The importance of learning movement patterns from the start and away from the table.
3. The benefit of shadow play, for all shots and movement and in front of a mirror if possible.
4. The effectiveness of feeding yourself balls to hit when learning strokes.

I feel like my ‘coaching process’ of how best to take a complete beginner and teach them to play has improved massively over the last six months.

Sam's highlights from week 18 of the challenge.

Sam: What has been the biggest challenge for you so far during Expert in a Year?

Being motivated to put in time when Ben isn’t around. I find it difficult to get motivated when he is around, but if I can’t be bothered or slack then I’m letting him down and wasting the time he’s putting in. It’s a lot easier to disappoint/let-down myself than to disappoint Ben...

Ben: Essentially the first 6 months focused on developing important techniques, now looking ahead you will focus on point structuring and tactics and matchplay. Do you think Sam has an adequate base of skills to move forward and complete the challenge?

I think we are very close. We are still doing a bit of work on technique still because I think it’s so important and Sam still has a few things he needs to change on certain strokes.

Sam is going to be away at a few training camps over the summer getting some really intensive training, in Denmark and Hungary. I know that there will be some more technical improvements made on those camps so the plan is to keep the door open until the end of August. From September-December, the final third, we will just do the best with what Sam’s got. We will need to focus all our energy on how to win points, tactics, the psychology of the game and just winning in general.

As I always say, there are no points for looking good. You have to find a way to win!

Sam: Which techniques in the past 6 months have you found most enjoyable to learn and alternately most difficult to learn?

I suppose least enjoyable and most difficult are probably the same! It’s really tough to continually fail and mess up shots. On the flip side there is a lot of enjoyment when I pick up a new shot quickly and efficiently. Most enjoyable is probably the backhand flick. It feels quite natural and is very satisfying when it comes off.

Blocking is my least favourite activity. I’m rubbish at it and constantly getting my fingers battered by the ball, little bits of pain to remind me just how crap I am.

Ben: So far we have seen a great level of dedication to learning from Sam, how did you think Sam would go with the challenge when you began?

Yeah, Sam has been brilliant. He’s managed to fit all the training around his other commitments and makes sure that we find the time each day to get the sessions in.

I have to say, before we started, I had no idea how dedicated he would be. I knew for sure that he had no idea what he’d got himself in for. I knew how much work it was going to be for him. I don’t think he had a clue! I thought there was a chance that a couple of months in he might say he just didn’t have the time to continue with it, or something like that, but he’s stuck with it to the halfway mark now so I’m sure he’ll see it out.

Sam: What has been your biggest goal for this challenge aside from Ben's main goal for you?

My biggest goal? Well I suppose I want to get to the level when I can beat any of my friends or anyone I meet at table tennis. If I get to the end of the 12 months and someone can waltz up, having only played recreationally and beat me I’d be pretty disappointed. I’d also like to be able to give Ben a good game.

Recent highlights of week 27 uploaded July 9th!

Ben: Now that Sam has begun his matchplay phase, how do you feel his level is sitting and how have you planned out the next few months for him?

We’ve been going down to a few local clubs so that Sam can play matches against some of the regulars there. I’m very happy with how he is playing.

He looks really good knocking up compared to most players so when he asks to play games I think a lot of newish players are a bit hesitant. They assume he is going to wipe the floor with them. When we first started going down to clubs in May Sam was really struggling. He knew what to do he just couldn’t do it. Everybody plays so different and it was really hard for him to adjust to whatever they were doing. He’s got much better now though and it’s great watching him play from week to week and seeing such massive improvements in such a short space of time.

As I said earlier, July and August and very busy with training camps and other training. Sam will continue to go to as many local clubs as possible however and just learn to play against different types of player.

From September onwards we will get very serious with tactics, filming all his games, and analysing what he needs to do in certain situations etc. Practice will be completely based around things we’ve spotted in the matches that need to be worked on.

Sam: How do you feel in matches with your new skills compared to before? Do you think the amount of hours you have put in to Expert in a Year has been worth it for you?

To be honest it’s not really coming out yet. I still lose to some very average recreational players, (in fact if it wasn’t for some tricky servers I’d probably lose to a lot more!). I reckon this is for two main reasons:

1. I’m trying to play like an ultra aggressive top 250 player, which means attempting shots I don’t have the skill or feeling to execute consistently.
2. I’ve only really played against Ben and now that I’m starting to play other people, and their ever varying styles. Their shots have different amounts and types of spin than Ben’s, which really throws me off and means my shots than in training are so beautiful and elegant, look awkward and always miss.

We’re at the stage now though where I’m very quickly getting noticeably better at matches. In a couple of months I reckon it’ll really show!

Ben: What kind of obstacles have you run into with Expert in a Year? What has been the biggest challenge to overcome so far?

It’s actually been relatively smooth sailing. At least I think so! We have both been surprised to see a consistent and significant improvement to Sam’s game week-by-week. Obviously we were expecting him to improve but we were worried that we might have weeks and perhaps even months when it seemed Sam wasn’t improving or had hit a plateau. Fortunately, that hasn’t happened at all.

There have been a few minor challenges. Sam has had issues getting his wrist movement correct on the backhand. I think that is pretty much 100% sorted now but it was one of those problems that seemed to drag on forever back in March and April. Sam has also had a few back problems and we’ve missed training because of injury. There doesn’t seem to be much we could have done about that and it always seems to have flared up quite randomly instead of after stretching for a shot or something.

One final thing that we have discussed together a few times is simply fitting in this level of training around work and life in general. It’s not easy! There is always a ‘good’ excuse for missing training. And I’m not even talking about needing a rest day or not feeling very well. We have pretty much just ploughed through whenever we’ve felt like that. It’s things like weddings, holidays, family meals, birthdays, anniversaries, days out etc. etc. If you took the day off and skipped training every time one of us had one of these we’d never get anything done! It’s really tough. It means that both of us have had to leave parties early, or rush back from somewhere late at night, in order to get the training in. We’ve both been late to things we shouldn’t have been late for and woken up at the crack of dawn to get other work done. As far as I can see this is the biggest obstacle to seeing significant results and progress as an adult in a sport like table tennis.

Some of Sam's thoughts during the challenge.

Sam: If you were to start the last 6 months again is there anything you would try and do differently?

Well what I mainly did was to listen and do what Ben tells me, if I started again I’d still do that. What I think I should have done more of in my own time was to keep a diary, watch more YouTube table tennis videos and focus on service practice. They’re all pretty boring and I find it hard to motivate myself when Ben isn’t here, but they do make a very big difference.

Ben: What will be the most important things for Sam in moving forward so that he can reach the goal which the challenge has set for him?

I think that ‘winning’ is a rather strange thing. Why is it that some people seem to always win whilst others hardly ever win? In order to get a top 250 ranking Sam will need to beat a number of very good and experienced players. He’ll also have to not lose to players ranked 300^th, or 400^th, or 500^th.

I see learning to win, whatever that means, as being the most important thing for Sam, from September onwards anyway. He needs to beat people. I’m not sure whether it’s best to be desperate to beat them, to focus exclusively on winning and not even think about the prospect of losing, or if he should just focus on playing his best and try winning as a side effect. It’s a really tricky one. We need to work out the best way to win and how best to turn Sam into a ‘winner’.

Sam: How confident are you that you can make it through to the end of the challenge and do you believe there is a realistic chance of you fulfilling the goal of the challenge?

Yeah I’m very confident we’ll see it through and finish the year. The only reason we wouldn’t is if something really significant happened in Ben or my life that made it unfeasible, such as an injury. I’m not going to just give up. Partly because I’d miss out on the match winning part of the training! What use is spending 6 months to look good technically and not be able to win matches?

Best of luck to you both, it is great to see Sam working hard for this and I really hope you can achieve or get as close as possible to the big goal at the end!!! :D

What Helps Table Tennis Skills Off the Table?

It's been a little while since I had any questions but this was asked by a friend of mine, what can help improve table tennis skills off the table? Not many players outside the international stage take as much time to develop off the table as they perhaps should and of course there are players out there who don't have as much access to table tennis facilities and so hopefully a few tips here may help. See more from my Coaching Blog.

William Henzell is a player who is no stranger to the international stage and also no stranger to the importance of physical training. In his buildup to the 2012 Olympic Games, William worked intensely off the table in his physical sessions. See the video below of his training session.

Henzell who has had his share of wins and close matches against top 50 ranked players in the world rates squats and lunges among the core of important exercises and also emphasises shadow play as a strong option especially for players who don't have as much access to a table.

William is also a strong mental player and you can find mental and concentration exercises on his website and blog at www.ttedge.com. Using the promotional code MHTT you can get access to 3 videos free when you sign up (basic signup is free!).

Developing Table Tennis Skills Off the Table

Liam Pitchford, England's number 1 player also puts his off table focus on physical training, noting running and squats as two key exercises of importance. Building stamina and leg strength are two big areas to build in order to perform and focus well through long match days and also to build explosive power and good weight transfer, balance and footwork.

Shadow Play is often a type of practice which most people would scoff at, but the benefits are proven. Building correct technique and muscle memory over many repetitions of the right stroke will help build technical consistency. You can also further your shadow play into shadow drills. Remember being off the table doesn't mean you can't do proper exercises. Shadow footwork drills are great for building explosive movements and also fast reactive footwork speed, also combining correct footwork with strokes.

Of course there are exercises to help with your general sports skills, some more specific to table tennis. You can work on your hand eye coordination, anticipation and reaction speed. Chinese players in the national team can be seen with a coach throwing balls to the left and right of them while they react and try to kick the balls. This not only helps with their balance and ability to move with a low centre of gravity, but also helps their reaction timing and focus.

It's also noteworthy to mention that playing other sports can also help with your table tennis development as a lot of mental and physical principles are interchangeable between sports. Learning to be an athlete and develop athletic habits are crucial to succeeding in any sport, table tennis included. Playing other sports, and even mind-based strategy games like Chess or Chinese Checkers can help you expand your thought process.

The important thing about competing in other sports and activities is evaluating what skills you learn of value and how you can implement them into your table tennis development.

Of course there is a limited amount of development you can do off the table and nothing will top your on-table practice, but why not use all the time you have available to keep learning and improving your abilities. These are just a few examples but with some larger ideas of what to develop. Hopefully it helps those of you who need it! :)

How to Win Consistently Against Lower Players

This is a very good and typically asked question from Lachy Harris 'How do I consistently beat lower players than me?' A number of players find lower players harder to play against and you will often hear people saying they always play better against higher level players when there is no pressure to win than against lower players where they are expected to win the match. See more from my Coaching Blog.

How to Win Consistently Against Lower Players

So first of all it is important to recognise that it is mostly psychological and that being the 'higher player' generally implies that you have had better results and also have a more developed skillset. It is about how you use your skillset and/or greater experience to your advantage. Here are some of the biggest mistakes people make against lower players and how to avoid falling into the traps:

Don't Play Down to Them: A lot of players will try and make a match out of the occasion by playing down to the other player. In a competition you don't want to leave anything to chance and sometimes you will find yourself playing soft or giving easy balls, toying around a bit and not being very focused. This is an easy way to lose handfuls of points and a small shift in momentum can put a lot of pressure on you in the more important stages of the match. As with most of the psychological situations here and below, the best thing to do is to focus on winning at all times.

Don't Become Complacent: This can also be a big downfall, if you are leading by a long distance and decide to try some creative shots or start playing around then you may find yourself in trouble. A lead can be lost just as quickly as won so you could quickly find things changing direction.

The idea behind both of the two points above is this; often a match is just as much about you than it is about your opponent. Your mentality in a game can determine so much towards the result. This means that in any match situation you should be finding your full mental focus, regardless of who is at the other end. You should bring your A Game to a match with any player, higher or lower.

Here are some more ideas on the topic:

Exercise Efficient Tactics: Lower players can often give away easy points, you need to have tactics to exploit that fact up your sleeve just in case it gets tight and also be using them to build efficient point structures. Lower players will show their weaknesses more than higher players so you need to use your first few serves and receives to find out what those are. Lower players will also find it more difficult to adapt to tactical and variational changes in your game. You need to remain mentally alert during the game, if the opponent is winning points you need to shut down their tactics as early as possible. Remember a lower player is out to get a win against you so if they start winning strings of points then that gives them confidence and also deflates yours a bit.

Keep Positive: The worst thing that you can do against a lower player is get frustrated and negative. As in all situations doubt is the real enemy. If you start losing points or get behind in the match this is often the time when the pressure becomes very high and a player who usually suffers against lower players will start thinking a lot about the possibility of losing. This should never cross your mind. Playing to win is very important, if you get behind you need to focus on how you are losing points and how you are winning points, this is true of any match. Playing safe will only work if it is an effective tactic, some players lose confidence and start playing passively, if this is the wrong tactic then it will lead to defeat.

You should think more about each point and the tactics than the outcome of the match. With confidence you will know that if you play good table tennis and right tactics then you are capable of winning the match.

Practice Against Lower Players with Pressure: Handicap matches are a great way to practice against lower players, take the time to challenge lower players at your table tennis centre. It is good to help your lower level peers and also adds valuable experience against players of all abilities and styles. If you give them a headstart in the match it forces you to consider the most efficient way to win points and also lets you practice cutting down on easy unforced errors against lower level players.

It is important to focus on basic tactics and consistent execution, with both of these and a positive mindset you will perform much better against lower level players. Once you break through the negative barriers you will maintain this confidence and have more experience about how to consistently beat players who you are 'expected' to beat.

This is a great example of a higher level player (Ma Long) executing perfectly against a lower player

here he has great point structures and minimises the amount of energy consumption by efficiently winning points.

There are many other things which can help but the mentality and the execution of basic skills and tactics are the main points which will help you perform at the level you are capable of and let you focus on the higher level opponents you are really aiming to beat. Beating lower players is important for progressing in tournaments and in personal growth and development of your game. Hope this helps and answers your question Lachy! :)

How to Make the Most of Similar Level Training Partners

Before we get on to this topic make sure you don't miss out on my last blog on 'Building Depth Footwork Skills'! This question was submitted by Kris Sabas and is quite commonly asked in the online world of Table Tennis, 'How can I improve without playing significantly better players, training and playing with similar level players?' It's a great question. See more from my Coaching Blog.

I grew up in a club where the level was not so strong. By the age of 14 I had already won and defended the club's under 40 competition event and had the upper hand on most of the players there. I had no coach after a 2 year spell to the age of 13 when my coach left and it remained like that until I was 18 years old and left to a new city to start university. Towards the end the players were significantly lower than me, so this is a topic I can relate to quite well.

How to Make the Most of Similar Level Training Partners

Drill your partners' Weaknesses: When playing people similar or lower level than you, you really want to focus on setting yourself above that level (the act of doing so creates competition which raises the whole group of players). When playing matches you want to focus on building the most efficient ways to win points. Specifically target the weaknesses of your training partners, if they continue to lose points then they will feel forced to make changes to improve their weaknesses. You can also give them suggestions on how they can improve, or let them know perhaps these areas can be worked on as you were able to win many points from targeting them.

Solidify Basics: Technique and consistency and other basics like footwork and service are highly important in table tennis development. Regardless of level, maintaining a solid technique and consistency is important. No matter the level of your training partner, you need to focus on you. Make sure you are doing everything the best you can, make changes that you need to make so that you are playing the best strokes you can. Footwork is a big one, often if a player doesn't apply as much pressure in training or in a match we can get lazy. It is important to maintain focus against any level of player, high or low and to make sure you are 'going through the motions' correctly. This means winning points efficiently, moving into position, keeping body weight distributed low and not standing tall.

Identify an Outcome of Every Match: Often I come across players significantly below my level in competition. It is important to realise that they can help my game. Whether I choose to focus on good placement, perhaps just practicing my blocking or even setting up for high balls and finishing points. Each person can offer you some form of practice in a match. It can be as simple as playing someone 1000 points below you and still finding the focus to play as if you were playing someone 1000 points higher. Making the most of every occasion to play is one of the biggest factors to making improvements.

Practice Service: Service is not dependent upon anyone other than you. Of course peoples reactions to different serves is a pivotal part of the game, but improving service is down to hard work, discipline and commitment. Work on technical consistency, this means being able to serve short and low or long and fast with accuracy whenever you need to. Increase the contact to produce serves with more spin. A good service will quickly distinguish you from your peers as service is indeed a powerful weapon for any table tennis player and can be the key to winning easy points against some opponents.

Multiball: Even though a player may not be a high level training partner, they can still learn how to feed high quality multiball. Multiball allows you to increase the quantity of balls fed during a drill. You learn to react to a higher speed and anticipation skills build. A player may not be high level but if they can feed high quality multiball then they are a strong asset to any training group. I once heard of a player in New Zealand who lived a long distance out from any training centre, he had a table in his garage but nobody to play with. Over the course of a month he taught his mother to feed him multiball. As they repeated this her ability to feed multiball grew over time to the point where he was able to achieve good training sessions. His mother was not a table tennis player so if she can do it, a table tennis player definitely can!

Here is a video of me feeding a player from China, obvious level difference but he was still well out of 

breath by the end ;)

Play Handicap Matches: When playing lower players, put the pressure back on yourself by giving lower players point headstarts. This not only means you have to win points more frequently than you opponent, but also improves your ability to execute under pressure. You will put more focus on wiping out low level errors in your game and build consistency and strategic structuring of points in order to win points efficiently and with confidence. Set plays are an example, you can produce a serve which gives a high probability return and then in pressure situations you can use that serve, being confident of the return you 'should' get and commit to playing a planned out point with it.

There are a great number of options for anyone to build their level even without the aid of a significantly higher player. Make the most of every opportunity, take the most from every playing occasion. The best way to improve in these situations is to work together as a group, help each other, if your training partners improve then you will all benefit and develop as a team. Hope this is a satisfactory answer to your question Kris! :)

Building Depth Footwork Skills

Alexandra Dimitrova has asked a great question, 'Can you recommend a good footwork drill for long and short play?' adding that the focus always seems to be on lateral movements and not so much on movement in and out of the table. Thanks for a great question Alexandra, as it happens I have a few great drills for this kind of footwork development! :) See more from my Coaching Blog.

Building Depth Footwork Skills

First of all let's discuss why depth footwork is important. Well for a start table tennis has evolved to such a state that most points begin with shortplay and a constant psychological and tactical battle of finding a chance to attack first and shutting down your opponents chance to do so. This means the emphasis on short serve and receiving has grown over the last decade and the points have become a lot tighter.

With the speed of the game, a ball placement can quite quickly transform from shortplay to a first attack, so there is a strong need to develop in and out footwork and to be able to execute it with speed. Often you may need to come in and short push a short serve and immediately recover to counter a flick or long push or some other scenario along those lines.

Topspin Depth Drill: This drill is used to combat varying pace in a topspin rally. One player simply controls the ball by blocking a ball soft and shallow, the attacking player must stay close to the table as the ball drops medium length. The blocker then blocks the next ball with a bit more pace and good long depth, the attacker has to move back to accommodate the deeper bounce. This alternates with the blocker placing the ball soft and shallow, faster and deep and the attacker is moving in and out alternately to match. You can vary this drill by allowing the blocker to randomise the pace of their blocking also.

Short Receive and Recover to Topspin: This drill is a reaction recovery and involves moving in and out with speed. The drilling player receives a short backspin serve by moving in and pushing the ball short, the server then flicks the ball (can be to a fixed point or random). The drilling player must recover quickly in order to attack or counter the flicked ball. This is a very important depth drill as it is becoming a more and more common scenario. The faster you can recover the more pressure you can put on your opponent, a slow recovery will not give you much time to attack and your receive of the flick may be passive. A fast recovery gives you time to be in position and execute more weight transfer and time to make strong placements. You can start practicing by recovering to block or small counter the flick then build into a fast recovery and a full counter or looping play on the flicked ball.

Short Receive and Recover to Underspin: This is similar to the above, you move in and short push off a backspin serve, the server then pushes long (most effective is to the backhand corner or body), to get the best speed development you should aim to open with a forehand loop no matter where the ball is on the table. This requires a fast recovery in order to execute the weight transfer necessary to produce enough topspin on the long push ball. This is a highly recommended drill for 3rd and 5th ball attacking players.

Flick Receive and Counter: This builds an even higher paced drill and allows you to deal with an offensive play from in-table. The server can essentially serve any spin short, you will move in and flip the ball. The server will then attack the ball you have just flipped. Once again you can start by recovering to block the ball and build up your footwork speed to counterattacking.

These drills form a good core to build the skills of depth footwork. There aren't many scenarios where you would have to go from out of the table in with the exception of dropshots on lobs or chopblocks on range loops so it is best to focus more on playing short then moving out to cover a long ball.

My favourite multiball drill for this skill was a short push wide on the forehand and a pivot loop from the backhand corner, this is possibly the biggest stretch in footwork you can achieve both in terms of depth and lateral movements.

Hope this answers your question well Alexandra and good look working on your depth footwork! :)