Points to look for:
- The hips, waist and shoulders have turned a little further to the left than they originally started, due to the force of the stroke. This is allowable since the opponent is well back from the table, giving the player plenty of time to turn a fraction to the right to get into his optimum ready position.
- The player would not stay in this position wide to the forehand side. As his opponent continues to play a stroke, the player would move a little to his backhand side, getting into a central position to cover all possible angles available to the opponent. The further to the opponent's backhand side the player has hit the ball, the further to his own backhand he will move.
- The player will also move a little bit backwards, since it is likely that the opponent's return will once again be high and deep, and the player will want to be able to move forwards again to hit the ball harder. If the player stayed at his current depth, he would find it very hard to get any forward movement into the stroke, making it difficult to hit the ball with good power.
- Note that the knees are once again bent, with the right leg a little behind the left. The player is once again well balanced to move in any direction.
Return to How to Play the Basic Strokes of Table Tennis/ Ping-Pong
