Legs movement during the return of serve is the most basic factor in the technique. The legs movement is directly related to the player's style (offensive, defensive), his strong strokes and the server's position.

Offensive players
The offensive players that prefer to start their attack from the forehand side stand more to the left of the table with their right leg diagonally behind their left. These players use their right leg to return a close serve from the backhand side. The legs move accordingly when the serve is long. In this case, there is an opportunity of attack, so the right leg is always behind the left after the third step. The players preferring to attack from the backhand side bring their right leg approximately inline with the left and come closer to the center of the table taking advantage of the space on the backhand side. The legs movement is almost the same as that used during the execution of forehand strokes.

Defensive players
The defensive players' legs movement when returning a close serve is similar to that of the offensive player who prefers to stand at the center of the table. This movement changes when the defensive player tries to return a long serve. When the serve is executed from the backhand side the left leg moves first. Whereas when the serve is executed from the forehand side the right leg moves first.

Often we see the phenomenon known as "early movement" when players try to return a serve. This movement has a high percentage of risk and is mostly used by advanced players who have developed an ability to predict the movements of the opponent.

Source: Table Tennis: From A to Z e-book

Related articles:

• Table tennis technique - Footwork
• Table tennis technique - Basic steps for legs movement
• Table tennis technique - Basic stance
• Table tennis tactics - Recording the game

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