when-to-flick-when-not-to-flick
Resznotes asked 5 years ago
Hi everyone, I’m not sure when the flick is the best choice for a return. If the ball heading to me is a touch shot, my understanding from the videos is to touch back. If the ball from my opponent looks to go long, we should topspin back. So what is the placement on the table for choosing to flick? Is it a half-long ball that I choose to take early? A short push shot that pops up?
I would appreciate any insight on when to go for the flick and when to just push the ball back or wait on the ball to topspin it.
Thanks,
Sue
Tom Academy Coach answered 5 years ago
Hi Sue, this is a good topic you have raised here actually. The time to flick is when the ball is short over the table, as you mentioned when the ball comes long or half long ideally you should try to topspin the ball, if it is short and low then a short touch or positive long push are the best options. However if the ball is short but slightly higher this is when you should be looking to flick over the table and put your opponents under pressure.
Once you get confident flick on these types of balls and improve the contact you will be able to flick shots which are lower to the net as you improve the contact and spin on the ball. Sometimes if you really struggle to pick up the half long balls but don’t want to push back you can move in and flick those too. It’s about experimenting with your limits and also calculating the risk of a more aggressive flick or keeping it safer with a short touch, there will be times for both in matches.
Dipak1974Hi guys. I was also curious about this too. For myself I try to identify spin on the serve, if it looks like lot of backspin I tend to touch (maybe as I’m fearful of not flicking successfully) if the serve looks light spin then I go into flick. Is this a good method to determine whether to flick or not. I also seem to find it easier to flick a serve that has some sort of side spin rather than a serve that’s pure backspin.
Hey Deep that’s a good point actually, I totally forgot to o mention that in my response! If there is a lot of spin, especially pure backspin like Deep said then it’s more difficult to flick for sure. So reading the spin and amount of spin is also a big factor in when to flick. I think I’ll create a video on this topic guys and add it to the Academy as I’m sure many others would like some discussion on this topic 🙂
Hi Tom yes I think a in-depth video of service receives looking at decision making into whether to flick or touch would probably be very helpful to many. Also explanation of the residual spin that takes effect after the return would also be very helpful. I trained with a guy at my club who went into detail of what happens to the spin and the likely change in direction when it goes on opponents side and what the residual spin does when server retouches etc…. I know it’s quite technical but i found it very informative. It’s amazing to see when you return a long side spin serve how many times opponents don’t read which way the side spin will kick when returned back to them.
ResznotesThese are all great points and extremely helpful. I would love to see a video on this.
As of now, my backspin serve is very weak in the spin department, and opponents should be flicking their hearts out if the ball has any height to it. On the other hand, it’s inspiration to improve the spin on my backspin serve so that I can possibly force a point by a weak flick or press my opponent to push back the return.
