Have you been wondering how to flick or flip? I'm Alois Rosario from PingSkills.com and
we are going to show you have to do the stroke today. The basics of the flick are to make
sure that your hitting the ball in a forward motion.
You bat starts quite flat and comes forward. With the flick you have to make sure that
the contact is nice and flat. That's to generate some pace. If you topspin the ball you're
not going to generate much pace and the flicks going to be quite slow. So think about making
sure your hitting the ball right at the top of that bounce so you can hit the flat. It's
almost like a smash, it's like a mini smash from here just smashing the ball onto the table.
When you are playing the flick the starting angle
of your bat depends on the amount of backspin or topspin that the opponent has given you.
If the other person has put a lot of backspin on the ball you need to start with
your bat quite open with the forehand side facing up. If they put some top spin or sidespin
on the ball you can start to come over the ball with your bat.
So with the back spin open your bat up and come forward with side spin and topspin you
can have your bat flat or over the ball a little bit to come over the ball and hit the
ball down and onto the table.
Your movement for the flick is to move in closer to the table. The way to do this is to put your right foot under the table.
That will get you closer to the ball to make your flick.
The flick is often used as a return of serve off a short serve. So if they serve with some
side spin or top spin that's your cue that you can flick.
You can also flick off backspin serve but remember that you need to get the angle of
your bat quite open so that you can get the ball over the net.