Hi, I'm Alois Rosario from PingSkills.
Today we're going to talk to you about the forehand flick.
To make a good flick the first important thing is to make sure that you get your body close
to the ball. So if I'm left handed I'm going to get my left leg right under the table so
that I can get my bat close to the net. If you're right handed, you do that with your
right foot. So get your right foot under the table so that you can get close to the ball
to make the flick.
At the start of your stroke make sure that you've got your bat nice and far back so really
open out your wrist so that will allow you to come forward on the ball. So here, open
the wrist out that way at the start of the flick.
The next thing we need to consider is making sure that we're hitting the ball at the peak
of the bounce. The peak of the bounce means that the ball is going to bounce here, it's
going to rise up and then fall again. We need to be hitting the ball when it's at it's highest.
So when it's at it's highest we're then able to have a nice flat contact on the ball to
generate a bit more speed. If you contact the ball when it's very low here, or very
low here then you're going to need to lift the ball up and over the net. So lets really
concentrate on getting that ball at the peak of the bounce. From there we're going to have
a nice flat contact so that it's almost like a mini smash.
At the start of your swing make sure that your bat is coming forward so that will give
you the nice flat contact so not too much of a lifting action but really press forward
on the ball on contact so it's forward and then you follow through. So really get that
forward action first to make the flick.
The next thing you need to consider is what type of spin is on the ball that's coming
to you. If there's really heavy backspin you're going to need to tilt your bat angle backwards
to counter that backspin so really open up the angle of your racket when you push forward
with the flick. On the other hand if there's a lot of topspin on the ball then you can
close your racket over to come over the ball. So alter the angle of your racket depending
on the amount of backspin or topspin that's on the ball. You also need to consider then
if there's any sidespin on the ball. So if the ball wants to go out that way you need
to turn your wrist back further to counter that sidespin or if the ball wants to go out
the other way you need to cover the ball more around here to counter the sidespin on the
ball. So think about adjusting the racket angle so that you're countering the type of
spin that's on the ball coming to you.
Let's explore now when you're going to use the flick. Predominantly you're going to use
the flick only when the ball is short. So short means that the ball is going to bounce
at least twice on your side of the table if you let it go. If the ball is long so it's
only going to bounce once then the stroke that you're going to choose is the forehand
topspin. So basically you're going to be doing the flick only when the ball is short to you.
We usually use it if someone has done a short serve to us or if they've given us a short
push.
Let's have a look at Jeff doing some flicks off a short push.
So now I'll feed the ball with less backspin and you'll see that Jeff's angle is a bit
more over the ball.
Now when I add more backspin, Jeff's going to open up the angle of his racket to counter
that backspin.
So I'll give him a short topspin serve now. You can see with the flick you can come straight
over the top of that ball. Again.
Now we'll give him just a sidespin serve. So you can see that Jeff is adjusting the
angle of his racket to counter the type of spin that I'm giving him.
So now topspin again.
Now I'm going to give him a backspin serve and let's see how he copes with that.
So he's opened his angle up to counter that backspin. Let's try it again.
Now I'm going to give him more backspin.
You can see he really opened up the angle of the bat. He was still able to flick the
ball though.
So now Jeff is going to serve short, I'm going to push the ball back short and let's see
if Jeff can still utilise his flick.
That one was a bit high :)