Backhand flick

[exotick]

Just seen this video of a guy receving a lesson on backhand flick from a former Olympian and i wonder a few things.. I am learning to flick atm and my go to technique has been the way he hits the first flick in the video ( with a closed racquet angle ). However he is being taught to use much more open blade angle aimed downwards. Someone asked him this in the comments and his answer was the first method rarely worked against better opponents in real matches and the method that he is being taught was very easy for him to implement in games. I wonder if there is some truth behind that and also which technique do people here use for flicking? One more thing.. Do rubber matter? I am using 09c which has pretty high throw angle and i would think it's better suited for a closed angle flicking.

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[Wrighty67]

Very interesting, most tutorials advocate closed blade parallel to table but this makes sense in terms of ball strike. I often struggle to get enough side action - this makes that easier.

 

[JJ Ng]

You do what you are comfortable with.

The "more open blade angle aimed downwards" backhand flip is the new technique.

The parallel backhand flick with closed angle is more like the old backhand flip technique.

To me, at our amateur level, whoever gets to keep the ball on the table the longest wins. So either technique is fine.

I have the old technique and I am more worried about perfecting that right now, than learning another way to do backhand flip.

There was a gentleman in my club who came in and said he used to be rated 2200 USATT. He dropped down to 1900 level when he decided to relearn all the strokes with new techniques for he plastic ball. He is now working his way back to 2000 level. When I heard that, I am like, if I am 2200 level, I would not touch anything and just keep it there and enjoy my game! lol.

 

[Jslick89]

yeah...the open racket angle is way easier. thats my go-to for sure. but don't ask me, i can barely flick with my backhand buts its definitely getting better. actually had some pretty wicked ones last night at open play lol. I also use D09C.

 

[Robin0910]

It all depends on the spin you receive and marginally the rubber you use. The higher the throw angle the more you want to close the racket but you’ll never be able to consistently flick heavy backspin serves consistently with a very closed bat angle like first few flicks in the video. On the other, you can do that consistently with a more open bat angle unless the serve is also very short, then there’s no way to flick it. Also, larger angle lets you play with the spin and put more side or even backspin on the ball to fool the server, like how Ma Long or Harimoto do sometimes. The drawback is that these flicks are slower and if they can read the spin and placement you’ll be punished.