Flicking with Fastarc G1

[Silver smasher]

I am a local league player using Fastarc G! on both sides of a DHS 301 (an inner carbon blade).

This is a long lasting, fairly hard, rubber that can produce great spin but you need to put effort into the stroke. Many people recommend it for the backhand and, yes, I have hit some superb fast drives and the push seems to work well.

I am struggling to hit backhand flicks. It is probably my poor technique but I have heard on the forum other people having this issue. I think the rubber needs good contact to engage the grip which can be difficult when flicking.

Would changing to the softer C1 be beneficial - I don't want to lose the power of the G1 but a good flick is important. Also is C1 worse for incoming spin? If not C1 is there another rubber that is similar to G1 but easier to flick with?

 

[Gozo Aruna]

all problems are solved when one puts on the magical and wonderful Tenergy 05. Woes begone!

 

[Zezima]

I have tried the C1 and also have the G1 on the Forehand.

Let me tell you one thing. It´s not the rubber. All about the technique. You can´t do a flick if you are not putting effort into your stroke. Keep your elbow up and also if its side underspin for example go into the ball with your body. Lower your body a bit and use your wrist with the head of the racket looking towards the table and hit the ball from the left side (if you are a right handed player).

I can flick with any blade/rubber. There are also some good tutorials on youtube just practise with multiballs and you will get the hang out of it. The hard thing about the flick is to move your body towards the ball.

 

[jk1980]

all problems are solved when one puts on the magical and wonderful Tenergy 05. Woes begone!

That is ej-derailing that does not help here at all. T05 is not the best rubber for short game or flicking, but since you got so much time to spent: why don't you show us a video of how to backhand flick with t05 from one of your games?

 

[KM1976]

I am a local league player using Fastarc G! on both sides of a DHS 301 (an inner carbon blade).

This is a long lasting, fairly hard, rubber that can produce great spin but you need to put effort into the stroke. Many people recommend it for the backhand and, yes, I have hit some superb fast drives and the push seems to work well.

I am struggling to hit backhand flicks. It is probably my poor technique but I have heard on the forum other people having this issue. I think the rubber needs good contact to engage the grip which can be difficult when flicking.

Would changing to the softer C1 be beneficial - I don't want to lose the power of the G1 but a good flick is important. Also is C1 worse for incoming spin? If not C1 is there another rubber that is similar to G1 but easier to flick with?

Kindly share a video of yourself performing the stroke.

 

[Gozo Aruna]

That is ej-derailing that does not help here at all. T05 is not the best rubber for short game or flicking, but since you got so much time to spent: why don't you show us a video of how to backhand flick with t05 from one of your games?

Personally I can't BH flick well my friend. Do recall that I use a thick 10.5mm blade and it is not well suited for BH flick aka chiquita. At least not for me.

However, in my defence, many good players do BH flick using T05 in the hey days before Dignics was available but of course now high level player uses D05 instead.

Hence your assertion T05 is not good for flicking is at best inaccurate.

NB: I can show you my signature FH smash instead 😜. That, my friend, I have plenty of show and tell.

 

[latej]

Would changing to the softer C1 be beneficial - I don't want to lose the power of the G1 but a good flick is important. Also is C1 worse for incoming spin? If not C1 is there another rubber that is similar to G1 but easier to flick with?

Everything is relative. G1 is 47-48, I like it on BH, not on FH. Now I've put C1 red and Battle 2 Nat H38 black on my friend's bat and tried it yesterday. C1 indeed is a bit softer than G1, the difference is not big. He'd be happy with G1 too, but I thought C1 might be slightly better now for him, for those backhand openings and flicks, later on, he should decide himself, whether he'd like to stay with C1 or "upgrade" to G1, or something else. So imo, the diff is not big, but yes, I preferred C1 for him right now. You asked about blocking, G1 imo will be very slightly better than C1 for that.

 

[jk1980]

Personally I can't BH flick well my friend. Do recall that I use a thick 10.5mm blade and it is not well suited for BH flick aka chiquita. At least not for me.

I knew that part and that is why I questioned your input to the discussion.

However, in my defence, many good players do BH flick using T05 in the hey days before Dignics was available but of course now high level player uses D05 instead.

That is not correct. Many professional player used t05 and could flick with it, but that is pointless in a discussion talking about amateur players that dont train several hours every day. That is like saying "driving a 900 hp formula 1 vehicle is easy, because i have seen michael schuhmacher drive it".

NB: I can show you my signature FH smash instead 😜. That, my friend, I have plenty of show and tell.

Yes I know that. I have seen quite a few of this and I would be happy if I could incorporate them in my game in a year or two, but for now I try to learn the beautiful game and not the smash game that people play that learned tabletennis on an outdoor stone table.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

It is so important to know, who are EJ (equipment junkies, and live by finding the best equipment) and who are experienced in said rubber or who are players that can execute the shot, or coaches who coaches this shot.

Lots of our players use G1 and C1/S1

In theory, softer rubbers is easier to lift the ball up and flick. but it does lack power.
In practical, I am also in agreement, it is a technique issue.

So maybe finding a coach to work on the BH flick for few sessions (few hours should be more than enough) would probably solve your issue.

if you do get a softer rubber, and/or do a low quality flick, you will loose points more easier
so long term solution is to try fix the technique part, if it is indeed a technique issue.

Hope this helps

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

NB: I can show you my signature FH smash instead 😜. That, my friend, I have plenty of show and tell.

What happens when you meet someone who can return those signature FH smashes?

 

[ben1229]

Timing, G1 I believe it can easy to do back flick, I used it for about 5months, try different timing to lift the ball, step in the table a little faster might help. Elbow height it's also kinda important . If you know someone good at it ask for some advice .

 

[Gozo Aruna]

What happens when you meet someone who can return those signature FH smashes?

I offer three scenarios, not hypothetical but have happened in my regular CHO-LEH'ing sessions.

Scenario 1:
The ball is blocked back to my far FH corner or BH corner. I am unable to return that and my opponent gets the point. I congratulate him by exclaiming 好 球 漂 亮! ( Hao Qiu Piau Liang! )

Scenario 2: I manage to return the ball because he did not block to the extreme corner. I will smash and smash until I get the point or die trying.

Scenario 3: The ball whizz passed my opponent like lightning before he could even blink. In this case I will CHO-LEH and do a small victory dance.

In my experience, Scenario 3 happens most often ( above 50% ) followed by Scenario 1 and Scenario 2. It is because of this odds, I still find this smashing tactic remain a viable option.

 

[Gozo Aruna]

That is not correct. Many professional player used t05 and could flick with it, but that is pointless in a discussion talking about amateur players that dont train several hours every day. That is like saying "driving a 900 hp formula 1 vehicle is easy, because i have seen michael schuhmacher drive it".

Friend,

Do recall the OP stated in the first post he is, and I quote. "I am a local league player." Hence we should not assume him to be a noobie. To further strengthen my argument, I have seen with my own eyes, U15 cadet players chiquita 80% of all serves these days.

In summary, your assumption that OP is an amateur / noob is inaccurate. He, in my opinion would benefit from T05 as seen in so many serious players ( OP would belong to this category ) choice to put T05 on their BH.

On personal account, I know that T05, which I am currently using on my BH, is so easy to perform open-ups. Hence my assertion that it is so suited for chiquita is not too far fetch.

 

[JJ Ng]

I am a local league player using Fastarc G! on both sides of a DHS 301 (an inner carbon blade).

This is a long lasting, fairly hard, rubber that can produce great spin but you need to put effort into the stroke. Many people recommend it for the backhand and, yes, I have hit some superb fast drives and the push seems to work well.

I am struggling to hit backhand flicks. It is probably my poor technique but I have heard on the forum other people having this issue. I think the rubber needs good contact to engage the grip which can be difficult when flicking.

Would changing to the softer C1 be beneficial - I don't want to lose the power of the G1 but a good flick is important. Also is C1 worse for incoming spin? If not C1 is there another rubber that is similar to G1 but easier to flick with?

I think it is mostly techniques.

But it is also equipment. I played with G-1 on my backhand of a 5-ply wood for 4 years. Loved it. Very direct. Push is very spinny. when I block, the ball goes wherever I wanted it to go. It is very "direct." By contrast, I never really liked T05 fx because it is so catapulty and the ball did not follow what I thought would be the path.

However, now I switched to carbon, I cannot use G-1 on the backhand side. Rakza X soft and Rakza 7 soft have both worked well on the backhand side. I am about to put a C-1 on one of my four carbon blades.

Softer rubbers it is easier to loop and flick, but you do lose some power. Carbon does make the ball's projectory a bit lower (I know that because I still have a couple all wood blades I am fooling around with) so having a softer rubber helps. Then, of course, once you develop the technique better, with coaching and training, you can sweet from softer ESN rubber (say C-1) to a harder ESN rubber (say G-1). I don't see a problem with that. A lot of things need certain progression.

 

[Dr Evil]

I am struggling to hit backhand flicks. It is probably my poor technique but I have heard on the forum other people having this issue. I think the rubber needs good contact to engage the grip which can be difficult when flicking.

Would changing to the softer C1 be beneficial - I don't want to lose the power of the G1 but a good flick is important. Also is C1 worse for incoming spin? If not C1 is there another rubber that is similar to G1 but easier to flick with?

Keep the G1 and keep practicing. As Tony said, this is a technical issue. Softer sponge (like C1) or topsheet (like Powergrip) will make it marginally easier at the cost of considerable shot quality. I don't think it's a good trade off.

 

[blahness]

Friend,

Do recall the OP stated in the first post he is, and I quote. "I am a local league player." Hence we should not assume him to be a noobie. To further strengthen my argument, I have seen with my own eyes, U15 cadet players chiquita 80% of all serves these days.

In summary, your assumption that OP is an amateur / noob is inaccurate. He, in my opinion would benefit from T05 as seen in so many serious players ( OP would belong to this category ) choice to put T05 on their BH.

On personal account, I know that T05, which I am currently using on my BH, is so easy to perform open-ups. Hence my assertion that it is so suited for chiquita is not too far fetch.

D05 is even better than T05 for chiquita haha. On good days I win just straight up by chiquitaing/flicking/looping everything if they're not used to the spin lol