How to flick backspin ball

Aaron Lin Asked 7 years ago

When the opponent serve/returned a short heavy backspin ball I always just pushed it.  

I recently been practicing the flick but it was mostly against topspin or no spin balls.

How effective is a flick against a ball with medium or large amounts of backspin? Or should I just stick to a push which seems to usually be very reliable?

Additional question, I watched your video on the backhand side spin flick. Is there a forehand variant of this flick?

Alois Rosario Answered 7 years ago

Hi Aaron,

The flick is easier against a no spin or topspin ball.  You can try the Sidespin flick against the backspin ball.  This is  what the top players are able to do successfully.  It is definitely safer to push the backspin serve back initially as you are learning but worth trying the sidespin flick to see if you have the feel for it.

Take a look at our lesson on Push or flick as well as the Backhand Sidespin Flick.