Slide Flick

D K Asked 8 years ago

Hello Alois and Jeff,

Please,what is the stroke Waldner uses to receive Boll's serve in the first rally?
I have experienced a similar stroke countless times today,being unable to receive it despite it not having any considerable power or spin (at least the stroke I played against,I do not know what about Waldner's).
How can I counter and create such a stroke?
What serve should it be best used against?
And is it useful against more types of spins?

Thanks
DK

Alois Rosario Answered 8 years ago

Hi DK,

It is a sliding flick. It is sort of a cross between a push and a flick.

They can be hard to play against because the ball comes through quite fast with a little backspin on the ball.

When someone does that to you, you should try to make a topspin as the ball will come through long to you. It is usually used against a topspin or no spin serve.

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D K Posted 8 years ago

I am a bit confused....this stroke creates backspin?

I have seen Waldner using this stroke more frequently ,usually against a lefthander,and the lefthander mostly sent it into the net if he has made an error....

I was able to execute a similar stroke at a tournament.....but I am not sure if it is the same.
Though,the fact is that I used it 5 times against a lefthander and I always got a direct point from it.

Marcin Lonak Posted 8 years ago

Hello D K

For me its not a extremely dificult stroke, altough quie elegant by the Master.Looks logical to me. The Racket Angle is Countering the Spin from the Serve. And as usual for JOW there is some own generated spin as a surprise gift, as Alois said Side/Backspin. I think in this point the main thing is the great Blocking and the fantastic wide ending with that insideout forhand topspin

Johan B Posted 8 years ago

It's a fun stroke. You can even apply serving principles and vary between hitting the ball with back and top spin with a similar motion (except the side spin)