Overwhelmed by opponents flick
Table Tennis Match Strategy
Last updated 9 years ago
Ilia Minkin Asked 9 years ago
At some point in a recent match my opponent started to read the spin of my serves very well. And then he started to flick aggressively literally every short serve I made to him or even my short receive of his serve. As the result, I lost many points to it. How would a good player adjust to this situation?
Alois Rosario Answered 9 years ago
Hi Ilia,
In this situation you can even push long and fast. He may be starting to creep closer to the table so a long push can be effective. The other option is to push it half long. That is where the second bounce on their side is close to the end line. This gets them a little further away from the net and so a flick becomes a little harder.
Just changing things up can be effective. If the short play is not working, it is important to change things up a little even for a little while so that your opponent doesn’t become too comfortable. As silly as it sounds, you could even try putting a few balls slightly higher. Again this can throw your opponent out of their rhythm. Don’t do that for too long because they will adjust to that.
Thoughts on this question
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Ilia Minkin Posted 9 years ago
Hi Alois,
I noticed that when my opponents flick I often get caught off guard. What are the best exercices to learn countering flicking returns?
And what is the best short serve that makes flicking difficult: two-bounce serve, more than two bounce serve, or half-long, just dropping off the table?
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 9 years ago
Hi Ilia,
To make it more difficult for them to flick it is first best to get backspin. Then as far as length, often it is better to play half longs they have further to hit the ball. Try both lengths and see what that particular opponent copes with.