Clinic Recap: Backhand Flick and Getting Ready to Counter Punch

Last week’s lesson for our intermediate group was a lot of fun! We started with a drives warm-up, and many of you improved quickly after hitting so many balls.

The main takeaway from this drill was that your hitting point should be slightly in front of your body, and your weight transfer should go in the direction you’re aiming. Everyone has their own style and technique, but by focusing on better timing and proper weight transfer, the difference in your shots was easy to see.

When we moved on to backhand flicks, we worked on finding the right way to strike the ball. Backhand flicks can be tricky — not everyone feels comfortable using a one-handed backhand, which made this drill a bit more challenging for some of you.

The key was to keep the paddle slightly open and let the paddle face brush the ball from low to high — like lifting your arm up with a bent elbow. That motion helped create lift and control without over-swinging.

Once you had the motion down, we put it into practice. You started with dinks, then lifted the ball to speed it up with your backhand. After your speed-up, we worked on blocking the ball and preparing for the next fast shot coming right back at you. This exercise really showed how the harder — and less precise — shots can work both for and against you.

We also played several fun games to test your new skills against each other (and against me!). During this drill, the goal was to hit fast drives at the opponent at the net and try to win the point. It became clear how important shot quality is — a strong, well-placed drive makes things easier, while a weak or mistimed one gives your opponent the upper hand.

I hope you all learned something new and gained confidence in your counterpunching game. Can’t wait to see you at our next clinic next month!

See you on the court,

Honza