The flick is an aggressive topspin return of a ball that lands near the net in table tennis. Many coaches and players say that the flick is one of the most important techniques. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences of racket movement between the flick strokes against backspin services and those against float services. Three top Japanese male players who were right handed participated in this study. Each of them performed 5 flick strokes against each of the two types of services. The server was also a top male player who did not participate as a subject. Cartesian coordinates (X, Y, Z) and orientation angles (azimuth, elevation, roll) of the racket were measured by an electromagnetic motion sensor. The timing of the ball contact of the server`s racket and receiver`s racket was determined by sudden change of acceleration as measured by accelerators that were attached at the end of the racket handles. The results were summarized as follows: 1) Racket faces at the instant of ball contact against backspin services for all subjects were 10-20 degrees more open than against float services. 2) The velocity of the center of the racket at the instant of ball contact against backspin services for all subjects was larger than that against float services. 3) With regard to changes of the velocity of the center of the racket during flick strokes, each player had his own racket movement pattern. They were similar against the two types of services.
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