Table tennis backhand technique
The backhand is played on the side of your body opposite your playing hand, close to your torso, with most of the power coming from your forearm and wrist rather than a full shoulder turn. It's the shot players tend to neglect early on because the forehand feels more natural, and the gap it leaves is the single easiest thing for an opponent to exploit.
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Backhand drive
The backhand drive is the basic flat-to-light-topspin shot every other backhand builds on. Stand with your body roughly square to the table, elbow bent at close to a right angle and held slightly away from your torso, racket face angled just forward of vertical.
- Bring the racket back slightly, rotating from the elbow and wrist rather than the whole arm.
- Make contact at or just after the top of the bounce, roughly in front of your body.
- Push the racket forward through the ball with a short, controlled motion — the backhand drive doesn't need a long swing.
- Finish with the racket pointing toward your target, elbow still close to its starting position.
Because there's so little room to swing on the backhand side, consistency comes from a compact, repeatable motion rather than from generating power with a big arm swing. Players who try to hit backhand drives the way they hit forehands — with a long backswing — usually run out of room and mistime the shot.
Backhand block
The block is the shot that returns an opponent's attack using their own pace rather than generating power of your own — the racket meets the ball early, just after the bounce, with almost no backswing, and the incoming speed does most of the work. It's the shot that lets a defensive or all-round player survive an opponent's loop rather than trying to out-hit it.
A good backhand block angles the racket slightly closed — tilted forward — to counter the topspin on the incoming ball, since an open racket face sends a topspin ball flying long. The tighter and earlier the contact, the less time your opponent has to react to the return.
Backhand topspin (loop)
The backhand topspin loop uses the same low-to-high brushing contact as a forehand loop, but with a much smaller swing driven mainly by the forearm and wrist, with the elbow acting as a relatively fixed pivot rather than swinging wide the way it does on the forehand side.
Modern technique adds a small amount of waist rotation into the backhand loop even though the classic version was closer to a pure arm shot — it's a much smaller turn than the forehand's full hip rotation, but it noticeably increases both spin and pace without sacrificing the compact swing the backhand side needs.
Backhand flick
The flick is an attacking shot played against a short ball — usually a short serve or a short push — that would otherwise bounce twice on your side if you let it sit. Rather than pushing it back defensively, you step in, meet the ball early over the table, and snap the wrist forward to add pace and spin in a very short space.
It's one of the higher-skill backhand shots because the margin for error is small — the ball is close to the net, there's very little time, and the wrist snap has to be timed precisely. It's worth learning early anyway, since a reliable flick is what stops opponents from serving short to your backhand with impunity.
Comparing the four shots
| Shot | When you use it | Swing size | Main power source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drive | Flat or lightly topspun rally ball | Short, compact | Forearm push |
| Block | Returning an opponent's attacking loop | Minimal — almost no backswing | Opponent's own pace |
| Topspin loop | Attacking a slow, high, or backspin ball | Small, low-to-high | Forearm and wrist, some waist rotation |
| Flick | A short ball over the table | Very short | Wrist snap |
Common mistakes
- Taking a full arm swing like a forehand — there isn't room, and it wrecks timing.
- Playing every backhand from the same racket angle regardless of whether the incoming ball has topspin or backspin.
- Letting the elbow drift away from the body during the swing, which turns a compact shot into an inconsistent one.
- Avoiding the backhand side entirely by running around every ball to play forehand — this works short-term and collapses once opponents notice the pattern and target it.
- Flicking with too much arm and not enough wrist, which either mistimes the shot or sends it into the net.
Running around the backhand to hit forehand instead is the single most common habit that caps a player's progress — it feels safer in the short term and costs court coverage and reaction time as soon as the level goes up.
Building a stronger backhand
The backhand drive and block improve fastest with repetition against a consistent feed — find a table or an open club session near you in London, New York or Sydney on League of Spin's map and put in the reps against a real partner.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my backhand weaker than my forehand?
Usually because it's practised less — many players run around the ball to hit forehand instead, which limits how much backhand repetition they ever get. The fix is deliberate backhand-only drilling, not more forehand practice.
What is a backhand block used for?
Returning an opponent's fast attacking shot, usually a loop, by meeting the ball early with a closed racket angle and almost no backswing, using the incoming pace rather than generating your own.
How do I hit a backhand flick?
Step in on a short ball, meet it early over the table, and snap your wrist forward through contact in a very short motion. It's a small, precise shot rather than a full swing.
Is the backhand topspin the same as the forehand loop?
The brushing, low-to-high contact is the same, but the backhand version uses a much smaller swing driven mostly by the forearm and wrist, with only a small amount of waist rotation compared to the forehand's full hip turn.
Should beginners learn the backhand drive first?
Yes — it's the simplest backhand shot and the foundation the block, loop and flick all build on. Learning it early also breaks the habit of running around every ball to play forehand.
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