Tactics

We all play against our fair share of flat hitters each season. The style is incredibly common at an intermediate level, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these players are giving you hell. While such folks appear to be easy to beat because of their unorthodox technique, competent flat hitters are actually pretty formidable. And

The short pimples player often pairs said rubber with another to give you extra trouble, this is usually a plain old inverted rubber. In my experience, most short pimps players have their short pimps rubber on their forehand. Short pimple players like to stick close to the table and attack. What You Need to Know

A one-winged looper is characterized by a player with an exceptionally strong forehand loop and a comparatively poor backhand loop. One-winged loopers are very common from an intermediate level. As these players improve, many shift to become a little more balanced by improving their backhand attack. However, the overwhelming preference for forehand often remains. You

The mid-distance looper is well-versed at looping on both flanks. They prefer to play a little deeper than most players, roughly 3-6 feet from the table. This gives them more time to execute loops. Despite looping on both sides many still have slight favoritism for their forehand. Banner image — credit: XIAOYU TANG | CC

Counter-drivers are players who play close to the table and redirect incoming speed and spin using backhand drives and forehand drives. They are consistent and pre-dominantly rely on their opponents to make errors, although sometimes they will seek to kill the ball with a smash. An exclusively counter-driving style is not particularly common, especially at