How to Beat Flat Hitters in Table Tennis

Last Updated on July 10, 2024 by Alex Horscroft

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 I hear you. It’s damn frustrating. While you’re focusing on textbook technique and footwork these lazy players hardly move and somehow just seem to win. It defies all reason!

Yet with the right game plan, you can overcome this horrid style, as while they are scary in most topspin rallies, they have a hell of a lot of weaknesses. And today, I’m going to divulge all the juicy info.

How to Beat Flat Hitters

1. Slow Spinny Loops

Slow spinny loops are one of my favorite ways of taking out flat hitters, but I’ll be honest. Unless you are an advanced player, this solution is probably not the one for you.

The key with slow spinny loops is to overwhelm flat hitters with too much topspin. The ball will ping straight off their paddle and go off the end of the table.

Yet it’s not that easy to pull off. Your best bet is to execute a slow spinny loop off of a push, but your loop both has to have enough spin and bounce low. If either of these are off you may get punished.

Most intermediate loopers can only consistently generate moderate topspin, and often their loops clear the net by some distance. These qualities make the ball easy to attack for a flat hitter.

2. Low Pushes With Heavy Spin

If you want to remain safe and bide your time for your next attack, the best route to do so is low and heavy pushes. These are impossible to attack for a flat hitter. In fact, you could probably use these shots exclusively and win the match. But who wants to play a lame game like that? (Sorry pushers).

Sure it’s a tedious strategy, but in my experience, it’s very effective against flat hitters. Most become so frustrated they attack balls that are far too low, and in doing so, give up easy points.

So keep yourself safe with low and spinny pushes, and then when the opportunity presents itself, initiate either a slow and spinny loop or a power loop to end the rally.

3. Poor at Receiving Spinny Serves

Flat hitters love a spinless game as it allows them to attack freely. They are also generally not particularly skilled when it comes to spin, both imparting and receiving. Therefore quality serves can work wonders against flat hitters.

Experiment to see what works and try it all: backspin, sidespin, and topspin, all are great to use here. The only caution I would exercise is concerning long topspin serves. These are often easy to read, and a flat hitter will likely eat them up for breakfast. Now a short topspin serve on the other hand… that can work.

4. Target Their Backhand

Most flat hitters you will come across have a major preference for their forehand as it is far more powerful. In fact, some may not flat hit on their backhand at all. Therefore, the logical strategy is to pin them on their backhand, this will make it much harder for them to smash the ball and force them to move their feet more than usual.

It may also expose the extreme forehand side of the table for winners of your own.

Of course, if they are one of the few flat hitters who prefer their backhand instead, try pinning them on their forehand.

5. Play the Ball Deep

Think of topspin as a game of angles and trajectories. Loopers have the advantage of being able to produce quality attacks from virtually anywhere — even if they are at a far distance where there is a narrow angle between the ball and the table. Loops impart a lot of topspin so the ball’s trajectory curves downward.

Flat hitters have no such advantage. They can’t alter the ball’s trajectory without diminishing the quality of their shot. Their speed is what they rely on — it’s all they have.

Ultimately, they want to stand close to the table and strike the ball at its highest point. Therefore, they struggle if you play the ball deep as they have to take a few steps back or risk striking the ball as it is rising which is a major no-no.

6. Be Aggressive Yourself

A common mistake I see in players, metaphorically speaking, is to cower in the corner like a little girl, reverting to a totally passive game. How humiliating! Have some respect for yourself and stand tall!

If you’re an attacker, play to your own strengths rather than just trying to avoid theirs. There’s no reason you can’t overwhelm them with your own attack provided there isn’t a massive skill gap between you. Attack those third balls! Pin them on their backhand! Overwhelm them with topspin!

7. Don’t Try to Beat Them at Their Own Game

Another common mistake I see when playing flat hitters is to get goaded into their flat-hitting style. This is a bad idea, plain and simple. It’s something they train and you don’t so there is only one way it is going to go.

Instead, if you loop, stick to this style, and only flat hit if a smashing opportunity presents itself.

Strengths of Flat Hitters

1. Topspin Rallies

No surprises with this one. Flat hitters flourish during topspin rallies. Especially those that are close to the table or where the ball bounces high. If you’re caught in such a situation you may find yourself at a heavy disadvantage.

2. Quicker Strokes

The beauty of flat hitting is that it is fast — a lot faster than loops for instance. It doesn’t require anywhere near the same wind-up. It also doesn’t require perfect technique so flat hitters can comfortably execute shots much faster than you.

As such, you may struggle to keep up during topspin rallies, reverting to blocks rather than loops or drives. And I don’t have to tell you how that is going to go…

3. Don’t Need Stellar Footwork

Just like flat-hitters don’t need perfect technique on their strokes, they also don’t need stellar footwork. They don’t have to set their feet perfectly as we loopers do. This once again, leads to a much faster style of play as they can attack more balls.

If you thought keeping loopers pinned on their backhand was difficult, wait until you try to do the same with a flat hitter. They can even lean back and be off-balance to make a powerful hit. It may look funky, but it’s highly functional and makes them incredibly dangerous.

4. Smashing Through Backspin

Flat hitters aren’t just scary in topspin rallies, they can even be scary during backspin rallies too. If you throw any poor backspin shots their way, they will smash right through them. Even heavy backspin pushes are not safe if they bounce too high.

You’ve probably experienced this first-hand — it’s one of the most frustrating things about playing a flat hitter. They just make it look so easy. It’s also quite surprising how low the ball can be for them to smash it. You might expect these poor pushes to have to bounce very high for flat hitters to smash through them. But in reality, they only need a little bit of extra height.

The Flat Hitter in Action

Above is an example of a flat-hitting style for reference. While this player also demonstrates excellent looping ability, his flat smashes are what makes him particularly dangerous.

What’s interesting about this player is how contained his smash stroke is. Even as far as flat hitters go, his stroke is very short yet he can produce incredible power.

Closing Thoughts

While flat hitters may be the devil incarnate and perform way better than you feel they should, they have a range of glaring holes in their game which you can easily exploit.

The key to beating a flat hitter in table tennis is to avoid a controlled or passive game and to attack yourself, but strategically. Play the ball low and deep, kill it where you can, and overwhelm them with heavy spin. Their game is far more one-dimensional — they only have a few paths to victory whereas you have many.