How often have you played somebody with, for lack of a better word, weird shots? Perhaps they hit shots with a floppy wrist (so you could never tell where the shot was going), or with sidespin on shots that normally don't have sidespin, or perhaps they just used a non-inverted surface that you weren't used to seeing. There are infinite possibilities. The problem was that you found these "weird" shots difficult to play against with your more fundamental game. Why does one with sounder fundamentals have problems with weirder games, and how can you overcome that?

There's nothing wrong with having a little weird in your game to throw opponents off. But there's a reason why certain shots, mostly done with inverted rubber, are done by the top players, and are considered orthodox play. Learn these fundamentals, and you'll have an advantage over those who have not mastered these fundamentals. This doesn't mean you'll win, but a player with weaker fundamentals will have to essentially play at a higher level just to match you. For example, to use the floppy wrist example mentioned above, the timing needed for such shots is much higher than for more orthodox technique, and so that player will always be handicapped by this. But this is often offset by the inherent "weirdness" of the shot, since you aren't used to it. How do you overcome this?

The keys are depth and consistency. Against any type of weird shot, if you keep the ball deep on the table, you'll have more time to react to the less orthodox shots coming back at you. Given time, your better technique should beat the weaker technique, unless the other player is simply better. Given the time needed, your more orthodox shots should be more consistent at any given pace than the less orthodox version.

It's not always this simple. For example, depth may give you more time to react to the opponent's shot, but it also gives him time to attack, especially by looping. So against a looping opponent with unorthodox technique, you might start by going short, or perhaps long to a spot where he can't loop (often deep to wide backhand), or simply find ways to attack first (deep on the table), and then turn it into a more even battle of good versus "bad" technique. Or against a non-inverted surface, where it's the surface that's "weird," not the technique, you would need to understand the properties of that surface so you can play against it properly - but again, depth will give you more time to react to it.

There has always been an age-old battle of standard versus non-standard technique. Sometimes the non-standard technique becomes standard, such as reverse penhold backhand, the banana flip and other backhand flips (often done against balls that are short to the forehand, once considered a no-no), or even looping itself (which was a "weird" shot until it became more common in the 1960s). And sometimes a player with "good" technique has something different to throw at opponents, such as the grip change to a very forehand grip Timo Boll often does when looping to get an extreme and "weird" inside-out forehand loop.

But good technique (i.e. sound fundamentals) almost always wins out against the less sound ones, so you should master these fundamentals. It's often after players have mastered these fundamentals that they experiment with other ways, and sometimes find something to do that is "different."  (Here's a related article I wrote on this, "Develop the Fundamentals: Strokes and Footwork.") 

Before we start, here are two videos to watch. Here's a video (1:18) of a Ma Lin of China (shirtless) demonstrating his "ghost serve," where his high-toss serves almost slam backwards into the net due to the extreme backspin. Note how open his racket is. He's not only contacting the bottom of the ball, he's contacting it slightly toward the front with an extremely open racket, with the front slightly higher than the back, and essentially scooping the ball up. (More on this below.) Here's another video (1:21) that shows more clearly how to do this ghost serve, with a lower toss (and so the contact is more under the ball rather than slightly in front). How are these two able to create so much backspin?

First, you must learn to graze the ball very finely. This takes practice, and is where most players are lacking. Too often they let the ball sink into the sponge, and so much of their racket speed turns into ball speed. Instead, you should graze the ball so finely that you struggle to get the ball over the net. A key here is that contact should be on the bottom of the ball, with your racket roughly parallel to the floor. If you contact it toward the back, as most players do, then you'll likely sink the ball too much into the sponge.

Second, you must have racket speed. This comes from the arm and wrist (though with some serves, such as a pendulum serve, you use your body as well to get the arm going), with the wrist most important. The arm should drive toward the ball, with a vigorous wrist movement right as you contact the ball. As the racket approaches the ball, you should snap the arm and wrist as if snapping a whip.

Third, you can get extra backspin with a higher toss. This is because the ball is coming down faster, and you can convert that speed into spin. To do so you must contact the ball not only on the bottom, but even a little bit toward the front of the ball, with the front of the racket slightly higher than the back. This scooping motion seems unnatural to players at first, and makes it tricky to keep the ball low unless you graze the ball very finely, with a contact point very low to the table. The higher toss comes at a price - you lose some control - so you should first perfect your serves with a lower toss (head-high or so) before going for higher tosses. Many or most world-class players prefer a lower toss with slightly less spin because of the increase in control as well as being able to do more deceptive motions in the increased time as the ball goes by.

Fourth, the grippier your racket surface, the more backspin you will get.

A truly heavy backspin serve that stays low and short is extremely difficult to attack, and so you'll get lots of passive returns (pushes) that you can attack. Players are not used to so much backspin and so often put it in the net. Combine with other spins (including no-spins), and you will create havoc with your opponents. 

The high-toss serve used to be one of the most popular serves at high-level table tennis, and pretty common at the intermediate level as well. There are still plenty of players who use it, but it is not as common as before. Why is this? First, you should understand what the serve is, and its advantages and disadvantages.

A high-toss serve is just that - a serve where you toss the ball high into the air, often ten to fifteen feet up. They are the most spectacular of serves. They are also the hardest to control. If you want to learn a high-toss serve, watch how the top players do it, and practice a LOT. Here's a video on the high-toss serve (2:22), featuring Japanese star Jun Mizutani.

Most players below the advanced levels can't really control a high-toss serve, and so the serve tends to be easy to attack once you get used to it. But because the serve is "different" many players have trouble with them, even if they aren't done very well. Most high-toss serves are done with a forehand pendulum serve. (For a righty, this means the racket is tip-down, and moves from right to left. For a reverse pendulum serve, the racket would move left to right.)

Advantages of a High Toss Serve

1. A higher toss means the ball is traveling faster at contact, which allows you to put more spin on the ball.
2. The higher toss throws off the timing of opponents.

Disadvantages

1. Less control of depth, making it more difficult to serve short.
2. Less control of height, leading to higher serves that are easier to attack.
3. Reverse pendulum serves are difficult to do with a high toss.  
4. Faster-moving ball makes it harder to do as much deceptive motion as the ball passes by at contact.

From the advantages, you see that you can get more spin on the ball. This is especially effective when going for an extremely heavy backspin serve, which opponents will often put in the net since they aren't used to such heavy backspin - but only if you perfect the serve. It's not easy learning to throw the ball up way in the air and just graze it as it comes down! But if you learn to do so, the serve can be highly effective - especially if you also learn to vary the spin, with varying degrees of backspin, sidespin, and corkscrewspin, as well as no-spin serves that look like backspin. (Not sure what corkscrewspin is, or have other questions on spin? See my article "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Spin - But Were Afraid to Ask.")

However, as you can see there are also disadvantages, and they outnumber the advantages 4-2. This doesn't mean you shouldn't high-toss; it means you have a bit more practice to do. With practice, you can negate the first three disadvantages as you learn to control the depth and height, and perhaps learn to do a reverse pendulum serve with a high toss. (Some players simply use a lower toss for the reverse pendulum serve, and with a high toss only do normal pendulum serves. Not sure what a reverse pendulum serve is? Here's a short article on it, which includes a link to a short video which shows both a regular and reverse pendulum serve.)

The key problem with a high-toss serve is the speed at which the ball falls at contact, which is both the strength and weakness of the serve. While it does allow more spin, the faster-moving ball means you have less time for deceptive motion as the ball goes by, as well as a loss of control. Most players find they get more deception and control with a shorter toss, which is why most serves toss the ball perhaps head high. However, the high-toss serve is still a great weapon to have, either as a front-line serve used over and over, or as a variation to throw an opponent off, which is how I use it. Many players will toss the ball head high over and over, and then, perhaps several times a game, using the same motion, they'll suddenly go for a high-toss, which often leads to a completely befuddled opponent who simply isn't ready for the extra spin (especially backspin) of a properly executed high-toss serve.

Another advantage of the high-toss serve is that since fewer players are using it than before, players are less used to it, and so have more trouble with them. So if you are looking for an extra weapon for your serving arsenal, get high with the high-toss serve.

Do you do the Six P's? Proper Practice Progression Prevents Poor Play. (Or, as I sometimes put it, "...Pathetic Play.") I've actually heard this as the Five P's, but I've added "Progression." Proper practice progression means starting with the basics and working your way up to more advanced technique for all aspects of your game. It also means practicing these shots in context, i.e. game situations. Think of it this way, using the forehand as an example.

• Step One is develop the forehand, usually with help from a coach or by watching top players, and then by hitting forehand to forehand with someone, or doing multiball with a coach.
• Step Two is learning to move and hit the forehand, so you do footwork drills, such as 1-1 footwork, where your partner puts the ball alternately to your wide forehand and the middle of the table, and you move side to side hitting all forehands. You can also do this alternating hitting forehands from the middle and backhand side of the table.
• Step Three is learning to hit random forehands. Now your partner puts the ball randomly all over your forehand (or backhand) court, and you have to hit all forehands.
• Step Four is learning to play forehands in a game situation. For example, you serve topspin to your partner's forehand, he strokes it back to your forehand, and you smash or hit the forehand aggressively. Or serve into your partner's backhand, and play your forehand down the line from your forehand side to his backhand. Or the same thing, but your forehand from your backhand side to your partner's backhand side.
• Step Five is learning to do the shot at a higher level. For example, you serve topspin to your partner's backhand, he returns to your backhand, and you forehand smash. Or, if you can loop backspin, you can do a drill where you serve backspin, your partner pushes, you loop, your partner blocks, and you smash the forehand. (At the more advanced levels, you might loop both the backspin and the block.)

You can do similar practice to develop any stroke as well as footwork. (You should develop strokes and footwork together.) You can also use this principle for developing serves, starting with simple spins, then heavy spins, then heavy and varied spins, then heavy and varied spins with the same motion, then heavy and varied spins from the same motion to all parts of the table, both in direction and depth, and low to the net. When the serve is ready, you practice it with a partner, where you play out the point (or play games), and learn to connect your serve with follow-up attacks. Do enough of this type of practice, and you will Prevent Poor Play. 

How does one play an opponent with a big backhand? There are several versions of this type of player. Some have big backhand smashes and seem to be able to smash anything from that side. Others don't hit quite so hard but keep coming at you with it. Others have big backhand loops. In each case you are faced with an opponent whose backhand is stronger than yours, and is a constant threat to win the point. You have several options, and you can (and should) use more than one of them.

1) Depth

Compared to the forehand, the backhand is often a cramped shot because the body is in the way. And so the enemy of the backhand is depth. If you keep the ball deep on the table, few players can attack that ball as strongly as they can off a short ball. This is the most common reason for an opponent with a big backhand - balls that aren't going deep, thereby giving the opponent opportunities for big backhands. (Note that depth is the first item listed, but keeping the ball low isn't even listed as one of your options. That's because it's assumed that you are trying to keep the ball low. The exception - deep, arcing loops with heavy topspin are effective against most big backhands despite being high.) 

2) Play the Forehand

The most obvious thing is to simply play the forehand side. The problem here is that even with a big backhand player, the forehand might be pretty powerful as well. So figure out early what shots the opponent has trouble with on the forehand, and play those shots there. Often the forehand side isn't as quick as the backhand, and so quick, angle shots there are effective.

3) Play the Forehand, Come Back to the Backhand

Many players have strong backhands when they are in position. So draw them out of their backhand pocket by going to the forehand first, and then coming back to the backhand. (Ironically, this is also an excellent way to play a player with a big forehand - draw them out to their forehand side, then make them play backhands.) 

4) Attack First

If you have good serve and receive, you can most often get the first attack. There's nothing like a good first attack (again, deep on the table) for stopping any type of attack by the opponent.

5) Attack the Middle

Make the opponent move side to side to hit those backhands by playing both wide to the backhand and to the middle. (The middle is the mid-point between forehand and backhand, roughly where the playing elbow is.) This forces the opponent not only to move, but to decide between forehand and backhand. Players with big backhands often favor the backhand even on shots that go somewhat out to the forehand side, and so their "middle" might be toward their forehand side. Find that spot and go for it. The more table the opponent tries to cover with the backhand, the more you can make him move.

6) Consistency

As long as you keep the ball deep on the table, and perhaps move it around some (wide backhand, middle, wide forehand), a consistent backhand can often beat a more powerful one. Don't try to be quicker or more powerful than the opponent with a big backhand; out-steady him while keeping the ball deep and making him move.

7) Changing Spins

Few players have powerful backhands against both backspin and topspin. Find the spin they have the most trouble with, and place it deep on the table. Or go back and forth between deep, spinny loops and deep, heavy pushes to force him to adjust to both.

And finally, there's an eighth option.

8) Develop your own big backhand