Next time you are at the table tennis club or at a tournament, watch some matches from the side, so you are looking directly along the net. Watch how low the serves cross the net. Do this at multiple tables for players of various levels. You may be surprised at what you see! Most top players will serve relatively low to the net - but there may be some variation there. At the lower levels, the serves cross the net consistently higher.

The importance of serving low is often way underestimated. Higher serves are, of course, easier to attack, but the more interesting contrast is between a sorta low serve (often attacked) and a very low, almost net-skimming serve (very hard to attack). But serves that aren't low to the net aren't just easier to attack; they are also easier to push aggressively.

Some top players have seemingly simple serves, often mostly serving backspin or no-spin serves. But what makes them effective is they are served very low to the net, so the receiver can't make an effective or consistent attack. And so the server knows he'll likely get a passive return to attack. Others may have trickier serves, but because they aren't net-skimmers, they are easier to attack - and the server can't rely on getting a ball to attack as often. Here is a Tip that might help, Serving Low.

Serving is considered the "trick" part of table tennis, and this is where you can be most artistic. While you don't want to rely too much on trick serves to win, having a few tricky ones really helps - both in scoring a few "free" points and making your other serves more effective since they have to guard against those "trick" ones. (If overused, receivers get used to these "trick" serves and often find them easier to attack then simpler serves, such as short, low ones that set up a third-ball attack.) "Tricky" serves are often long and spinny, but may also be fast and dead, which opponents often put in the net.

If you don't have a few tricky serves to throw at an opponent, and the opponent does, guess who is at a disadvantage?

However, most serves should be "third-ball" serves that are difficult for opponents to attack and set up your own game, usually some sort of attack. (Most should be short, and yet long enough so that the second bounce would be just inside the end-line. At lower levels, you can serve long much more.) But even third-ball serves can and should be tricky. Try varying the swing and especially the follow-through right after contact. If you are serving backspin, follow through with an exaggerated upward swing; if you are serving topspin or sidespin, follow through with an exaggerated downward swing. Use quick motions to make it tricky for the receiver to pick up the racket direction at contact. If you serve no-spin, use a big, exaggerated motion and maybe even grunt on contact.

Don't serve just to put the ball in play; the serve should put pressure on the opponent, set up your shots, and win you some free points!

Long ago, I used to coach developing players to return serves aggressively. But then I noticed something - players who did that often never learned to handle the opponent's attack as well, while those who were more willing to push serves back long as they developed became comfortable when the opponent attacked, whether blocking or counter-attacking. And if you watch the top players, you realize that while they are mostly better on the attack, they are all comfortable whether attacking or reacting to the opponent's attack. At all levels, the difference is not just who attacks better, but who reacts to the opponent's attacks better.

At higher levels, players often flip or push serves back short, using long pushes as a variation. But that only comes after years of developing control by pushing long and by handling the opponent's attacks. If you aren't comfortable when the opponent attacks, then instead of avoiding it, develop that part of your game - push serves back long, let the opponent attack first until you are comfortable dealing with their attacks. (The reverse is also true - if you are comfortable pushing and blocking, but not with attacking, then that's what you should be working on.) Once you are comfortable with an opponent attacking, then perhaps focus more on taking the attack, perhaps by flipping or pushing short.

The conclusion here is that you need to develop a solid, all-around game if you want to reach your potential. This doesn't mean 50% attack, 50% defense; it means being comfortable whether attacking or reacting to the opponent's attack in some way. (Usually that means defending, such as blocking, but it also means counter-attacking, such as counterlooping.) When you have such a solid, all-around game, then you will have no major weaknesses – and your level will shoot up.

When serving, many players contact the ball on their racket in the same location each time. Many aren't actually aware of what part of the racket the contact is on. They are dramatically limiting their serves by not understanding how varying the location of contact can vary the spin. Here are some basics.

1. For maximum spin, contact the ball toward the tip. That's the fastest moving part of the racket as you put your wrist into the serve. (This assumes your elbow or wrist are the axis of rotation. This changes in #3 below.)
2. Using the same motion, contact the ball at the base of the paddle, near the handle. This allows you to use the same big spin serve motion and get little or no spin. This is especially effective for backspin and no-spin combinations - if you contact near the tip with a downward motion (under the ball), it's backspin, while contact near the handle is no-spin. Opponents will often read the no-spin as backspin and pop it up. After a few no-spin serves, they adjust – and then they read the backspin as no-spin and put it in the net.
3. For most serves, your elbow is the axis of rotation at the start of the serve. As you are about to contact the ball, the wrist becomes the axis of rotation. Just before contact, you can also rotate the racket so that the axis of rotation is toward the middle of the racket. This means you get opposite spins depending on which side of the racket you contact the ball on. This allows you to use the same motion and serve either backspin or sidespin/topspin. For example, with a forehand pendulum serve, you can serve so that, at contact, the tip is moving down (giving a backspin), but the area near the handle is moving up (giving a topspin or sidespin). It takes practice - have a coach or top player help you with this.

One of the best ways of winning a point is to force an opponent out of position. There are many ways of doing this. (Many start with serve.) Here are some of the best! (Note that "middle" means the transition point between forehand and backhand, roughly the playing elbow.)

1. Attack middle, then wide to corners. If the opponent covers the middle with his forehand, then he leaves his wide forehand open, and vice versa if he covers the middle with his backhand. In both cases, some players over-react in an attempt to cover the open corner, in which case it's the other wide corner that's left open.
2. Short to forehand, long to wide backhand, or short to backhand, long to wide forehand. This brings the player over the table, allowing you to jam them on the other wide corner. This is especially effective when going short to the forehand, long to wide backhand, but both can work.
3. Go to a wide corner twice in a row, taking the second one quicker and wider. After a player covers a wide corner, he often moves back quickly so that he can cover the other corner - leaving the just vacated corner open. (This especially works when attacking the forehand twice in a row.)
4. Short to middle, wide to corners. This forces the opponent to decide whether to return forehand or backhand. If he returns with the forehand, he leaves the wide forehand corner open, and vice versa if he returns with the backhand.
5. Aim one way, go the other way. This is one of the most under-used tactics. Most players react to your first motion in a direction, and if you then change and go the other way, you catch them going the wrong way.