When coaching or rooting for a player, why does is sometimes seem like every opponent has nasty serves that your player struggles to return, while your player just serves to keep the ball in play? It’s even worse if you are the player with simple serves, while the opponent is throwing all sorts of nastiness at you. It puts you at a huge disadvantage.

Yes, it’s easy to learn a simple serve that players your level can’t easily attack. But the lesson you should learn is that if opponents can develop really good serves, so can you. Yes, YOU! It’s just a matter of learning how to do them (the easy part) and practicing them a lot (the hard part).

Many good serves look seemingly simple, and yet are not. For example, some players specialize in backspin and no-spin serves, where they go back and forth. The serve itself seems simple, right? But what makes it effective is their ability to hide which of the two it is. They serve with heavy spin while seemingly not putting that much effort into it (they snap their wrists into it vigorously with a fine grazing motion), and to serve with a big, spinny motion that actually has little spin (by contacting the ball near the handle, where the racket isn’t moving very fast). When you watch world-class players using seemingly simple serves, it’s anything but that.

Next time you face someone whose serves give you trouble, why not ask them how they do their serves? Most players would be flattered by this. Learn how it’s done, then practice until you can do it yourself. One interesting side benefit that was pointed out to me by five-times US Men’s Champions Dan Seemiller – when you learn how to do a serve, you also learn how to return it. I’ve found this to be true, both because I understand what the serve is doing, and because I see how opponents return it effectively.

When I see someone with good serves, I don’t think, “He only wins because of his serve,” as some do. I think, “This guy’s been practicing his serve! I better get to work so I can catch up or stay ahead!”

Players often learn from close matches, knowing that with just a little more, a close loss becomes a win, and a close win becomes a somewhat easier win. And this is good. However, many players don't learn from blowout matches - but they should.

You can learn from either end of a blowout match. If you won in a blowout, assuming the opponent was at least somewhat near your level, then that means you did something really well. What was it? Because whatever it was is something you can build on to the point that you can use it against stronger players.

If you are on the wrong side of a blowout match, regardless of the opponent's level you should learn from it. What did he do that dominated?

• Did he have a serve you couldn't return consistently or effectively? Then find someone to do that serve to you so you can practice against it. Perhaps learn to do it yourself, so you'll both have that serve as a weapon, but will also better understand the serve and so better know how to return it.
• Did he return your serves in a way that took away your game? Then figure if you need to develop better serves or a better follow-up of those serves (or both), and develop that aspect of your game.
• Did he win the rallies easily? Then figure out what you need to do so you can rally more effectively. (Note that often the one who wins the rallies isn't necessarily the better rallier but simply gets the initiative at the start, and so dominates from the start of the rally.)
• Did he hit winners seemingly at will? Then figure out why you are giving him so many shots to put away and fix the problem, while also figuring out how you can add what he did to your own game.

So, next time you win or lose a blowout, think about what happened and learn from it. That's a big part of your tuition to becoming a stronger player.

Good contact with the ball is key to making a good shot. There’s even a stereotype that all Chinese coaches do in training sessions is walk around watching the player’s feet and listening to the sound of the contact. (There’s some truth to this – I’m not Chinese but sometimes this is what I do when coaching.) You should learn to listen to your own contact, and try to repeat both the sound and the feel. That, along with good positioning and stroking technique, is how you get consistency.

With any topspin contact, you stroke upward at least some. (More up against backspin, less against topspin.) The direction of the stroke, the angle of the contact, and how much you sink the ball into the sponge all affect the shot.  

I divide topspin contact into roughly five types, as follows. The first four would be considered loops. How many of these do you do?

1. Barely grazing. This is for slow, spinny loops, especially against backspin, where you barely graze the ball, creating tremendous topspin. Contact is mostly with the rubber, and only slightly into the sponge. This is mostly done against heavy backspin, with a mostly upward stroke. The focus here is huge amounts of topspin but little speed, with the ball making a huge arc. The sheer amount of spin gives opponents trouble. However, the problem with a slow loop is that if they go deep on the table (as they usually do), then you have to arc them relatively high to get the depth, and so opponents can attack them. If you loop them short, then the opponent can even more easily attack them, if he reacts immediately. However, by varying the depth, it can create havoc with opponents – and many players struggle against them in general.
2. Medium into sponge. This is for medium loops. They are usually the most consistent loops, with your power going equally into speed and spin. They are often used to keep an attack going. If well placed, they can be effective.
3. Deep into sponge. This is for stronger loops, where you are putting great pressure on the opponent and often winning the point outright.
4. Sponge and wood. Now you are sinking the ball deep into the sponge at an angle, but with enough power that it still goes into the wood. This is for kill loops. They aren’t supposed to come back. Because of the sheer speed on these shots, they should only be done against a weak ball, or (occasionally) against a more difficult ball where you are in perfect position and read the ball (especially its spin) perfectly.
5. Glancing blow. This is for smashes, regular counter-hits, and most blocks. For this, you hit the ball at an angle, but sink mostly straight through the sponge into the wood, with a slightly upward stroke, giving moderate topspin. This is also how you hit most attack shots with a hardbat or pips-out. When blocking, you can meet the ball almost straight on for a “deader” ball, but this would have little or no topspin.

Many players hold back on their trickiest serve until it’s close. This is usually a mistake. If you have such a tricky serve, you should use it early – probably with your first serve. (This is especially true for deep, spinny serves.) Here’s why.

1. You don’t really know if the serve will be effective against this player without trying it out – and by using it early, you’ll know whether you want to use it later in a close game.
2. If the serve is effective, by using it early you can come back to it sooner without overusing it and letting the opponent get used to it.
3. Perhaps most important, it forces the opponent to watch for that serve, thereby making all your other serves more effective. This is especially true of tricky deep spin serves. The receiver has to guard against them, making them a bit slower in reacting to other ones, especially shorter ones. You should generally develop your game around shorter serves that are harder to attack effectively and that set up your own attack, but if that’s all you do, the opponent will quickly get used to them.

However, there’s an exception to this. If you play someone regularly, then they may anticipate that you’ll start with that serve, and be more ready for it. But if you are playing a new player, why not throw your trickiest serve at them the first time you serve, and go from there?

These five tips won’t generally help you win, at least not directly. They won’t score points for you. But they will make certain non-playing aspects more efficient and more fun – and indirectly, may subconsciously intimidate an opponent when faced with these displays of “professionalism”!

1. Picking up ball with feet. If the ball hits the ground, the point is over, and someone has to pick it up. But if it’s bouncing more than a few inches, why lean down when, with a tap of your foot, you can bounce it up in the air and catch it? You’ve probably seen players do this. How do you learn to do it? By practicing! Drop a ball on the floor, wait until it’s bouncing somewhat low, and then tap it with the balls of your foot. With a little practice, you’ll be able to control it so it bounces right into your hands. Bonus – if the ball is lying on the floor stationary, you can also pick it up by putting both feet on each side, and lightly jumping. This lifts the ball up enough so that you can then tap it with your foot and into your hands.
2. Returning balls to other courts with backspin. Nothing screams “Amateur!” more than picking up a loose ball from another court and wildly smacking it back at them. “Pros” do it professionally – they backspin it with a simple chopping motion, as if serving forehand backspin. This makes the ball float relatively slowly and on a line right at the person you are hitting the ball to. The backspin also makes it travel much farther so you can return the ball even to someone way off in the distance, and they can catch it easily. How do you learn to do this? Practice a few times, and it becomes easy!
3. Measuring net with your racket. Is the net six inches? You could bring a net measurer or some other measuring device. (Dollar bills are exactly six inches.) But there’s a simpler way – the sponge on most rackets, from tip to handle, is usually exactly six inches. Measure yours to be sure. Then, at the start of any match, just hold the racket next to the next, tip down, and see if it’s the right height. If not, adjust it.
4. Backspin to hide the ball. Most matches start with one of the players hiding the ball under the table in one hand, with the opponent trying to choose which hand the ball is in. But why not do this with flair? If you are hiding the ball, put the ball on the table, put your index finger on the top near side of the ball, and press down, spinning the ball away from you with backspin. With a little practice, you can make it so the spurts out, then returns because of the backspin. Let it pass the endline, catch it in both hands, and then spread your hands under table with the ball in one hand. An impressive way to start a match!
5. Dress like a pro. If you dress like one, your opponent will subconsciously think more highly of you, and that might subconsciously intimidate him. Better still, if you dress like a pro, you’ll subconsciously feel like a pro, and so are more likely to play like one!