I’ve coached many choppers during a match, and coached even more matches against them. I've also chopped a lot myself, in practice and in tournaments. Chopping is one of the most “tactical” of styles for the simple reason that you need to score most points by finding a way to make the opponent miss. Overall, I’ve found that there are three key things a chopper should focus on during a match.

1. Get everything back. It sounds simple, but this is the mindset a chopper must have.
2. Never give an easy shot. No cheap or easy points for them - make them work hard for every single point. Again, this is the mindset a chopper must have.
3. Once you are in a rhythm and comfortable against their attack, that’s when you start really mixing things up. Vary your spin, placement, contact point, and perhaps look for balls to attack. The mindset here is that you can force your opponent to miss with subtle changes in your game (plus the sudden attacks that win points or throw them off).

One could write a book on how choppers win points, but these three aspects are the first three to focus on – especially the first two. But it’s hard for a chopper to win if he can’t master and have the right mindset for all three of these. Proper mindset is important for all styles, but even more so for choppers – it might be the most important thing of all for them, and a defining trait for all good ones.

Now, let’s switch sides. Suppose you’re playing a chopper who rarely misses and rarely gives you an easy ball? (We’ll focus on those two since there are a zillion variations for #3.) What can you do?

A chopper (except when he attacks or gets lucky) can’t score unless you make a mistake. So . . . don’t. Sure, that’s easier to say than to execute, but the key thing is that, just as a good chopper has a mindset of never missing and never giving an easy shot, you have to have a mindset where you won’t miss. That likely means changing from your normal game. An aggressive loop that might be high percentage against most players becomes a low percentage shot against a chopper since you have to do it over and Over and OVER. So, you have to change your mindset and focus on more consistent attacks and pushes until you get the right shot. Then, when you get that shot, take it! You have to be able to go from the mindset of playing consistent to the mindset of ending the point with decisive shots – which means you have to go back and forth between the two mindsets. The changing mindset, and knowing when to do so, is why many players have trouble with choppers.

But guess what? With experience, it becomes much easier, and you learn how strongly you can attack with consistency, and when it’s time to take the winning shot – and that becomes your mindset.

So, whether you’re a chopper or playing a chopper, just remember - it’s all about the mindset.

"I had trouble with his serve" is likely the most common reason given for losing a competitive match. There's a good reason for this - receive is the only time when the opponent can throw just about any spin at you, along with varied serving motions, placements, depths, and speeds. I know when I don't play for a time, returning serves is the most difficult thing to get back.

So, when you go into a match, when the opponent is serving, your first priority should be to get used to his serves. At the start, that usually means focusing on pure control. Just get it back at first, playing it mostly safe but with good placement, without worrying too much about being aggressive. If the opponent has tricky serves, then you may have to play much of the match that way.

It's only when you feel comfortable against the opponent's serves that you should begin to up your receive game. If you are playing someone you are used to, it might be from the very start. If the opponent has very good serves and perhaps not an overwhelming attack, you might play safe the entire time. But once you do get used to an opponent's serves, then it's time to consider turning your receive into a weapon where you use it to control the point, whether it be by playing aggressive with loops and flips, or controlling play by varying short and long pushes.

But only after you are comfortable with the opponent's serve! If that never happens, then you need to find someone with good serves like the ones that gave you trouble, and practice against them.

The stronger the player, the more predictable their attacking shots tend to be. Why? Because that’s what makes them consistent. They may be able to make a dozen strong loops in a row, but they often all come out about the same.

So, guess what? All you have to do is make one good block. Just one. Then remember the feel and contact of that one. And repeat. This is true of most shots, but even more true for blocking.

Two tips here. First, keep the racket low when blocking  or you’ll tend to loft the ball off. Second, the sound of your block should be the same each time. But that sound should also match the “feel” of the shot – if you get one, you get the other.

Once you’ve made that one good block, often all you have to do the rest of the way is that same block, over and over. The main adjustment is moving to the ball, i.e., footwork, especially side to side. (You also have to move or reach in for shorter loops.) If your opponent is making lots of strong loops, you can’t get to all of them. But once you make that one good block, then you should be able to block most of them.  

We’ve all had those matches where the opponent was just quicker, and we felt rushed in every rally. So, what can you do in such a match? Here are some tips.

1. Observe opponent’s stroke so you can see as early as possible where his shot is going.
2. Shorten your strokes.
3. Take half a step back. That’s not so far that you’ve given up the table, but it gives you that extra split second needed to react.
4. Cover the middle with the backhand.
5. Play more backhand if you are at the table, more forehand if you are off the table.
6. Put the ball in the middle of the table to cut off extreme angles.
7. Keep the ball deep.
8. Slow play down with soft, deep topspins (depth is again key).
9. Play more backspin.
10. Serve and receive long.
11. Use opponent’s own speed against him by simply rebounding his shots back with your racket – be a backboard.  

Stand up and walk across the room. Now look down at your knees and feet. They point forward, right? That’s how the human body evolved for walking. Alas, this doesn’t work for table tennis. If you stand with your knees and feet pointing forward, you’ll struggle to rotate the body properly on both forehand and backhand shots. This is especially true on forehand shots, where the body rotates more to the side. (It’s also true on backhand loops, especially at higher levels.)

Instead, point both the feet and knees slightly out to the side. This gives a much more natural swing. Not doing this is one of the biggest problems for new players – fortunately, most coaches (not all) correct it quickly.

But the forehand isn’t a static shot, and neither are your feet and knees. The knees especially rotate with your forehand shots. Watch how top players do this. The best way of looking at it is that the whole body needs to move together. But to do so, you need to make sure the feet and knees start out properly. And the rest will likely come naturally.