Controlling a match means forcing the rallies to go the way you want them to. In general, that means hitters hit, loopers loop, blockers block, and so on. How to you go about doing this?

There are two basic ways of controlling a match. One is to develop a style where you can force your strengths on your opponent. The other way is to develop an all-around style that adjusts to your opponent so that you can play on his weaknesses. In both cases it is your serve and receive that will often allow you to take control.

• Forcing Your Strengths on an Opponent

First you must develop or identify your strengths. Once that is developed, you need to develop your game, especially your serve and receive game, so as to put these strengths into play. All options have advantages and disadvantages.

For example, if you serve short backspin, it'll often be pushed long, allowing a looper to loop, and allowing a hitter to loop to set up his hitting. But it might also be pushed short, or pushed quick and aggressively off the bounce at a wide angle, or flipped, and any of these three might give the receiver control of the point. So you might vary this by serving short sidespin or no-spin serves that look like backspin, and watch the receiver struggle against the varying spin (or no-spin).

If you serve long (either fast or a breaking sidespin), you might get a soft topspin return that you can loop or hit. But it risks letting the opponent loop, which can put a looper or hitter on the defensive and the receiver in control. But this might set up a quick blocker.

Better still, use both types of serves, and by varying them, completely dominate the poor receiver, who can never adjust to your constantly varying serves.

How do you force your strengths on the opponent when he's serving? See the previous examples, but from the receiver's point of view. Take control of the point against short serves by dropping them short, pushing aggressively, and flipping. Against deep serves, attack. Use placement and variation to take control of the point.

• Playing on Your Opponent’s Weaknesses

The other option is to develop an all-around style where you can adjust to the opponent's weaknesses. For example, if the opponent isn't very fast, you might adopt a blocking game, and quick-block side to side. Use your serve and receive to force these types of rallies, perhaps with deep serves that force topspin returns you can quick-block.

Or if the opponent has trouble blocking against slow, spinny loops, serve short and get ready to loop any long push returns. If the opponent doesn't have a good put-away shot, then you might combine a steady game with sudden attacks, knowing you can take your time and pick your shots since the opponent isn't a threat to end the point. If your opponent has a strong forehand but weaker backhand, you might simply play everything wide to his backhand. If he's the type that plays his forehand from the backhand side, then perhaps go to the forehand first (perhaps with a short serve, an aggressive receive, or a quick block), then come back to the backhand and pin him down there.

There's also a psychology to controlling a match. You have certain tools in your tactical toolbox, i.e. your entire arsenal of shots (serves, receives, strokes, footwork). Think of your racket as your magic wand, and use it to completely dominate an opponent with these tools, and have the confidence to do so. If you don't have the tools to do this, then it's time to think about your game and what new tools you need, and develop them. 

Short pips dominated the 1960s and much of the 1970s. (They are often called pips-out, which can be confusing as long pips is also pips-out, though conventionally speaking pips-out means short pips.) But by the 1990s inverted was pretty much dominating. The last great short pips player was probably Liu Guoliang, the 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist for Men's Singles and the 1999 World Men's Singles Champion. But as two-winged loopers became more and more powerful while playing closer to the table, and with the ball going from 38mm to 40mm in 2000 (which slowed the game down some, a disadvantage for most short pips players) the day of the short pips player pretty much died – there are very few left at the elite levels. At the club level, the style is also dying out as the huge majority players use inverted.

But one of the ironies of this is that since there are fewer short-pips players, inverted players often no longer know how to play them. And so the time is ripe for short pips players to dominate again – at least at the intermediate level, where players not only don't know how to play them, but don't yet have the powerful and consistent looping games of the elite.

I had great difficulty my first few years against short-pips players, but I played against several of them regularly - and then they became one of the easiest surfaces for me to play against. Since I'm used to playing them and know how to do so, I'd rather play a short pips player now than an inverted one any day - you've got a gun and he's using a bow and arrow. (But beware - some of these short pips players are still deadly with their bow and arrow!) 

So how do you play a short-pips player? This is sort of like asking how to play an inverted player; there are many styles of short pips players. But here are some general tips that will work against nearly all short pips players.

1. Keep the ball deep on the table. This both makes things difficult for the short pips player, but also gives you more time to react to a ball that you aren't as used to. Against a deep ball he can't rush you, nor can he create heavy spin.
2. Don't take on a short pips player in a battle of quickness. Find your comfort zone, as close to the table as you are comfortable and consistent. When in trouble (especially if rushed), back up and spin the ball deep on the table. 
3. Remember that than their blocks and hits are deader than you expect since you are used to playing inverted, so if you don't adjust by aiming your loops and drives slightly higher, you'll go into the net. Because the ball is dead, you'll have to use a bit more force to generate the same amount of topspin. (An incoming topspin ball rebounds out with topspin, while you can convert the spin of an incoming backspin ball into topspin. You can't do either with a dead ball.) One problem you'll have to overcome is many short pips players will rush you, and so you have less time to stroke, and yet you may need a longer stroke to generate topspin if you are looping. Or just go with a bit less spin, but control the ball deep on the table. 
4. If you keep looping into the net, don't think of the short pips block as a block; think of it as a very quick push without that much spin.
5. Surprisingly, many players have the opposite problem when looping against a short-pips blocker - they loop off the end. This is because they are rushed, and when rushed, most players lift over-react and lift too much. Perhaps more importantly, they back off the table expecting the ball to jump out to them (as an inverted ball would), and so by the time the ball gets to them, it's dropping, and so the looper has to adjust and lift a ball that's dropping - and they often over-react by over-lifting, and go off the end.
6. Remember that their serves and pushes have less spin than you are used to. The real problem here is that if you are used to playing inverted players, your instinctive reaction is off, as you'll reflexively expect more spin. The only cure is to play against them, and learn to adjust.
7. Most important, play against short pips players every chance you can, and you'll become comfortable against them and soon realize why short pips has almost died out at the higher levels. They are easy to play against once you are used to playing them. They cannot put as much spin on the ball, so short pips serves, pushes, and loops (which they can do against backspin) are less spinny, which is a weakness when you get used to it. They don't have as much topspin to pull the ball down, and so have difficulty against deep and spinny topspins and backspin. Because short pips doesn't rebound the ball out as easily as inverted, short pips players have to stroke the ball more when blocking and hitting, and so they are weaker when they have to move, especially in covering the middle, so attack there every chance. Ultimately, a good looper can turn most short pips players into blockers, and in the modern game, winning by blocking is more and more difficult than by looping. (But there are still some very good blockers out there.) 

One of the best ways to improve is through multiball training, and one of the best drills you can do there (besides an intense stroke workout) are random drills. When you play a match, you don't know where your opponent is going to put the ball, so you have to be ready to cover the whole table.

A beginner or anyone working to develop their strokes should mostly do rote drills, where the player knows where the ball is going each time so they can focus on the stroke itself. At the advanced levels they still do rote drills, but mostly to tune the strokes and develop faster and faster footwork. As players develop, and especially at higher levels, players do more and more random drills. This allows them to develop the nearly instant reactions to incoming shots that they will face in a match.

You could, of course, just play matches, which is the ultimate random drill. But while that's important, you also want to focus on specific shots to react to. For example, if you want to react to whether a fast incoming ball goes to your forehand or backhand, you can get limited practice with this in a game, with perhaps two or three shots per rally, and then go pick up the ball. Or you could have a coach feed continuous multiball, and you get maybe twenty times the practice on this in the same amount of time.

A problem with random drills is that you can't really do them very well live (i.e. with a practice partner) until both players are relatively advanced. And so players generally don't do them until they are somewhat proficient - and then they practically have to start from scratch doing random drills that they should have been doing early on. Once you can hit a decent forehand or backhand you should be doing some sort of random drills as well. Few do so.

So get a coach or a practice partner you can take turns with, and do random multiball drills. At first have them feed the ball randomly to two spots - middle forehand and middle backhand. Make sure your first move is the right one; you have more time than you think, so don't rush. When you are comfortable at doing this at rally speeds, then go random the whole table. Learn to cover all five spots - wide forehand, middle forehand, middle, middle backhand, and wide backhand.

Let me emphasize - the key is that the first move must be the right move. No moving to the forehand and then changing when you see the ball going to the backhand, or vice versa.

Once you can do this proficiently in multiball, you should practice it live. Ideally you would at first do this with a coach or top player, who can control the ball well and keep the rallies going. But in most cases you'll need to do this with a practice partner who is more your own level. For this drill, you would play all of your shots to the same spot, either to your practice partner's backhand or forehand. As with multiball, start by having your partner hit randomly to just two spots (middle forehand or middle backhand), where you have to react properly to both shots and consistently drive the ball back to the pre-arranged spot. When you are proficient in this, then have your partner place the ball all over, in particular to the middle, which is often the hardest spot to cover. (Here's a Tip of the Week, "Covering the Middle.")

When you are proficient at this drill in all its variations, and at speeds that approach match speeds, you will be able to do the same in a match, and your rallying ability and overall level will shoot up.

Here's a short video (26 seconds) of Soo Yeon Lee doing random multiball. She's hitting; depending on your level and playing style, you can do this hitting or looping.

Many players spend lots of time systematically practicing their strokes and footwork. Each week they'll put in many hours practicing their forehand and backhand loops, drives, blocks, and all the other strokes in their repertoire. They'll practice their footwork. The smart and ambitious ones will even practice their serves, which often gives the most return on investment.

And yet most rely on matches to practice their serves. This doesn't make sense. If you can use matches as your primary way to develop a technique, then that would be the primary way players would develop all their shots. But any coach or experienced player will tell you that you need to develop these shots with systematic training. You do need match play or drills that simulate match play, but that's in addition to the systematic training needed to develop the shot itself.

So why do players rely on matches to develop their receive? My theory has always been that most players don't want to let rivals practice against their serves. Two players will gladly practice together, letting the opponent get used to all their shots, except for their serves. It's seems almost rude to ask a player to let you practice against their serves, since it seems as if you are practicing just to beat that player. And, unfortunately, there's some truth to this. 

But it's also a huge handicap to players who cannot get past this idea of practicing receive only in matches. It's a two-way thing, but you have to find someone with varied serves who can serve to you over and over to develop your receive. Ideally, get a coach or top player, even if you have to pay them. Or find a peer, and both agree to let the other practice against their serves. Try to find someone who has a variety of serves.

And then practice against them. Practice attacking deep serves, usually with loops. Practice pushing short serves back long or short, and flipping them. Practice reading the varied spins. Practice against sidespins going in both directions, and against both topspin and backspin serves. Practice against every type of serve you might see in a match. 

By doing this systematic training, your receive will improve dramatically. Since most of your peers won't be doing this type of training, you will soon leave them behind. And you'll rarely have to utter those infamous words heard so often, "I could have beaten him if I could return his serve." 

It's hard to be great at something. Often it's said it takes about 10,000 hours to become truly great at something - and that's not just putting in the hours, that's working hard. (The "10,000 hour rule" is mentioned repeatedly in some books and article, such as "Outliers." It's not a strict rule, just a rough guideline) While we can debate on just how long it really takes to be truly great, and find all sorts of exceptions in both directions, it is a good approximation of what it takes, whether it's in sports, arts, academics, or most other fields.

The problem is that 10,000 hours takes 10,000 hours. Most people have jobs or school, and other obligations such as family, etc., and can't devote their lives to this. Suppose you do three times a week for two hours. Then it's going to take 33 years to get to 10,000 hours! The problem in table tennis is by that time you'll probably be past your physical peak. More importantly, if you take 33 years to get to those 10,000 hours, most of those 10,000 hours are wasted as you forget much of the early training, i.e. 10,000 hours over 33 years isn't the same as 10,000 hours in ten years (i.e. about 20 hours/week). It needs to be a bit more condensed.

What does this mean for you, the average player who can't put in 20 hours a week for a decade? It means you probably aren't going to be world champion, or even seriously challenge the players who compete to be world champion. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but someone has to tell you the truth.

But guess what? Anyone can become very good at something, and it doesn't take anywhere close to 10,000 hours in ten years. Pick out the aspects of table tennis where you can be good, and develop your game around that. It may take 10,000 hours to develop a truly world-class game, but it doesn't take that long to develop a very good serve, or a very good loop against backspin, a very good block, or any other specific aspect of your game. They key is to develop it properly, watching how the top players do it, perhaps working with a coach, and focus on developing it until it is very good. You can probably do that in 100 hours. (My serves are considered very good by most standards. I developed them mostly be practicing them 20 minutes a day, five days a week, for about a year. That's a little over 80 hours total.)

Here's the double pay-off. If you develop one aspect of your game, other parts will follow. If you develop a very good serve, then you get lots of follow-up shots, and so you develop a very good attack. If you develop a very good loop against backspin, you'll get a lot of blocked returns, and you'll develop a very good follow-up to your opening loop. If you develop a very good block, you'll develop ways to win points that way, either with put-away shots after you've blocked your opponent out of position and forced a weak shot, or numerous other ways - more aggressive blocks, change-of pace blocks, pure steadiness, etc. And so on. (The three examples I give here are ones I myself went through.)

And here's the triple pay-off. When parts of your game become very good, your overall level will tend to go up, and you'll end up playing better players - and they'll force you to raise your level to an even higher standard. So becoming very good at one shot often improves other aspects of your game, and brings up your whole level. One key here is to understand the whole process. Developing one shot doesn't mean it ends with just developing that shot - the end is to both developing that shot and the other techniques that go with that shot, i.e. setting it up and following it up.

So what are you waiting for? If a "pro" has to put in 10,000 hours, can you do 1% of that, and put in 100 hours to develop one aspect until it's very good, knowing the double and triple pay-offs that will follow? Go to it.