What can a player do if he is having trouble reading the spin on the opponent's serve? At the lower levels, this usually means the opponent's serving motion is too quick for the player to pick up contact. At the higher levels, it's often because the opponent is hiding his serve, a serious problem since many umpires do not enforce the serving rules and allow players to illegally hide contact, making it difficult to read the spin on the ball. However, the techniques for returning these hidden serves are essentially the same for those at lower levels who struggle to read the spin off any serve. So what can you do when you have trouble reading the spin, whether against a good server or against an illegally hidden one?

Before hidden serves became illegal, players at higher levels learned to read the spin from watching the ball itself, and how it moved through the air and bounced on the table. But since it became illegal to hide contact, this became almost a lost art. And yet it's something players need to learn or they'll have great difficulty in many matches. Here are ten tips on how to do so.

1. Don't do too much. Accept that if you can't read the spin off the serve quickly as the ball leaves the opponent's racket, you are not going to consistently make strong returns. Instead, your goal is to make consistent controlled and well-placed returns. (Actually, that should be the primary goal even if you read the spin.)
2. Take the ball as late as you can. This gives you more time to react to the spin. Most often players do read the spin of a serve, even if it's hidden, they just don't read it quickly enough to react. The more time you have to read it, the better.
3. Assume the serve is topspin or sidespin until you see otherwise. Even if you don't read them immediately, backspin serves are much easier to adjust to at the last second than topspin and sidespin serves. Backspin serves are almost always slower and they slow down even more as they hit the table, and you can just push or softly loop or roll them back. Topspin and sidespin serves jump as they hit the table making it difficult to react at the last second, and if you push them, they shoot off the end or side of the table. So you should generally assume the serve has topspin or sidespin and aim low with a controlled forehand or backhand drive, or possibly by chopping. If it's backspin, you can make a last-second adjustment much more easily than against topspin or sidespin.
4. Return the ball softly but with placement and depth. Generally keep it wide and deep to the server's weaker side, usually the backhand. Make him move way over to this backhand side if he wants to use his forehand, and then you can block back to his open forehand side. Or go to the wide forehand to draw the opponent there, then block back to his open backhand side. Depth is extremely important; a soft return that goes deep can be effective. A soft return that lands in the middle of the table (depth-wise) will usually get hammered.
5. Read the spin by the way it moves through the air. A topspin ball drops quickly, a backspin serve floats, and a sidespin serve curves sideways. The differences are subtle but you should be able to pick up the differences.
6. Read the spin by the way it bounces on the table. A topspin ball jumps at you, a sidespin ball curves sideways, and a backspin ball slows down.
7. Read the spin from the label. This is tricky, and it's doubtful one can really read the spin this way if the ball is spinning rapidly. But some claim they can do so, even at higher levels. At lower levels, where there's less spin, you can pick it up. Also, this allows you to read no-spin serves, where you should be able to see the label.
8. Read the spin based on past serves. If you keep pushing serves that look like backspin but are actually topspin or sidespin and so they keep going off the end or side of the table, perhaps the next time you see that serve that looks like backspin you should accept that it's topspin or sidespin.
9. Treat topspin and sidespin almost the same. If you use a regular drive stroke, the spin won't take on your racket that much. As long as you give yourself some margin for error by not being too aggressive, you can treat them almost the same. Your return off a topspin serve might go a little deeper, and off a sidespin serve a little more sideways, but not as much as you'd think. When your returns go shooting off the end or side it's usually because you are pushing topspin or sidespin serves.
10. React to no-spin serves. A no-spin serve that looks spinny is usually more effective than a spinny serves that looks spinny. You can read them using the methods above, except that with no spin, there's no curving in the air or change in the bounce on the table, and you can see the label. Against a no-spin serve, you can use almost any stroke, but adjust to the lack of spin. Often players push these serves high since they are used to pushing against backspin, or they drive them into the net since they are used to driving against topspin. 

One of the best ways to learn tactics is to coach others during matches. It's a different vantage point that forces you to really open your mind to tactics going on in a match where you aren't playing, both tactics that are being used and ones that are not. It's especially helpful when coaching players near your own level, but you can learn a surprising amount even coaching much lower-level players. And if you happen to be coaching a stronger player, well, there's a lot you can learn there if you are striving to reach that level. Here are two ways you can learn by coaching others:

First, when you just watch others play, you aren't forced to really analyze what's going on. Sure, in theory you can, but do you really? Most just watch the rallies. However, if you are coaching one of the players and are going to coach them between games, you suddenly have strong incentive to watch closely and analyze what's really going on. And from this, you can learn from both the player you are coaching and his opponent. You may be surprised at how much is going on out there, both intentionally by smart players, and stuff the players at the table don't see but that you do, now that you are paying attention - and you can learn from this. What you learn by coaching a player not only helps that player, but helps you as well.

Second, it's easy for a player to get stuck in his own little tactical fishbowl, doing the same things over and Over and OVER, never realizing there's a lot more he could be doing. There are literally zillions of tactics out there, and while you aren't going to use most of them, you should be ready to use many, depending on your opponent. You need to be out there seeing what others are doing so you can pick up on some of these tactics. You won't do this by just doing the same tactics you are used to over and over; you have to get out of your fishbowl and see what others are doing.

A corollary to this is that if you are stuck in this tactical fishbowl (often without realizing it), others on the outside can see what you are doing, and a good coach or experienced player might be able to help. So it works both ways - you can learn by coaching, but you can also learn by someone else coaching you - and if the latter, he learns by coaching you! Call it the "Circle of Coaching."

One of the quickest ways to tell the difference between a world-class player and a typical club player is to compare how far their feet are apart. Top players almost always have wider stances than average players. Just go to youtube and watch videos of the best players and the difference becomes obvious. The wider stance can be tricky to learn, and if you have knee problems, weak legs, or are overweight, it may not work for you. But for most players, the wider stance is a big advantage.

First, it allows you to keep your balance when moving and when making powerful shots. Table tennis is all about balance; if you are even slightly off balance it affects both your shot and (often more importantly) your recovery for the next shot. When you go for a big forehand, the wider stance keeps you balanced and stable.

Second, it increases your power. The wider stance allows you to put more weight into the shot since there’s a longer transfer period as weight goes from the back leg to the front leg. (This is especially true for forehand shots, but is also true for most backhand loops.) With a more narrow stance, you can only transfer the weight a short distance, and so you get less power. It’s like comparing a baseball pitcher with a long windup to one who tries to flick the ball with a short backswing – the longer windup will give more power.

Third, it allows you to move more quickly. This is both because your center of gravity is lower, allowing a quicker start, and because the wider stance gives more leverage.

The downside is it takes time to learn, and is also more tiring. But the payoff is worth it. So give it a try. It’ll seem different at first, and perhaps not comfortable. You might experiment by exaggerating it sometimes so that a more normal wide stance will seem more natural.

So consider widening your stance, and watch the improvement in your balance, power, and quickness.

This could be a very short Tip, since the mentality in a match and in practice should be the same. So here's the short version: think of a time when you played GREAT. It could be in a tournament or a practice match, or even a practice session. The key is that you played great, and want to play like that all the time. Now think about your mentality when you were playing great, i.e. were "in the zone." You were probably playing almost mindlessly, other than tactical thinking. In fact, you probably were more like a spectator just watching yourself react mindlessly and almost flawlessly. THAT is the mentality you want both when you practice and when you play a match.

So how do you do it? Many think that they only need to reach this state of being in the zone when they are playing serious matches. But that's like saying you only need to have a good forehand in serious matches, and so can goof off when practicing and in less serious matches. Just as you need to develop your forehand in practice and in practice matches, you need to develop this ability to get into the zone by practicing it - and that means doing so whenever you play until it becomes second nature. It is only then that you'll be able to turn it on at will in big matches, because it will then, in fact, be second nature, and just like your other best techniques. Think of getting in the zone as no different than hitting a good forehand. Both are techniques that take practice, and if you want them to be ready in serious matches, you need to practice them . . . in practice.

How do you get into the zone? Basically you have to just let go and let your subconscious take control. When someone loops to you and you block, you don't consciously set the racket angle; your subconscious does this, as well as just about everything else you do when rallying. When you practice, you are basically training the subconscious to play, i.e. setting muscle memory so that it'll react properly in a match. It's not a static thing; if your opponent does something different that you haven't practiced against, your subconscious will learn and adjust. The key in all cases is to let it do so, since the subconscious is quicker and more accurate than anything you can do consciously. If your conscious interferes by trying to guide your shots, your game will deteriorate. Other than thinking tactics - which the subconscious will pick up on and follow - think of yourself as a spectator and just admire your play. Heck, I sometimes feel guilty when I'm playing well since I feel like I'm not really doing anything other than watching as that subconscious part of me takes control. (But remember - the conscious mind has its role as the tactical leader that the subconscious will follow if you allow it. And yet, even there the subconscious will end up doing most of your tactical work since it will learn to automatically do the right tactical thing. It's smarter than you think!)

Putting aside physical limitations, there's no reason why a player can't be at his best essentially all the time - it's all in the head. When players realize this, as most do after they've played many years, their game goes up dramatically. Do you want to wait many years or learn this now?

At the elite levels, deep sidespin and topspin serves mostly get looped, and are mostly used as occasional variations. But at lower levels they are often the bane of players who hit or loop them off the end over and over. Why do they do this? There are three main reasons.

First, they do not adjust to the amount of spin on the ball. A ball with topspin or sidespin is going to jump off your paddle faster than a ball that is not spinning, and you have to take that into account. If you don't, the ball will take off faster (and higher against a topspin) than expected, and so go off the end. So you must aim lower. (Note that while sidespin pulls the ball sideways, players who hit or loop the serve don't usually miss against these serves by going off the side since the spin takes less on their paddle when they attack the ball, and so it'll only go a few inches more to the side than expected.)

Second, they do not take into account that their contact point is usually closer to the table than in a rally. This is especially true for loopers. For example, against a block, a player may loop from several feet behind the table. But against a topspin or sidespin serve, the contact point is generally 1-3 feet closer to the table. This means that the far end of the table is 1-3 feet closer to you, and so you must aim lower or you will go off the end.

Third, they lift breaking sidespin serves off the end. This is especially true against ones that break away from the player. The reason is that they may hold his racket at the perfect height to return the serve - but then see the ball breaking away, and reach for it. When reaching, players generally lower their racket - and so they lift more, and go off the end. So make sure to keep your racket at the height you want to start the stroke - but even more important, learn to read the break of the serve so you don't have to make last-second lunges.

A solution to all three of these problems is to contact the ball more on top of the ball, especially when looping. There should be little lift.

How can you overcome these and other bad habits in returning these and other serves? PRACTICE!!! Instead of just practicing rally shots all the time, you and your partner should take turns serving to each other. You could play out the point, but it's even better to just get a bucket of balls and one player serves over and over while the other just receives. The server doesn't play the point out; as soon as he serves, he reaches for the next ball to serve. This gives you a lot more receive practice per time then playing out the point. Have the server give you the same serve over and over until you are comfortable with it, and then move on to another. When you are fairly comfortable against most of the serves you may face, then have the server vary them so you learn to adjust to each one. And remember - you don't have to kill or loop kill the serve. When returning serves, consistency, control, depth, and placement are king.