Players so often hear coaches tell them to attack the opponent's middle. (The middle is not the middle of the table; it's the midpoint between your forehand and backhand, where your playing elbow is.) But it is equally important to be able to cover the middle when the opponent goes there. How do you do that?

First, remember the "Middle Rule." In general, if the ball comes to your middle and you are rushed or close to the table, favor your backhand; if you have time or are not too close to the table, favor your forehand. You can vary this rule based on your own individual skills and playing style, but in general it's a pretty good rule to go by.

However, there is more you can do against those middle balls. Don't think of them as a problem; think of them as an opportunity. If you react properly and in time, you have several advantages.

If you are using your backhand close to the table, you can do a quick attack to both wide angles, as well as the opponent's middle. Often it's the perfect time to go quick to the opponent's forehand, drawing them out of position. If they see that coming, they may move to cover their forehand - in which case they may be open on the wide backhand.

If you are using your forehand, here's your chance to dominate the table. First, just like with the backhand, you now have an angle into both wide corners, as well as into the middle. Second, the shot will leave you in perfect forehand position for the next shot, so if you are strong on the forehand, you probably will get two forehands in a row.

Whether you use your forehand or backhand, you always have the option of going right back at the opponent's middle, and if your shot there is stronger than their shot to your middle, you should have the initiative.

So learn to cover your middle and turn this normal weakness into a strength. Practice this with random drills where your partner puts the ball to all parts of the table - both wide angles and your middle - and you practice making strong returns against them. Another good drill is to have your practice partner alternate hitting one randomly to one of the wide angles, then to your middle. You respond to the random wide angle shots with the appropriate shot, and then move to cover the middle shot with your forehand so that you learn how to dominate the table with the forehand from the middle. (You can also do both of these drills, and many others, multiball style.) Or make up your own drills to learn to cover the middle - there are many possibilities. Go to it. 

Where should the tip of your racket be when you hit a backhand drive? The answer has changed over the years. Historically, players could choose to keep the racket tip down (so that a line between the tip and the handle would parallel the ground), or with the tip pointed up to 45 degrees upward, or somewhere in between. At the higher levels, however, this has changed.

When the tip is more down, you get more pure power, as well as the potential for more topspin. It's almost like having a second forehand, as demonstrated by such past stars as Jorgen Persson and Jim Butler. However, it's generally not as quick, it's generally not as consistent unless you back up more, and it's harder to cover the middle.  

When the tip is more up, the shot becomes quicker and flatter, generally more consistent, and you cover the middle better, but you lose the potential for extra topspin. You can still hit the ball pretty hard, but it basically becomes an aggressive blocking backhand. A good example from the past would be 1971 World Men's Singles Champion Stellan Bengtsson, who hit his backhand with the tip somewhat up.

At the beginning level, it's probably easier to hit the backhand with the tip at least somewhat up. It's also easier for kids, since it's awkward hitting with the tip down until you are tall enough that your elbow hangs naturally well over the table. (Otherwise you have to lift the elbow up to do this.) At the intermediate level there's probably no major advantage to either way - both ways work, with the tip down players more powerful, the tip up players quicker.

At the higher levels, however, with modern souped-up sponges, the regular backhand has been mostly replaced by either the backhand loop or a very topspinny backhand. (The definitions aren't clear on this as the distinction between the two isn't as clear as it used to be.) To create topspin, you need to drop the tip down so you can accelerate it through the ball. And so nearly all top players play with the tip more down, creating extra topspin in their shots.

So which should you use? If you aspire to reach a high level, then unless you naturally play a quick-blocking style backhand, I'd recommend keeping the tip a bit more down, and develop it as a serious weapon, with both speed and topspin, perhaps as strong as your forehand. Some players attack with the tip down, but raise the tip some when blocking; experiment and see what works for you. If you do decide to develop your backhand into a topspinny shot that dominates like a forehand, look into using sponges that are designed for this. Trying to do a modern topspin shot with equipment designed for the game as it was played in the past is like racing in the Indianapolis 500 with a Model T. (For help with that, ask your dealer, or a coach or top player.) 

Good technique should feel right. If it doesn't, there's probably something wrong with it, and you should probably have a coach take a look at it. Good technique feels right because it is, almost by definition, the simplest and most efficient way of doing that particular stroke to maximize speed, spin, and/or control.

What this means is that once you have gotten the basics of a new technique, you don't have to go through a checklist to make sure you are doing it properly. (Let a coach do that.) A coach or top player can help identify when you have done a "good" stroke, the one whose feel you should remember and repeat. There might be one or two things you need to remember and focus on while developing the stroke, but mostly just remember the feel of a good stroke, and try to repeat it. Learn the specifics only so you can get the right feel back. Then just let the shot go.

Besides the stroke itself, you should remember the feel of the contact. This is how you maximize control, as well as spin and speed. A consistent contact, combined with a consistent stroke, leads to great control and consistency.

When something feels off, then all you have to do is remember the feel of the stroke and contact and it'll come back to you. Try to remember a particular practice session or match where the feel was just right, and regularly use that memory to get the proper feel back.

While you don't need a checklist for your technique, you should have a specific memory of a time when you were doing it just right, and remember the feel of it. Then all you have to do is replicate the feel of the shot, and you should be able to do it just right again. Do this every session, and watch your level improve. 

What is the proper ready position? It's the position that'll allow you to react most rapidly to the opponent's next shot. It's extremely important in a sport as fast as table tennis. And yet many players have very poor ready positions. They stand up too straight, their feet are too close together, their weight isn't on the balls of their feet, and their non-playing arm hangs loosely at their side like a dead snake.

You want your feet somewhat wide (at least shoulder width apart or more), at least slightly bent, and either parallel to the table or with the right foot (for right-handers) slightly back. The latter puts you in a slight forehand position, but many players actually play their backhands from that position. If you play a flatter, steadier backhand (i.e. blocking and countering), then you don't need to be in a backhand stance to play backhands. The more aggressive you play the backhand (hitting or looping) the more you'll need to be in a ready position that allows you to quickly move into a backhand stance, and so you would want the feet more parallel to the table. Experiment and find what's comfortable for you.

Some players stand in a very backhand stance and greatly favor their stronger backhands. This may work for them somewhat, but it further weakens their already weak forehands. They would probably do better to adopt a more neutral stance.

The racket should normally point at the opponent, or more specifically, where the opponent would hit the ball. This allows you to move to forehand or backhand equally well. Some players tend to hold their playing arm out to the side too much, and so are more ready for forehands than backhands. Try holding the racket more in front of you, even if it means bringing the playing elbow more out in front.

Some players, including me, prefer to hold the racket in a slight backhand position (so the backhand side is partially pointed toward the far side). Conventionally, the backhand is hit quicker off the bounce than the forehand. This means you have less time to hit the backhand. In many cases, this doesn't matter since the stroke is shorter. I find the backhand rushed and awkward when starting from a truly neutral position, while the forehand, where you have plenty of time to get the paddle into position as you turn sideways, is much easier. So years ago I adjusted my ready position so that the racket is in that slight backhand position. This gives you a head start on backhands, while I still have plenty of time to move the racket over for the forehand. I don't normally coach this, but I have advised some players who feel rushed on the backhand to experiment with this.

Weight should be equally distributed between your legs, with your weight centered and balanced, with weight toward the inside balls of your feet. The feet should point slightly outwards, allowing quick sideways movement. Lean slightly forward at the waist. The non-playing arm should be raised as a counter-balance to your playing arm, with the hand at least as high as the elbow.

Want to see examples of good ready positions? Google "table tennis ready position pictures," and dozens of great examples will come up. Pick what looks right for you.

You also want good playing shoes. (A good ready position with bad shoes is like running in dress shoes; not a good idea.) Ideally, get table tennis shoes, which are made for table tennis. They range from what are essentially socks with rubber soles (i.e. highly flexible but little support) to ones with great support. If you have foot problems, are overweight, or play mostly on cement, you probably need extra support. Don't use running shoes, which are designed for running forward, not quick side-to-side movements.

Here's an easy way to find a good ready position. Imagine you are covering someone in basketball. Notice how you automatically spread your legs and bend your knees? This lowering of your center of gravity puts you in the proper ready position, allowing you to move quickly either way. (The only catch - lower your arms, since you don't have to cover someone trying to shoot a basketball over your head!) You can use similar examples for a shortstop in baseball or a goalie in soccer. 

Serving low is one of the most underestimated skills in table tennis. The problem is that while some opponents will attack slightly high serves, more often it simply gives the opponent more leeway for their returns, making both controlled and aggressive serve returns much easier. Players at the beginning and intermediate levels often get away with slightly high serves for a time, especially if they have otherwise good serves (i.e. spinny or deceptive), but inevitably, at some point, they will lose winnable games because of these serves, often without realizing the problem. A low serve forces the opponent to hit up on the ball instead of driving the ball forward, making receives more difficult.

An exercise I sometimes recommend to players is to stand to the side of a match between a very strong player and a much weaker one and see the contrast. You may have to watch several match-ups as there are relatively strong players who don't serve super low just as there are weaker players whose serves almost skim the net. Watch the world-class players and see not only how low their serves cross the net, but how low the ball bounces on the far side.

So how do you keep your serve super low? Here are five tips. 

1. Contact the ball low to the table, ideally at about net height. The higher the contact point the higher the ball will tend to bounce. There are top players who contact the ball seemingly high but that's because they've developed such incredible touch that they can get away with stretching this. It's a lot easier to have a low contact point than to have incredible touch.
2. Barely graze the ball when serving, especially when serving short with spin. The more you graze the ball, the more energy goes into spin instead of speed, giving the ball a lower bounce. (You should graze the ball even on no-spin serves, since the key to a no-spin serve that looks like a spin serve is using a regular spin motion but contacting the ball near the slow-moving handle, so grazing the ball will not create much, if any, spin.)
3. Don't think of it as serving low. Think of it as a struggle to get the ball over the net. If you contact the ball very low and barely graze the ball, there should be little energy in the motion of the ball, and it should barely even reach the net, much less go over it. So instead of trying to lower your serve, think of having to raise your serve so that it barely goes over the net.
4. Note that the key is not just serving low to the net, but making the ball bounce low on the far side. Besides serving so the ball crosses the net low, you do this by having the ball bounce on your side as far from the net as possible. It's easier to serve short by having the first bounce on your side be relatively close to the net, and that's how it's usually taught. However, as you improve, move the first bounce farther from the net. If the ball bounces near the net, it has a higher upward angle to cross the net, and so bounces more downward on the other side, meaning much of its energy is going downward, which means it'll bounce up higher. However, if the first bounce is farther from the net, then it'll cross the net with a lower angle, and so bounces less downward on the other side, with more of its energy going forward instead of up, and so you get a lower bounce. The problem, of course, is that the farther from the net the first bounce is the harder it is to serve short (with the forward energy making it go deeper), so you have to practice and work on seeing how far away from the net you can make the first bounce and still keep it short. (Jan-Ove Waldner is often credited with being the one who discovered this connection between first bounce and the height of the bounce.)
5. Practice!!! When you can start half the rallies with a low, spinny serve, you have a tremendous advantage. If you want to have this tremendous advantage, you know what to do. Go to it.