Part of how you serve to these types of receivers comes down to your own playing style. But if you want to be an advanced player, then you need to learn to follow up your serve with an attack. That’s relatively easy against a passive receiver – except that those players are generally better at handling your attack. It’s harder to serve and attack against someone who is aggressive against your serve – but they will make more mistakes. So, what should you do?

Against a passive receiver who will usually push, you can serve mostly long, which gives you more time to react to the receiver’s return. If you can get away with deep backspin serves that they push back, and you have a good loop against backspin, then you can do that over and over – though remember to mix up your serves, varying your spin so that you’ll get some misses or pop-ups. Throw in no-spin serves where you fake backspin, and watch them pop them up. You can also serve deep breaking serves to a passive receiver, and follow up against a likely soft return, whether it’s soft topspin or backspin. While you don’t need to serve short, some passive receivers have trouble with short serves to the forehand, so you might try that. Some also have trouble with a simple short no-spin serve, which they may push back high. Test them out and see what works.

Against an aggressive receiver who mostly attacks your serve, you mostly serve short or half-long. This keeps them from looping your serve. They may still loop the half-long serve, but because the table is in the way, they’ll often topspin weakly. (Half-long means the second bounce, given the chance, is right around the table edge.) Of course, some players attack short balls but have trouble attacking some deep serves – if so, then figure out which deep ones give them trouble and give it to them! Pips-out players often are in this category. If they are going to attack your serve no matter what, then your goal is to force them to pay for this by forcing them into mistakes. Focus on serving very low, with lots of spin and variation. Find out which serves they attack more easily. (For example, in my heyday I was very good at attacking short backspin, but surprisingly, had more trouble with short no-spin.) You may also find serves that they cannot attack, and so you’ll be able to serve and attack with that serve. If they lean over the table to attack short serves, serve long; if they hang back to attack the deep serve, then serve shorter.

But always remember that you need to serve in a way that fits your style. If you like to get into fast, counter-hitting rallies, then you’ll likely welcome an aggressive receiver, who will make mistakes attacking your serve, all for the privilege of getting into the very rallies you want to get into. If you like to serve and attack, then you’ll likely welcome a passive receiver, who will give you a steady diet of returns you can attack.

But remember – this works both ways. Whatever the receiver does to you, you can do it right back when he’s serving! That’s why the game is so tactical as your tactics are based on both your game and your opponents. It’s a game of yin and yang – or more specifically, of ping and pong!

Between players of roughly equal levels, matches are almost always won or lost on one of two things: sports psychology and tactics. Why?

• How well you play is mostly set by your mentality. There's no magic secret about this; if you played great in the past, then unless you are injured or out of practice, the only thing keeping you from playing the same is your mental state. When you play a great match, remember your mentality in the match. If you repeat that, the rest falls into place.
• How well you take advantage of your playing level in the match is set by your tactics. If you use your shots to their maximum tactical value, you'll maximize your chances of winning. Don't get over-complicated; to use one of my favorite sayings, "Tactics isn't about finding complex strategies to defeat an opponent. Tactics is about sifting through all the zillions of possible tactics and finding a few simple ones that work."

So, while most players prepare physically for a match, it's the mental aspect that's more important - both the mentality and the tactical thinking.

This is a simple tip. Do you think you have a better chance of winning if your opponent is confident or frustrated? You actually have some control over this. It's simple, and it's all about how you react when you miss shots or fall behind. Showing frustration is a good way to give your opponent confidence, and a confident player plays better. Showing confidence is a good way to give your opponent frustration, and a frustrated player plays worse. Remember this at all times. Also note that frustration leads to more poor play and more frustration, spiraling downward. Confidence leads to better play and more confidence, spiraling upward. So, next time you feel frustrated in a match, turn the tables by telling yourself you can do it, and with practice, you'll feel confident at all times, even when you are – temporarily – playing poorly, knowing that you will get over it and will start to play well again. Remember, in any competitive match, the game is more mental than physical! (Plus, never forget that Frustration is just an anagram of Furor Taints!)

"I'm too slow!" That's the cry of many players who play a forehand from the backhand corner, and then can't recover in time to cover their wide forehand. I've written about this before - focusing on the importance of balance and following through back into position so you can cover that wide forehand - but there's another aspect that greatly helps.

When you get a weak ball to the backhand, it's often easier to attack it with the forehand, if you are able to step around. But often a player hesitates in going all the way around that backhand corner, and so only steps around part of the way. The fear is that if they go too far around, they won't have time to get back. But it's actually the opposite. If you don't go all the way, you'll end up leaning to your left (for a righty) to make the shot, and end up off balance and unable to recover quickly enough. On the other hand, if you go way, way around, you may seem way, way out of position - but now you'll be balanced and able to naturally follow through back to the table after you make your shot, and end up much more in position than if you hadn't stepped all the way around. Plus, since you’ll be balanced, your shot will be more consistent and more powerful.

So, if you are going to step around to play a forehand, GO ALL THE WAY!

You should always be learning in table tennis, or in any serious activity. I’m always amazed at how often players miss opportunities to learn from others, or limit their learning by only learning from a few. Here are three types of players you can learn from, both as a player and a coach.

• Students of the Game. Some players are just this – they spend a lifetime learning about all or most aspects of the game. The more you talk with them, the more you’ll learn. Ask questions. Pick their minds. Even if you are an experienced veteran, it’s unlikely you know every aspect of the game better than they do. Ask them about their matches, and you might get a torrent of info that you might learn and improve from.
• Crafty Veterans. They are long-time players who might not really be students of the game, but they know their games very, very well, and know how they win. Why not learn how they win, and adapt some of that for yourself? For example, I knew a veteran player with a big forehand loop and a super-heavy forehand push. Normally he loops with the forehand, but sometimes he will suddenly and tactically change to his super-heavy forehand push, catching opponents off guard – and gets an easier ball to attack on the next shot. Plus, this makes him unpredictable, and opponents often get nervous against him.
• Hedgehogs. What is a hedgehog in this context? It’s a concept often in business to describe one who does perhaps one thing really, Really, REALLY well, and does it over and Over and OVER, thereby building up big profits. Others can’t compete with this single-minded focus. (This is a simplified version of the concept.) In table tennis, this would be the player who is not a student of the game, and not really a crafty veteran, but has learned to do one or two things really well, and just wins over and over on this. Perhaps the player just pushes and blocks. Or just goes backhand-to-backhand with everyone. Their game may be simple, but they probably know that part of the game inside-out – and likely better than you. Why not learn from them, and perhaps adapt what they do well as part of your game? Or, at the least, learn how to play against it, since if one players does something well, others will as well.