At the higher levels, pushing short is an important to stop an opponent from looping. (A short push is a push that, given the chance, would bounce twice on an opponent's side of the table.) It is especially useful when returning short serves to stop the server's attack. (You should learn all three returns to a short serve: short push, long push, flip.) However, until a player reaches a 2000 level or so, it is often a low-percentage shot, since it is so easy to make a mistake and pop the ball up or go into the net. But here's the problem: if you wait until you are approaching a 2000 level before developing the shot, you will be years behind your competition in developing your short push. So, if you have aspirations to reach 2000 and beyond, start developing your short push now, even if it means losing a few practice matches. (How to push short: Take the ball quick off the bounce, and with a light touch and a grazing motion both to create backspin and so the ball doesn't bounce off the paddle fast, push it as low as possible over the net. Open the racket more against heavy backspin, close it and chop down more against light backspin or no-spin, or even light topspins.)

The easiest and simplest way of beating a player is to "lock him up." This basically means forcing him to do what he doesn't want to do. A classic case would be to force an opponent with a weaker backhand to go backhand to backhand with you. Another example would be take away an opponent's strong loop and force him to instead block by getting in the first loop each rally. How do you "lock someone up"? By basing your tactics toward this goal. You've got to figure out what your opponent doesn't want to do, and how you can make him do that using your own weapons - serve, receive, and strokes. Too often players think only about what they want to do, and forget about forcing their opponents to do what they don't want to do.

A tall player's forehand and backhand shots are farther apart than a short player's. So he is usually weaker in the middle area, where he has to decide whether to hit a forehand or backhand. So against a tall player, play aggressively toward his elbow, which is roughly the midpoint between his forehand and backhand. When he's off the table, usually aim slightly toward the backhand; when he's close to the table, usually aim slightly toward the forehand.

A short player's forehand and backhand shots are closer together, and so he may have less trouble in the middle. But he has more trouble covering the corners. So play aggressive shots to wide angles, as well as the middle. (Even against a shorter opponent, going to the middle not only causes problems for him, but forces him to go out of position, leaving at least one corner open.) Sometimes go side to side, other times to play two or more times in a row to one wide angle. Why? Your opponent has to move to cover a wide angle; after making the shot, he moves back to ready position – but if you rush him, you catch him while he's still moving back into position, in the wrong direction.

The opening lines to my book, Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers, is, "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."

But how do you find these simple tactics that work? Simple - by watching the opponent before you play; asking others who have played or watched him play; and by experimenting during the match. Generally, you want to find perhaps two or three tactics that work very well, typically one on serving, one on receiving, and one in rallies. Maybe you can even handle four!

I'm going to use my own game as an example of how to go about finding a few simple tactics that work. (Keep in mind that I'm talking about my game back when I was in training!)

Any experienced player watching me play would note that receive was a strength, especially against short serves, where I can flip or push short well, along with occasional long pushes. But if you tried serving long too much to avoid my receive against short serves, I'd attack it pretty well. In fact, on paper, I was good against nearly all serves! However - and here's the BIG however - I was not against lots of variation. And so a good coach might tell his player, "Throw all your serves against him, even your weaker ones, keep varying them and he'll never get comfortable."

On my serve, the first thing anyone would notice is that I essentially follow every serve up with a forehand attack. So why make it easy for me? Make me move by receiving at wide angles. Since I'm trying to cover the whole table with my forehand on that first shot, I often jump the gun if I think I see where the receive is going - so if you aim one way but change directions at the last second, I often get caught. If you receive to my backhand, I get to step around and forehand attack, and I'm in position to follow with a second forehand. But if you receive to my wide forehand, I get one forehand and then you can come back to my backhand. Also, I'm a rhythm player - I'm better against a good predictable receive than a weaker but less predictable one. In other words, you may make a good flip or a good push and I may still attack it with my forehand, but if you vary the two, even with lower-level flips and pushes, I lose that rhythm. And so a good coach would tell his player, "Constantly vary your receive, make sure your long receives go to wide angles, often to the forehand, and try faking one way, and going the other."

In rallies, those watching would note that I'm stronger on the forehand side, but that my backhand is super consistent, and I have no trouble dealing with strong attacks on either side. If you try to overpower me backhand-to-backhand, I'm probably going to win unless you have a really nice backhand smash. However, I don't have much of a backhand attack, and don't backhand attack down the line very well. And so if you attack my wide backhand and middle, you'll get a lot of consistent but relatively soft returns that you can put away with your forehand, assuming your forehand is your better put-away shot. Or you can go to my forehand to draw me out of position (pick that shot carefully since I'm going to attack it!), then go back to my backhand and get an even weaker backhand return to attack. And so a good coach would tell his player, "Attack his middle and wide backhand, and look to end the point with your forehand. Look for chances to go to his wide forehand and then back to his backhand."

So here's what the coach might say to his player before he plays me, either before the match (if he knows my game) or between games:

"Throw all your serves against him, even your weaker ones, keep varying them and he'll never get comfortable. Constantly vary your receive, make sure your long receives go to wide angles, often to the forehand, and try faking one way, and going the other. In rallies, attack his middle and wide backhand, and look to end the point with your forehand. Look for chances to go to his wide forehand and then back to his backhand."

I timed it, and speaking slowly, that took me 25 seconds to say. And yet, many experienced coaches might say that's too much to remember, perhaps one thing too many and too complex. It all depends on the player. So here's a simpler, slightly shorter version that probably would work better, and took me 17 seconds to say:

"Throw every serve you have at him, and he'll never get comfortable. Throw every receive you have at him, but make sure to go to wide angles, often to the forehand, and maybe fake one way, go the other. In rallies, attack his middle and backhand, or go to his forehand and back to his backhand, and look for chances to end the point with your forehand."

But if you ever do play me, ask me how to play me and I'll fill your head with fifty different things to do, and you'll be so confused I'll eat you alive!

Returning serves is all about ball control. In a rally, the incoming shot is usually more predictable than a serve, which has a much wider range of variation – topspin, sidespin, backspin, at all speeds, amounts of spin, directions, and depths. To control your return of serve, shorten your stroke. This cuts down on power, but the shorter swing gives you more control. Unless the server messes up and pops the serve up or goes long in a way that you can easily loop, receive is all about control - placement, depth, height, spin, and variation. This doesn't mean you can't be aggressive and attack the serve, only that you should focus on consistent attacks (unless it's a weak serve). If you take away his serve advantage by getting into a neutral rally, you are on track to win.