Many think that, at the end of a close game, they should change their tactics because of the score. I remember one player assuring me that, "When it's close, everyone knows you should play safe." When I asked him why that would be the right tactic, he said, "If you play safe, you won't mess up." I pointed out that if that were true, it would be true regardless of the score. He argued back that when it's close, you'll make more mistakes, so it's best to play safe. I asked him whether, under pressure, a player would be more nervous going for a consistent attack - where he is in control of what he's doing - or having to react to the opponent's attack, where he's not in control, and so is facing the unknown. He didn't have an answer for that, and didn't seem to get the idea that if you play safe, the opponent gets to play aggressive, and in the modern game of table tennis, the aggressor usually wins - and even more so under pressure!

So what should you do differently when it is close? Say the score is deuce in the fifth. There are only two things that change here.

First is psychological. If you are nervous, then you are likely to make more mistakes than usual. That sort of plays into the myth of "Play safe when it's close," except it doesn't take into account that: 1) the opponent might be even more nervous; 2) a nervous player likely makes more mistakes reacting to an opponent's shot (i.e. his attack) then attacking himself; and 3) the best way to overcome nervousness when it's close is to play your game, whether attacking or not, and so get used to playing under pressure. So in general, when it's close, it's best to take the initiative, using whatever part of your game you do best - and that usually means playing aggressively. (The attacker is taking the "risk" of taking the first shot, where if he misses the opponent doesn't even have to react to his shot, but this is usually more than offset by the factors given above. The exception, of course, is for a defensive player, who might want to focus on his defense and let the other guy make a mistake.)

Second is tactical, as in "No hold back." It's time now to use whatever worked before. If you have a serve that's worked well throughout the match, which you've been holding back on some so the opponent won't get used to it, now is the time to bring it out. Some players hesitate to do so, thinking the opponent will be expecting it, and that's occasionally true. However, the great majority of the time he won't be sure, and if he had trouble before, he'll probably have trouble again. If you don't use it, the likely scenario is that, after the match, he'll wonder why you didn't use that serve at the end, and if you lose, you'll be kicking yourself over not using it - and rightfully so. If a certain serve, stroke, or placement gave the opponent trouble, now's the time to use it! In general, with experience you get a feel for what tactics to bring back at the end of a close game.

Ultimately, the best tactic at the end of a close game is more long-term strategic - play lots of matches so you are often playing close games, maybe even play improvised games where you start each game at deuce. Then you will become comfortable and experienced in what to do in a close game, and the tactics will come naturally.

1. If you can't do it in your sleep, you can't do it consistently in a match.
2. Practice everything in your game, but focus on your strengths and weaknesses. Remove the weaknesses and turn the strengths into overpowering ones.
3. At the higher levels, if you can see it, loop it; if you can't see it, either reflex block or back up so you have time to loop it.
4. Most players block better on the backhand. So focus on attacking the forehand and middle.
5. If you push quick, heavy, low, wide, and deep, and can hide or change directions at the last second, and you do all of these things pretty well, you have a great push. If you do most of these things great but aren't good at one or two of them, you have a weak push.
6. There are only three things in table tennis: move to the ball, get the right racket angle, and stroke. Do these well and you're the best in the world.
7. If you improve your game, and start challenging better players, for about six months you will lose most close games in big matches to them because the other guy has more experience at that level. Keep at it and you'll start winning those close games.
8. If players spent as much time practicing serves as they did complaining about having trouble with the other guy's serve, then the other guy would be the one complaining about having trouble with your serve.
9. After every match ask yourself what you did to win and lose points. Then practice to do more of one and less of the other.
10. There is no such thing as a weird style, just weak styles that you aren't used to.

One of the toughest things to make a habit of in a match is attacking the middle. (That's the midpoint between backhand and forehand, roughly the playing elbow.) There are two primary reasons for this. First, it's a smaller and moving target than the corners, which are easier to attack.

But there's a bigger reason - players don't practice attacking the middle. How often have you practiced your forehand or backhand, going crosscourt or down the line? When you play a match, guess what? You will tend to do what you did in practice, and so you'll go crosscourt or down the line. If you want to learn to attack the middle in a match, then you have to practice it.

So instead of always doing corner-to-corner drills, have your partner block from where his middle would be, with either his forehand or his backhand. Develop the habit of going to that spot by practicing going to that spot.

You should also do other drills where you attack the middle, such as serve and loop to the middle. But it starts with repetitive drills where you make it a habit to attack the middle, so that when you play a match . . . it'll be a habit to attack the middle.

Here's a video (3:56) of all-time great Ma Long looping forehand, including slow motion. (It starts with one backhand loop - which you should also study! - and then goes to forehands.)

Note in the video how he basically rotates his body around an imaginary vertical rod going through the top of his head, with his head only moving slightly forward, and how he contacts the ball almost directly to the side of his body? Many players violate one of these principles, either moving the body forward too much as they do the shot, or (even more common) contacting the ball too far in front.

There are times when you should move the body more forward on a shot, such as against an easy high ball or when you are rushed in stepping around the backhand corner, but normally you should go more in a circle. This both gives you great centripetal force as you rotate around, but also leaves you in position for the next shot, balanced and ready, which is how top players can play power shots over and over in quick succession.

But as noted above, the more common problem is that players tend to contact the ball too far in front. This either keeps them from rotating backwards fully (and so losing power), or forces them to reach for the ball (thereby dissipating power and putting you off balance).

Also note how the legs (and especially the knees) are used to rotate into the shot. The legs aren't just for standing; they are the primary start to every shot, and give you the pivot into your shots.

Here's a 13-second video of Japanese sensation Tomokazu Harimoto as a kid, knocking balls off a table. (He's now world #5, and the best in the world outside China, circa March 2020.) Note the same principle - he rotates in a circle and contacts the ball directly to the side of that imaginary rod going through his head. You can see the same principles in this 46-second video of 3-time World Men's Singles Champion Wang Liqin (2001, 2005, 2007), demonstrating "The shot that owned a decade."

It is important to drill the fundamentals into your game until you can do them in your sleep. But often players forget to practice specifically what they do in a match. For example, I know a player who likes to counterloop with his forehand. He spends a lot of time practicing counterlooping with counterlooping practice partners. But in matches he has trouble counterlooping against an opponent's first loop off underspin, which is usually done closer to the table than other loops, has a different arc, and usually more topspin.

A simple drill to practice against this would be to have a practice partner serve backspin, the player pushes it back, the partner loops, and the player counterloops. The partner doesn't play out the point; as soon as he finishes his loop, he reaches for a ball from a box. (It's an improvised version of multiball.) This matches what a player faces in a match, as opposed to just counterlooping, and it gives far more practice on this specific skill in a given time than just playing out points. Plus, your partner gets lots of practice looping against backspin!

So work on your fundamentals, but also look at what you actually do in a match - or need to do - and find drills that match that specifically, and perfect the skill.