One of the technique changes in the sport over the past few decades has been the gradual evolution of the back foot placement on the forehand from the standard position, with the right foot back (for a righty), to the feet often being parallel. This is not advisable for beginners, not until they have made the proper forehand rotation a habit. But as you learn to play faster and faster, and closer to the table, there's less time to move the foot back. This means some loss of power, but an increase in quickness – and that payoff is enough for most world-class players.

This only applies to shots taken near the table in a fast rally, where top players often take the ball at the top of the bounce or even on the rise. By keeping the feet parallel, they can execute these shots more quickly. (This is true for both hitting and looping, but these days loopers with tensor-like sponges dominate.) It's a riskier shot, taking good timing, but is often unreturnable, with the opponent often still recovering from the previous shot as yours whizzes past him.

There's an additional benefit. By keeping the feet parallel, you are forced to rotate backwards more at the hips and waist, which mostly makes up for loss of power from not having a foot back to push off from.

The question then is whether you should attempt this type of foot positioning on forehands. It depends on your level, quickness, fitness (in particular a supple waist), style of play, as well as your willingness to play riskier shots. Do you like living a little on the wild side, or playing it safe with the foot back?

Once you have reached an intermediate level, and can play forehands effectively, you can look to develop this shot. But it does take a supple waist to make up for that lack of the foot being back. If you train regularly and practice this shot properly, you'll develop that supple waist as well as the timing needed for the shot. It'll always be a somewhat risky shot, but the reward is both an often unreturnable shot, and the realization that you've just pulled off a genuine world-class shot. 

One of the best ways to dramatically improve your game is to develop serves that lead to developing other aspects of your game. The stronger serves and developing other aspects of your game lead to a higher level of play, meaning you get to play stronger opponents, which leads to further improvement. The stronger opponents force you to continue to develop the serves and other aspects of your game, leading to a snowballing effect that can, over time, dramatically improve your level of play.

I'm going to use my experience with this as an example. During my first few years I focused a lot on developing my serves. The result was I would get lots of relatively weak returns to attack. This developed both my attack and my footwork, which made me better both on my serve as well as in rallies. Because I became dominant on my serve and my attacks and footwork improved because of my serve, my overall level improved, and I began playing stronger players. Going up against better players pushed me to even higher levels. I was forced to improve my serve even more to keep them effective against stronger players. Since I had developed a strong serve and attack, as I played better players who received my serves better, I was forced to continue to improve my attack and footwork. The result? By developing my serves early on it snowballed my development. I was able to go from beginner to 1900 in about two and a half years, and 2100 in five. (With rating inflation, that's more like 2000 and 2200.)

So what does this mean for you? Develop strong serves that allow you to consistently serve and attack. Such serves don't have to give you easy pop-ups; it's sufficient that they consistently give you balls you can attack, while forcing a number of "free" points as opponents make mistakes (often from trying to receive so you can't attack). Develop both third-ball serves (that allow you to consistently serve and attack) and a few "trick" serves (that give you free points if not overused - most such serves become ineffective after a few usages). Learn to serve with great spin and deception (including no-spin serves that look spinny), both short and long, to all parts of the table, with different serving motions. If you aren't sure how to do these serves, talk to a coach or top player.

One of the best ways to play your best is to watch the top players. Their techniques and timing will rub off on you. Your subconscious, which really controls your play, will especially pick up on it. Choose a top player who has a similar game and strokes, and just imagine being that player as you watch. Focus on:

• their strokes;
• their consistency;
• how they move;
• how they serve to set up their shots;
• how they receive to stop the server from making a strong attack;
• how focused they are.

Just remember not to over-play. What looks like a big shot from a top player is often just an average shot for them. Focus on their techniques, tactics, mental strength, and consistency. 

Table tennis is a game of movement. You'll regularly see players fail to run down a shot, and then grumble to themselves, "Too slow!" But was he really too slow, or did he fail to recover from the previous shot?

Everyone is limited by their natural foot speed. However, players who grumble about being "too slow" often have it wrong – they aren't too slow, they simply get a slow start because of a poor recovery from the previous shot.

Here are some tips that'll allow you to recover and react more quickly to an opponent's shot, allowing you to move more quickly. Do these, and your slowness of feet will be gone with the wind – or, to paraphrase a famous quote, "As the Table Tennis Gods are your witness, you'll never be slow again!"

• Focus on balance. If you are even slightly off-balance from the previous shot you'll have a slow recovery as you recover that balance, and so will be slow to get to the next shot. This especially happens after players do exaggerated follow-throughs on forehand shots. Try to stay balanced throughout the stroke.
• Ready stance. If you don't smoothly and quickly move into a good ready stance after the previous shot, you won't be ready to react to the next shot. This means feet relatively wide, weight toward the inside balls of the feet, feet pointed slightly outward, knees slightly bent, racket held out in front and aimed at the opponent.
• Racket height. If you hold your racket too high after the previous shot or in your regular ready position, it'll take too long to bring it down for the next shot.
• Flex those knees. If you don't flex them at least slightly as the opponent is hitting his shot (i.e. a mini-bounce), you'll have to do so after he hits his shot before you can move, which slows you down. Learn to be light on your feet.
• Clear the mind and just react. If you try to anticipate an opponent's shot, then unless you get it exactly right every time you won't be physically or mentally ready for the next shot, which slows you down. It's better to just watch the opponent and react as soon as he's committed to a shot and direction. Learn to work with your subconscious. 

Raise your hand if you tend to reach for the ball when blocking. Don't be shy – raising your hand is like reaching for the ball, so you should be good at it!

The problem with reaching for the ball is that it means you'll have multiple blocking strokes, rather than two good ones (backhand and forehand). This doesn't mean you can't ever reach when needed, but that should be a last resort. Stepping to the ball allows you to use the same consistent blocking stroke over and over, leading to a consistent block. So let's kick this habit once and for all so you'll never reach for the ball when blocking or find yourself raising your hand while reading a coaching article.

What causes the Blocking Reachies? Several things.

1. You have no choice but to reach if your feet are anchored to the ground. So be light on your feet. Weight should be toward the front inside part of the feet. Bounce slightly between shots to better prepare yourself for the next shot. Even slow, out-of-shape players with bad knees can do this; it's just a habit to develop.
2. If you wait to see if you have to move, you're wasting time. Expect to move; it's just a matter of what direction and how far. So imagine you are on the starting blocks, and take off as soon as you see where the ball is going.
3. Moving is a habit. Players who think they aren't fast enough to move are mistaking a bad habit for slowness. The instant you see where the ball is going your reaction should be to step in that direction. You can begin a step just as fast as you can begin a reach. If necessary, do both, just don't skip the stepping part. One way to make this a habit is to shadow stroke the footwork. Imagine a ball coming to you to your right or left, and practice stepping to it to block. Do this over and over until it's habit. Focus on balance as you move. And don't rush; in most cases you have more time than you think.

Develop confidence in your blocking, knowing that you can cover the entire table with a single step in either direction, and turn yourself into the Great Wall of You.