Table tennis is a game of technique, timing, and adjustment. When you miss a shot, that means something went wrong with your technique or timing. That means something went wrong with your muscle memory, which includes both the technique and timing. So what should you do to get back and reinforce that muscle memory?

You shadow practice the shot. Immediately after missing, before whatever went wrong has a chance to become part of your muscle memory, do it the right way. Imagine the same incoming ball you just missed against, including its speed, spin, and location. Then shadow practice the shot the way you should have done it, and visualize the ball doing what it was supposed to do, i.e. the perfect shot. This is how you reinforce the correct muscle memory. Put the feel of the miss out of your memory; thinking about it only reinforces in your muscle memory something you don't want reinforced.

This is especially important for beginning and intermediate players, whose muscle memory is not as developed, but advanced players should do this as well to re-enforce the proper muscle memory. Ultimately, this is the goal of the constant practice needed to become a top player - the primary purpose is to develop and reinforce those muscle memories so they'll remember to come out when needed in a match. 

Some players like to step off the table and just topspin away, turning many opponents into blockers who are jammed at the table, unable to do anything other than struggle to keep the ball in play. These topspinners can seemingly go on forever, and eventually either outlast or wear out the blocker, or find an easy ball to loop away. At higher levels, such players are often overpowered, as it's the very nature of their game that the opponent can take the attack - but it takes a certain level of strokes and footwork to do this consistently. And often this is exactly what the off-table topspinner wants his opponent to do, to try to overpower him, and thereby make mistakes.

So how does one beat such a player? Here are some standard tactics.

1. Bring him in and then attack. Do this with short serves and short receives, and then catch him too close to the table with your first attack, before he can get into his comfortable off-table pocket. Since these players hang off the table, attacking their serve often plays right into their game. You don't have to win the point on the first attack after bringing them in; it's sufficient to force a weak return that you can follow up with a winner.
2. Get your forehand into play. Because he plays off the table, you have more time to get your forehand into position, rather than just block. You might have to take a half step off the table to give yourself time. (Many players get stuck blocking because they are too jammed at the table, and so don't have time to do more than block.) It's important that you punish the opponent for his soft play by attacking, and especially being ready to attack when you get a weak return, in particular balls that land short. When the ball does land short, blast a winner to a wide angle or right at the opponent's playing elbow (midway between forehand and backhand). (If your forehand is so weak that you cannot attack these soft topspins when you are in position, then you need to work on your forehand attack.)
3. Mostly attack the middle and wide backhand. Generally avoid the forehand, where most off-table topspinnners have more range, get more spin, and have better counter-attacks. (So generally, when going after the middle, perhaps aim it slightly toward the backhand side.) But it depends on the player. Some off-table topspinners are more vulnerable on the forehand side. Unless he's simply a much better player, he's unlikely to beat you in a duel between his off-table backhand, where he has to cover both his wide backhand and middle, against your forehand looping or smashing, assuming you don't try to overpower him on one shot. Players like this often seem open to the wide the corners, but in reality they usually cover that area pretty well. So make sure to go to both the wide backhand and middle, and perhaps the wide forehand, depending on the player. (This was one of the reasons Ilija Lupulesku was so successful for years despite backing off the table so much - players relentlessly went after his wide backhand and didn't go after his middle nearly enough.)
4. Change the pace. Do this with either soft loops or soft blocks. Find out early which side he's more vulnerable to a change of pace, but it's usually on the forehand side. This is where a chop or sidespin block can be valuable. He'll likely make a weak return that you can attack, often catching him too close to the table or throwing off his time. If an opponent gets into a rhythm where he's getting everything back, it's imperative that you change the pace to throw off that rhythm.
5. Be patient. Your goal isn't to blast a winner every shot; your goal is to play for an easy ball to blast for a winner, usually a ball that lands short that you can blast to a wide corner or right at his middle. 

While I always urge players to compete to win events, let's face it - one of the great thrills of table tennis is pulling off a great upset. So let's look at how to maximize your chances of doing so.

First, let's define "great upset" as beating someone who really is much better than you. If you've improved a lot and beat someone rated a lot higher only because you are underrated, that's not really a "great upset"; that just means you've gotten better. And that, of course, is better than pulling off a one-time great upset!

But whatever your current level is, you still want to maximize your chances of pulling off an occasional big upset. How do you do this? There are three main reasons why big upsets take place. They are: 1) the weaker player plays great; 2) the stronger player plays poorly; and 3) the weaker player wins because of a style advantage.

Note that tactical play comes into play in all three. The weaker player may play "well" because of smart tactics, the stronger player may play "poorly" because of poor tactics, and the weaker player may have a style advantage only because he plays smart tactics to make use of that style advantage, or because the stronger player plays poor tactics.

The reality is that most major upsets involve at least a little of all three. You have control over only how well you play, and so a key to pulling off upsets is to simply play well, so that opportunistically you are ready to win if the stronger player opens the door by playing poorly, or if it turns out you have some sort of style advantage.

Let's look at all three of these aspects.

1) Weaker Player Playing Well

Some would argue that the key to beating stronger players is to play super-aggressive and hope you get hot. This rarely works, and usually just makes things easier for the stronger player. What does work is to simply do whatever you do best, but do it as well as you can - while at the same time having at least one shot that consistently wins points against the stronger player. You don't need to force the winning shot over and over; if you do, you'll just start missing. But it needs to be there when you need it, and you should maximize how often you can use it. It might not be a one-shot putaway; it might be a series of shots, such as an aggressive backhand, quick blocking, or steady looping.

Psychologically, you need to go into the match really believing you can win. You really should do this in all matches, no matter how good the opponent is. Even if you can't beat someone, you'll do a lot better if you play believing you can, and play accordingly. This puts you in a perfect mental condition to win - you won't start thinking about the big upset you are about to pull off (and thereby fall apart) because you'll be expecting to win.

You also need to get into "the zone," that mental place where you are playing almost unconsciously, where everything happens naturally. Most players have had this experience sometime; they key is to reproduce it while playing. Once in the "the zone," you can maximize your level and your chances of winning.

It doesn't matter whether you are about to pull off a big upset because the opponent is playing poorly, you are playing well, or if you have a style advantage; in all three cases if you start to think about the upset you are about to pull off, you will likely be pulled out of the "zone" you were in, and your level of play will drop.

2) Stronger Player Playing Poorly

You can maximize the chances of the stronger player not playing well by throwing variation at him. If you give him the same serves, receives, and rallying shots over and over, he'll get used to them, get into a rhythm, and mostly likely play his level. So perhaps throw more variations than normal against him, especially with your serves, and keep him off balance. It's a common way to blow a match, where a player finds something that works, but so overuses it that it stops working. You want to stick with what works, but you also want to stretch it out so it lasts the entire match. At the same time, once you find something that works, you want to maximize its usage without overusing it so that he gets used to it. It's a fine balance.

If you do find something that gives the stronger player trouble, here's a simple way to maximize its usage without wearing it out: use it early in a game, again in the middle, and then come back to it at the end. Often I've seen players hold back on a tricky serve, a heavy push, or something else until it's close, when if they used this earlier, the game might never be close.

3) Style Advantage

If you have a style advantage, you also maximize your chances of winning if you go in truly believing you can win. Psychologically, when you are about to beat a stronger player it's very easy to start thinking about it and thereby fall apart. Instead, if you really have a style that gives the stronger player problems, convince yourself of the truth: he is not a "stronger" player, except perhaps against other players - and he's not playing other players, he's playing you!

However, one of the things about stronger players is that they often adjust. This means you also need to make adjustments as the match goes on to keep that style advantage. If there's something you do that gives the stronger player problems, he'll likely look for ways to avoid that, even if it means playing his "B" game. Your job is to either find ways to keep using whatever gives him trouble, or to find ways to beat his "B" game. In the latter case, your style advantage has already done its job, forcing the stronger player to play this "B" game, and suddenly he might not necessarily be the "stronger player."

A key aspect of having a style advantage is knowing what gives the stronger player trouble, so you can use that part of your style that does give him trouble, i.e. the style advantage. Sometimes this will happen automatically, if your styles just happens to be one that gives him fits. More often it helps to do a little scouting, and find out what gives that player problems. Watch him play, ask around, experiment early in the match, and learn all you can. Information is power, and often leads to victory. 

There are few more tactical matches then a clash that occurs when a stronger player faces a weaker player with a style advantage. Can he tactically adjust? Can the weaker player tactically keep using whatever it is in his style that works, or force the stronger player into his "B" game? Matches like this is where you need to put on your tactical cap and win the tactical battle. At the same time, remember that tactics should be simple. Don't overthink; find a few simple tactics that work, adjust them as needed as the match goes on, and focus on playing your best. 

Develop the Five Types of Rallying Shots

There really are only five types of rallying shots, and you should perfect them all. If you can't, your game is not complete and you'll never be as good as you could be. So what are these five types of shots you should develop?

1. Opening Attacks
   There are your first attacks in a rally. Against a ball that goes long this usually means looping, though you can also do a more simple drive. Against a short ball this means a flip (usually called a flick in Europe). A surprising number of seemingly defensive or passive players actually have good attacks once they are into the rally, but they don't have effective or consistent opening attacks, and so they are usually on the defensive.
2. Continuing Attacks
   It's not enough to open with an attack; you have to continue the attack. At the higher levels this usually means to loop over and over. You can also continue your attack with regular drives, which is especially common the backhand. This is often the most physical aspect of table tennis as you are forced to move quickly to keep up an attack.
3. Putaways
   If you can't end the point when the shot is there, then you are severely handicapped. This means loop kills and smashes. (One of the best way to develop your putaway shots is with multiball practice.) 
4. Consistency
   The game isn't all attack. Consistency shots include regular drives, blocks, steady loops, pushing, as well as defensive off-table shots chopping, lobbing, and fishing. There is overlap here with "Continuing Attacks" as a steady loop can fit both categories. Consistency shots are best used at the start of the rally to return serves (such as pushing or a soft-to-medium-speed loop) and to withstand an opponent's attack.
5. Tricky Shots
   These are the often unorthodox shots, ones where you throw something different at an opponent to make him uncomfortable. Examples would be a change of pace, drop shot, no-spin shots that look like spin, an unexpectedly heavy spin (such as a very heavy push), an unexpected sidespin (such as a sidespin block or loop, both of which you can sidespin either way), or a last-second change of direction. You probably don't want to center your game around these types of shots, but if you don't have at least a small arsenal of tricky shots to throw off an opponent then you are handicapping yourself. Even all-out attackers use such tricky shots on occasion, such as on receive or with sidespin loops, or sudden changes of direction.

Now examine your game, and ask yourself which of the above are you very good at? You can develop your game around these shots. However, the more important question is probably which of them are you weak at? (Rather than rate them relative to your current level, rate them relative to the level you are striving to reach.) Now you know what to work on. Go to it. 

Often players ask me how to play different surfaces. There are obvious and easy answers for that, and beginners do need to know how the various surfaces play different. For example, long pips tends to return whatever spin you give it, and they need to understand that to be able to play it. Short pips tends to return flatter (i.e. less spinny) then you'd expect from the more common inverted. And so on.

But the more important thing is to simply learn to play the ball. You don't really need to know that long pips will return your spin, except perhaps as a help at the start of a match. Very early in any match you'll see how your opponent's surfaces and strokes return your shots, and that's what you need to play. For example, knowing that long pips will return your spin is fine, but some types return more than others, and some strokes with long pips return more than others. Players need to match what actually is happening in a match to how they react, not just memorize something they can read in a book.

The same is true of adjusting to an opponent's strokes. If he does something strange, ignore the strangeness and just adjust to playing the balls he's giving you. (And remember that if a player has strange shots, then there's a reason they are strange shots - they are not orthodox, and so likely have major technical weaknesses in them, if you can find them.)

Once a player understands how the ball comes off an opponent's racket and strokes in a match, he can play the balls he's getting, knowing what they'll be based on how they have been coming off the racket so far. Then he can figure out how to adjust, and what type of shots he should do to get the type of balls he wants. For example, you might have trouble against the fast dead shots of a pips-out player. But then you'll realize that you have to contact the ball differently, perhaps lifting slightly more with more topspin (assuming you are a topspin player), and even noting that if you keep the ball deep, you have more time to react and adjust to these deader balls. You could read that in a book or article, but it'll sink in a lot better when you actually face such a situation and adjust, learn to play the ball your opponent is giving you, and actually make the adjustment and win!