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.

Fundamental tactics are the standards used against specific playing styles. If you are playing a chopper, fundamental tactics include attacking the middle (roughly the elbow, the transition point between his forehand and backhand chops), moving him in and out, giving dead balls to a side with long pips, or mixing up your spins (especially to the inverted chopping side). If you are playing a looper, a fundamental tactic would be to serve short and return short serves back short, so he can't loop, or to go to his stronger looping side to bring him out of position so you can then go to his weaker side.

You can learn fundamental tactics talking to other players or coaches; watching others; experimenting; or even by reading about it.

While fundamental tactics are key, it's also helpful to learn to be creative. Everyone plays different, and everyone has different weaknesses. That means studying opponents and finding what specifically gives them trouble.

Perhaps your opponent has a less common grip - say, the Seemiller grip, where he uses one side for both forehand and backhand. If you attack the middle like you should against most shakehand players, you might not do so well, since the Seemiller grip is very strong against these middle shots. But it's usually not as good against shots to the wide corners, especially the wide forehand. They often have trouble with the wide backhand as well, but make up for this by standing well over to that side, turning that into a strength, but leaving the forehand a little more open. But most players just automatically play to their backhand. So watch how this player stands, and go after those corners - perhaps going to the wide forehand first, then back to the backhand, which is now open. (This grip also has trouble backhand looping, so you might take advantage of that as well.)

Or perhaps he puts his finger down the middle. Some players with this grip have trouble returning short balls to the forehand down the line - he'll likely be forced to go crosscourt, since it's often harder to bring the wrist back with this grip. So you test it - serve short to the forehand, and if it works, you can camp out on the forehand side for the return. (Some have no trouble going down the line, so test it out.)

Or suppose you're playing a chopper who returns your attack to his middle with ease. Then he's probably cheating over - meaning his middle is more toward his forehand side, and his wide backhand is open. So you punish him with those two spots, which are now far apart and hard to cover.

Or suppose he's a looper, and so you don't want to serve long to him, giving him the loop. But test him on this. If he's like me, then he might loop some serves really well, but struggle with others. (I always had trouble looping deep serves with backhand-serve type sidespin.)

The goal is to early in a match find out what fundamental and creative tactics work. If you combine these two, you'll become a master tactician!

The history of footwork in table tennis could take up a book by itself. If you watch videos of the best players in the world every 20 years or so, you can see the footwork techniques developing, though some of it is subtle and hard to pinpoint.

But one thing has been established at the world-class level since at least the 1960s - the best players almost all have wide stances. This gives greater stability and power to their shots while allowing great mobility. When moving, they often move both feet together. However, this is the result of years of training, especially physical training. Unless you are in good shape, using such a wide stance can be difficult. Find the right balance for you, which usually means as wide as you find comfortable.

Most footwork involves shuffling. Watch videos in slow motion of top players to see this, and how their feet move almost together. But for most of us, it's usually better to use what's called two-step footwork. Let's suppose you are a righty and want to move to your left.

Start with a neutral stance - left leg slightly forward, knees bent, weight on the inside balls of the feet, relaxed. Your first move should be a short step to the left with your left foot. Next, by first pulling with the left leg, you shuffle to your left, with both feet now moving together, almost a jumping motion except your feet almost brush across the floor. As you get better and better, the short step and the follow-up shuffle become closer and closer until they are almost one movement.

To move to the right, do the opposite - start with a short step with the right foot, then shuffle both feet together.

If stepping around the backhand corner to play a forehand, when shuffling both feet together (after the initial short step with the left), make sure your right foot swings far enough around (i.e. backwards, relative to you) so that you won't be cramped on your shot. Rotate your shoulders as your right foot goes around so that you end up with your shoulders at least parallel to the direction you are going to hit. Pull the playing arm back as you step around. Most of your weight should now be on your right foot. You are now in perfect position to attack with your foreland. Step into the shot with your left foot while rotating your shoulders, and either loop or smash. Make sure to finish the shot balanced so you can quickly move back in position for the next shot. If you don't follow through back into position, you will be out of position for the next shot.

Since the forehand is generally more powerful than the backhand, as well as better for smashing high balls, it is often important to be able to use the forehand out of the backhand corner. An inability to do weakens your game. Of course, some players are not fast enough to do this regularly, but even they should consider doing this against certain shots.

Stepping around the backhand involves five parts: (1) Setting up the shot, (2) assessing whether to step around or not, (3) the footwork itself, (4) the shot itself, and (5) return to ready position.

Getting a shot to step around on involves good shot selection on your part, ball placement, and quick judgment. Generally, there are four shots that you might step around the backhand to use the forehand against: pop-ups, pushes, blocks or weak drives, and deep serves. Pop-ups are the easiest as they allow the most time to move into position. Blocks and pushes are more difficult because you will have less time to react.

Generally don't move until your opponent is committed - the better the player, the longer you have to wait since a good player can fake or change his direction at the last moment.

You can anticipate most pushes going to the backhand as your opponent often doesn't want to give you a forehand shot by pushing that way. Of course, besides direction, you will have to judge the depth of the return or you might find yourself trying to loop a ball that lands short.

Unless your opponent is very predictable, you will have difficulty anticipating where his block or drive is going. You'll just have to wait for him to commit, and then, if he goes to your backhand, you'll have to quickly decide if you should step around for it. The important thing is to force a weak return that you can step around on (or perhaps not, if the return doesn't go to the backhand). There are many ways to do this, such as spin (especially heavy topspin), speed, quickness, ball placement, shot selection, varying the speed and spin of your shot, and, of course, tricky serves. Experiment and see how and where your shots are returned. For example, if you are in a backhand-to-backhand exchange and you suddenly hit a quick one to your opponent's middle (his playing elbow), you might force a weak return to the backhand that probably won't be too angled. Be ready to step around, but be careful - he may go down your forehand line at the last second and all you'll be able to do is applaud his fine play.

If you have a strong forehand (relative to your backhand) but rarely step around your backhand, you will not be taking full advantage of the natural strength and power of the forehand, therefore handicapping your game. Turn your forehand into an all-table weapon!