Suppose, for example, you have a strong forehand loop against backspin, but your backhand loop against backspin isn't so good. Then you probably use the forehand every chance you can, and avoid using the backhand loop. Result? You continue to have a strong forehand loop against backspin, but that backhand loop isn't going to improve by not using it.

One of the best wins of my life came when I was serving at 19-all in the third (back when games were to 21). I'd been serving and forehand looping the whole match, but the opponent had gotten used to it, and kept counterlooping winners off it. But recently I'd been working on my much weaker backhand loop a bit - and so, twice in a row, for the first time in the match, I serve and backhand looped instead. The opponent was so caught off guard he missed both outright and I won. If I hadn't been working on that weakness so that it became a useful weapon, I would likely have lost that match.

In practice matches, and even in more competitive matches (so you can learn to do it under pressure), you have to make yourself use the shots that are your weaknesses. If you don't, they will continue to be weaknesses. You might get away with the weakness against players your level, but wouldn't it be nice to challenge players a level higher? To do so, you have to develop your weaknesses, and perhaps even turn them into strengths. You might be surprised at how much an unused shot can improve if you decide to make it central to your game for a few weeks or months!

Most top players extend their arm on forehands for extra power. And so should you. But have you noticed how top players can do these power shots over and over in quick succession, while weaker players struggle on the second one? A primary reason for this is the backswing.

Top players extend their arm just before they start the forward swing, with some keeping it mostly extended through the stroke, others using more arm snap so that the arm comes in. But there's no reason to extend the arm on the backswing, which just slows you down. But many non-top players do this, so that their arm is equally extended on the backswing and forward swing. This is a mistake. On the backswing, keep the elbow relatively in to increase the stroke's efficiency. It's only when you have nearly completed the backswing that the arm can extend. If you extend it too early, the stroke will be slow and cumbersome, and when you do two in a row, you'll be rushed and inconsistent. Here's a video of Ma Long looping - see how his arm is in during the backswing, then he extends it. 

The reason you practice your strokes is to make them second nature, so that you do the shots subconsciously and instinctively. When you try to take conscious control, the shot falls apart. Similarly, you don't aim a shot by aiming; you aim by visualizing what you want the ball to do, and letting your trained subconscious instinctively do the rest.

Here's a test I've done many times. I can put a water bottle on any part of the far side of the table, bounce a ball on my side, and smack the bottle probably 90% of the time. But I don't do any of it consciously, other than bouncing the ball. It's all subconscious and instinctive. All I have to do is decide I want to hit that bottle, and the subconscious does the rest. If I try to take conscious control of the stroke in any way when aiming for the bottle, my accuracy falls apart.

The same is true in a game situation, where you don't consciously aim or control any other part of the stroke; you just instinctively decide what shot to do and where you want the ball to go, and then instinctively do it. It's all subconscious; that's why you practice your strokes! (Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the two. For example, you might, in the middle of a rally, see an opening where you want to hit the ball, but most likely your subconscious has already seen and reacted to that opening, and your conscious mind only notes it as you are about to do it.) The conscious part is between points when you decide what serves and basic tactics to use. And then - you guessed it! - the subconscious instinctively does the rest.

A good, quick, well-placed, heavy, low, deep push is valuable at all levels, even the world-class level. So develop all aspects of that shot, especially against backspin or no-spin serves. But there's another weapon that many forget, and that's the no-spin push. 

Against your heavier push, many opponents will simply drop their racket and spin more, and you'll face a non-stop series of aggressive loops. But one way to really break this up is to throw a "heavy" no-spin push at them. A heavy no-spin push is a push where you fake great backspin, but put little spin on the ball. (This is the same as a heavy no-spin serve, where you fake spin but little spin on the ball.) The opponent, who is so used to lifting against your heavy backspins, will likely drop his shoulder and lift, and the ball will sail off the end. Note that while a "no-spin" serve is exactly that, a "no-spin" push usually has a small amount of backspin, though not always. 

But the real weapon here is that it not only wins the point, but now the opponent will likely hesitate each time, not sure if the ball is heavy backspin or not. And so he'll not only make mistakes against the no-spin pushes, but against the heavier ones he had no trouble with earlier. 

How do you do a heavy no-spin push? Just do a conventional heavy push, except don't graze the ball much, and more importantly, snap the wrist after contact. For heavy backspin, of course, you snap the wrist into the ball to create all that backspin. Develop a heavy backspin push as a top priority, both because it alone is effective, and because a no-spin push isn't that effective if you don't also have a heavy one. 

When you put everything into a shot, you lose control and consistency. You often lose power as well as you can't really time all your muscles together at 100%, and instead end up with a spastic shot that's difficult to control. Watch the top players - when they end the point, they make it seem almost effortless as they get great power by putting their weight into the shot and smoothly timing all of their muscles together. Plus, that last bit of power isn't necessary.

So when you get a weak ball where you can end the point, don't go spastic. Instead, just smoothly accelerate into the shot, whether you are smashing or looping, putting your weight into the shot and focusing on good technique and placement. (Lack of power almost always means poor technique.) Unless the opponent is a great lobber, there's no way they can cover the entire table against a well-placed put-away, even with less than 100% power. That means experimenting with placement in matches to see what works - sometimes smashing or loop-killing at the wide corners and sometimes at their middle (around the playing elbow, the transition point between forehand and backhand). Few players can cover a well-angled put-away to the wide corners, even at 10% reduced speed, and even fewer can cover this shot if it's right at their elbow. (Unless, of course, they play with the Seemiller or some similar grip, where the middle is easier to cover, but the corners more difficult.) By sacrificing perhaps 10% speed, you get a huge return on consistency, and the 10% you lose simply isn't necessary.