So, some nice posts. Also, it is very nice to see Dan actually come out and make a comment on this kind of subject. Fun to read.
I think there are two subjects here. I am not sure the OP intended to make two subjects. But it still ended up working out that way:
1) What qualities help make a higher level player.
2) How do you develop the ability to touch and feel the ball better.
In the OP, feel was equated with higher level play. And the OP may have only been asking how to develop an increased sense of feel. However, the subject most people seem to have jumped on has been: what makes a higher level player.
To me, it seems that subject has been answered quite well. In entertaining fashion the long post of Dan and the very short (2 sentences, 6 words total), post of Baal, both do a fairly good job of explaining what makes a higher level player. It is nice to have all the responses.
But I want to add one detail to the higher level subject before I move on to the subject of presenting some tools for developing touch and feeling.
One detail that seems valuable, that a higher level player generally has that lower level players often overlook:
Lower level players often are focused on what they are doing and not what their opponent is doing. A decently high level player will be seeing and responding to what their opponent is doing. You cannot really talk about things like footwork or positioning without the player seeing what the opponent is doing as soon as possible. Without seeing, ASAP where the ball is going and what your opponent did to the ball, your footwork will land you in the wrong place. And when a higher level player sees a lower level player wanting to set up for a FH, they will often give a ball that makes that harder because they read the opponent and the lower level player will not have.
I have seen many mid level players have great and dangerous loops only to find that, in a match against a more skilled player--even if that player's shots do not look as flashy--that the mid level player can't get his shots off because the more skilled player keeps seeing what the less skilled player is trying to do and giving him balls that make it hard for him to do what he wants.
So, watching, seeing, and reading the opponent would be a very important skill to develop if you were trying to improve your skills and overall level. What your opponent does and seeing what your opponent does is very important in any racket sport. And in any racket sport, there is always what you do, and what your opponent does. A good opponent can always limit what you are able to do.
I cannot tell you how many times I have had lower level players say that, for some reason, when they play me, they are not playing well without fully realizing that it is because I am limiting what they are able to do. You can see this at the top levels also. You can see a player who against most top players looks pretty good. And then he plays Ma Long and looks like he should not be in the top 300.
Now, on to touch and feeling. The skills of touch and feeling can be practiced.
Here:
These are preliminary exercises that help you develop touch and feel:
These are more advanced versions of similar kinds of exercises.
The first exercise in the Marcos Freitas video, it helps to practice it with a wall until you have enough control to move to the edge of a table.
That one exercise alone will really help you develop better touch and feel. But all the exercises in both videos will help. To do all the touch exercises, you need soft, relaxed hands: soft, relaxed, and yet controlled and firm. Almost paradoxical.