Fast pushes to the backhand, develop your ability to squat and use a very fast finger oriented brush and do not crowd the table. Ideally you want to take the ball in front of you but if you crowd the table because you are used to slower pushes, you will juat be jammed. As you face better players, better yo develop the ability to come in and get out than to stay too close.
Tbh i would definitely use BH to loop this if they pushed it to my BH and this is one of my fav shots. With BH I just contact the back of the ball slightly on the left to go with the spin (ie spin it clockwise) with an open angle (to counteract the backspin) and I can then loop down the line or diagonal as I wish. I actually like to loop down the line as it gets me more points. The key is the open racket angle (if you watch some Darko Jorgic and even new ZJK videos, their BH rubber actually faces the sky at times during the BH loop followthrough) which makes the loop a lot physically easier and also makes it possible to take it early and rob the opponent of time.
Tbh, I think trying to BH powerloop fast long serves (with varying spins and placements) is a losing proposition. So firstly, serve receive is already a bad position to be in because the server has absolute control over spin and placement and deception which already lowers landing rates a lot. Secondly, a powerloop is already a more low percentage shot compared to a spinny opening loop. Thirdly, even if you hit the shot it is way too easily blocked or countered back by the server especially if it is diagonal. These factors all add up.
You're absolutely right. I kept thinking "I know he serves fast to my BH 90% of the time, let me try to kill it", but he's got enough variations in spin, speed, and placement that I can't just pre-commit. Even when I make some good shots, the first one might work and surprise him, but if I can make a couple in a row it usually gets returned just as quickly and I'm not quite ready for it. Instead, I just read the serve, return it with variations in speed, spin, and placement, and focus on the next shot. My own variations made him rather uncomfortable, forcing mistakes, and even when he followed up with a good shot I was ready to counter it.
Yep, against better players i find that it is the variation and placement that is the killer, it is rare that just power is sufficient to win.
Yep it sounds like you are on the right track. I also like to do a lot of varied BH to BH countering with some of the older guys in my club (can be anything from flat to sidespin to topspin to even sideunderspin). I got to the point where I can stably do BH countering against almost all players (yes even pips players lol). But on the FH side I'm a lot weaker in this aspect in terms of adjusting to different balls (still working on it). My kryptonite is BH punches dead and fast to my wide FH (super annoying shot to deal with) - there is no topspin to borrow, and I cant backswing due to the speed, if I step backwards diagonally then I can loop powerfully but that opens my BH corner weakness which then Im forced to play mid distance which is not where I wanna be. One solution I have been working on is using the forward lean reduction to provide a large upwards force I can use to negate the 'deadness' of the shot while still having little to no backswing.
I've had issues with that as well, many penholders are really good at that shot. I like to step back diagonally and cross-step that shot. If I can put a lot of spin with sidespin on it to their wide FH or BH then they tend to have a good deal of trouble with it. The sidespin makes it a bit difficult for them to block fast to my BH side. If they block slow, then if it's high and long I can BH loop it, but if it's low and relatively short then I'll fish it low to their BH which is difficult for them to attack strongly, allowing me to get back into the rally most of the time.
I can continuously loop like 10-20 balls against choppers at my usual club and maintain the rally easily, and it felt physically easy to do that. In this new venue, it is not so much the spin, but the shortness of the ball which is really unexpected so I had to reach all the time (like what you mentioned). Also it's not just the high friction table, but also the freaking high friction and high suction flooring (i kid you not, balls that drop from the table height onto the floor bounce maybe twice before completely stopping, it was that bad) which acts to prevent your foot lifting off, prevents the foot rotation and any direct lateral movement which meant that I couldnt even adjust my footing properly. Making a proper body powered loop with hip rotation and weight transfer felt like a gym exercise every time because you had to fight the resistance from the flooring tooth and nail.
I'd advise you to keep playing there. I think it's an useful skill to be able to adjust to a different playing environments. I was having similar issues when I first played at the Alameda club which also has higher friction tables. At first I couldn't adjust for the entire session, then it was down to 2 matches, and now I don't even feel it, I just adjust.
I have played on high friction tables in another venue, but i could adjust to that. But this combination (high friction table + high friction and high suction flooring) is really killer, because a lot of the micro adjustments with the feet are simply too difficult to execute. And having to work against the friction and suction of the flooring when performing any loop properly is just way too much.
That's the secret IMHO to playing level stability and mental strength in TT. You have unlocked a key to playing table tennis with good mental health and stable playing strength, regardless of how much you play and how many tournaments you participate in. Whether you win or lose you will always feel in some kind of control. In reality, you have to train to maintain it at a high playing level just like anything else but the feeling when playing players who do nor overwhelm you gives you a level of calm that the opponent will always respect.
I know my grip tape and edge tape add 3-4 grams, but where's the rest coming from? I have a few setups identical to my clubmates', blades all around 90 grams, some glue more layers than me, they all boost the H3s the same or just 1 less layer, and their setups are all quite a few grams lighter. There must be something I'm doing different. I'm not too concerned about it though, the balance is a lot more important than weight, and my racket's balance is fine. 
