I compete against myself in competitions anyway, so I train against myself in practice.
Repeating my mechanics was difficult. I was always trying to do something different to make it click.
Obviously, if you are playing against a guy who is known for an up-tempo offense, you'll probably tailor your practice a little bit to say, 'Hey, let's get a couple of fast-paced plays back to back to back to try to simulate that.'
Malfunctions are inevitable. It's important to push through them during practice - versus stopping to fix and restart - so that you're prepared for one mid-competition.
Why waste good shots in practice when you might need them in a match?
What a player does best, he should practice least. Practice is for problems.
I do much less sparring and always with the purpose of working on something in particular.
When practicing, it's great to break a part down into its different elements, start slowly, and then try to build up the speed until you're playing as fast as you possibly can.
Never practice without a thought in mind.
