Hey Lem,
OK so on your first question, improving anticipation is best done by doing lots of irregular drills so you have to adapt and learn to pick up signals on direction more quickly.
So to transfer from blocking to counter attacking you need to keep your bat high so you have the ability to brush over the ball and keep it down. Many people when counter attacking go for a swing which is too big and lose control. So try to keep a compact swing and use the pace already on the ball from the opponent. Just try to brush over the top of the ball softly and send some topspin back to the opponent.
Interesting that they thought you were boosting, I guess you just have to take it as a compliment! 😅
