Every New Chinese-Style Penholder Should Watch This.

This video goes over some information that every beginner Chinese-style penholder should know, and what I wish I had known two years ago. I will not cover information that is easily found, such as stroke tutorials. Timestamps are pinned in the comments.
If you're a beginner, I highly recommend watching the following channels:
YangYangTT
Tomorrow Table Tennis
Looeelooee

[@andyzhaott]

0:00 Introduction 0:06 What Chinese Penhold Is 0:22 Random facts 1:40 Advantages 3:12 Disadvantages 4:52 Forehand attack 6:13 RPB 7:09 TPB 7:49 Pushing 9:09 One thing to keep in mind 9:52 Serving 11:05 Grip variations 15:19 Outro

[@peace01787]

Thanks. Really informative video. Felt the difference and similarities between shake and pen grips. Very much enjoyed it. Also can you make some video about how to smash on a receiving serve, and judging serve before hitting. Thanks.

[@raikirat8290]

Oh, how I dream a dream of having my table tennis table and a robot to practice in my back garden. But still, good to see a new young penholder. I shall watch your career with great interest.

[@NexttGeneration]

I was just thinking this myself. What I would've done at 15 to have a table and a robot 😢

[@ajaxflaskaarbra9915]

The GOAT. Thank you Andy Zhao for this amazing video!

[@fernandovieiradasilva1147]

Some heroes don't wear a cape ... Thanks Andy !!! This video helped me a lot to understand why my RPB was not working. Keep posting more videos when you have some time!! PENHOLDERS are ALIVE!!!

[@michaeldubery3593]

Thanks a lot! This was really well put together, thorough, clear, and plenty entertaining. Another one of thefew great resources for us penhold players :)

[@jerbear1204]

This is the video I'll send people whenever they ask about my "weird" playstyle in college. This was really comprehensive, and has some good tips to improve my game

[@octanlevitan6703]

man this stuff is actualy extremly informative, thx a lot

[@UjjwalSidhu]

Thanks for this man this really helped a ton would hope to see more from you~

[@supersonicchef]

Thank you for a REALLY helpful video for a penholder beginner. This is the most helpful one I have come across so far! THANK YOU! Please keep continue doing more videos!

[@breathenergy9745]

Hello! I'm from Russia. I've been playing RPB at a decent level for 3 months now. Thanks to your explanation in English and good video, it helped me understand many things much better. Thank you so much!!! I will be very glad to see new micro-things) You are young and good!

[@giorgibejanishvili9065]

Very helpful video! Keep up more penhold content 🏓

[@SirTulaman]

This was very insightful. I am transitioning from traditional penhold to RBP so seeing all the options in detail is very helpful. Thanks for all the info!

[@andyzhaott]

Thanks for the feedback! Glad to be of help.

[@micah8913]

Wow I needed this video sm. Thank you!!!

[@acetorres5008]

Bro great video. Helps a lot im a beginner and a penholder..tried shakehand but penhold in like an art. Thank you for the guide. I hope to see more lessons from you.

[@prestonyates8003]

This was really helpful and well-edited, thanks

[@michelepellegrino6640]

that was really informative and entertaining to watch : ) Thanks Andy

[@void0350]

Great Video my friend. It was very helpful for someone making the switch from shakehand to RPB

[@taurussilver4029]

truly the best video i have seen so for on pen grip i loved it :)

[@castanatra]

Hi Andy! great tips! you deserve more subscribers on your channel. thank you very much, embrace from Brazil.

[@skribbleskills]

Love it man! I’ve been playing penhold for years now just cause I thought it was somehow better (based on nothing). haha now I’m too used to it to go back to shake hand. Appreciate the tips!

[@mmshukralla1239]

Your such a good man, thanks for all of the info. I wish you the best luck.

[@andyzhaott]

Thanks! Glad to be of help.

[@SurvivalDon1]

Amazing video dude. Love playing pen hold.

[@alexandrosk7]

Brilliant video!

[@pixelbomb3142]

I have a reporting about table tennis racket grips tomorrow and this video of yours(the advantages and disadvantages) and also the demonstration really helps a lot since im not a sports person. thanks, i appreaciate your video of this.

[@andyzhaott]

Thanks! Glad to be of help.

[@adamrossi8459]

Awesome video, thank you!

[@slax2501]

awesome video. I learned a few tricks that I will practice this week. thanks!!! Keep it going…

[@FkHustlez]

Great tips man

[@vincentferrer876]

Awesome video! My traditional backhand and rpb have been consistent, but the forehand gets wonky on certain days. I will try some of your grip recommendations.

[@eddie.io21]

Thank u very much, you are the one and only who explain penhold style this much and please don't delete this video it will help me many years.

[@itskairos1684]

I’m just starting penhold grip because I love the sport and wanted to try new things and with my naturally mobile and flexible wrists I’ve really enjoyed penhold so far and this has helped me so much!

[@andyzhaott]

Thanks! Glad you found it useful. Good luck!

[@pohhocktan3184]

Very clear and informative.Learn a lot !

[@trap4990]

Loved it ❤️ thank you

[@JayJay-vi5gb]

This was very helpful, thank you.😊

[@rohitrathod474]

very helpful andy thank you !!!

[@larsafrika]

Very instructive. Thanks.

[@aniketpatil2265]

Nice work mate keep it up.

[@kavarasings9813]

very exact instruction. well done

[@jacobskeffington6540]

this is a great tutorial, but what a life! playing TT in that beautiful yard with home raised food!

[@atrivix]

TY Young man!

[@damafangfang6938]

it's really helpful👍im a rpb penholder from bali.thanks so much bro🙏

[@manuelaraica3216]

Great video. Thanks a bunch!

[@andyzhaott]

Thanks!

[@kiengtrina4860]

Thank you , Andy for the video

[@andyzhaott]

No problem! Thanks for watching!

[@respekt200]

Excellent!

[@GeminiAmbience]

Thank you for this video; gold for a newbie Cpen player!!

[@gpkbeats3975]

Very interesting video. Thanks

[@corjuleskandou8258]

Good lesson !

[@bcan5512]

Great video! I've always played casually, but my roommate and I have decided how to learn proper competitive play. We've played 6 days out of the last week haha. Figuring out how to choose which grip for my backhand fingers is quite overwhelming, and RPB feels like a world away. Maybe if I study your clips of RPB I'll be able to use it in a match next week~

[@celzolsen8988]

how's it going? did you stick with it?

[@bcan5512]

@@celzolsen8988 my roommate and i had a great time improving with each other :) haven't played since graduating uni, but one day i might pick up the paddle again

[@sound1239]

You don’t know how much I loved and needed this video. Please upload more “tutorial”. Lol not many penhold English speaking videos

[@minhnguyenquang9287]

Nice vid bro 😃

[@Wally-H]

Thanks, really good vid this

[@jonathancolon5671]

Verey good explication a aditional data the most penhold grips more esay to play are ma lin and wang hao to stablicise your rpb and forehand and topspin too.

[@meirlynformula4301]

thanks for this video..

[@Soper79]

12:47 - 13:10. Couldn't agree more. I use to play the curled fingers approach as i found that transitioned really nicely from FH to TPB. And the fact that it made twiddling easy. However ultimately without the fingers more extended on the back face of the blade, I found the curled fingers were not as powerful on the FH. Anyways, Good video. A lot of good information that I agree pretty much every penholder should see when starting out.

[@Vibesklo]

Love it!

[@paule7609]

Insane Video the best one on Penhold Grip I found and it has so little views

[@rohankumarsinha]

thanks for the lessons. Main issue is there is no penholder players in the tt community near my area..I play decent , but for backhand topspin, i struggle to be consistent....

[@dominikk8547]

I also switched from SH to PH. I'm not really good but I learned RPB pretty quickly. I think people who can do a SH backhand topspin tend to have an easier time learning RPB than people coming from Traditional penhold, as RPB is pretty similar to SH backhand topspin albeit racket angle is a bit harder to manage.

[@alfredicy]

This is super helpful omg

[@andyzhaott]

Glad to be of help! Thanks for watching

[@alfandosavant4639]

This is gold! I played with maybe a stiff penhold, with 2 or 3 fingers stacked, rpb, backhand flick and really no flick and no TPB. I also can't abuse the strong spin serve with my wrist. But then, i guess as an amateur player that's enough 😂😂

[@johnjkiwi7818]

Thanks Andy. Great video!. What is your opinion of Double happiness and Double Fish penholder rackets?

[@andyzhaott]

Thanks for the feedback! I haven’t tried any Double Fish rackets before, but I’ve used the DHS Hurricane Hao blade a long time ago. I don’t think generalizing an entire brand’s racket quality would be useful; a $20 racket and a $200 racket would feel and play very differently, regardless of what brand the racket is from. The different blade compositions also play a major factor in how blades feel and play. Knowing that both brands are fairly reputable, I’d assume that their mid-range rackets ($20+) should be fine to use, but this is based off assumption and not personal experience. I haven’t tried enough rackets to really judge them, so my current opinion is really: “They look pretty cool.”

[@hovikbabayan824]

Super !

[@you.got.gapped.racing]

I've seen people flipping chop off a chunk of the handle but I leave it as is so there is weight balance lol

[@ignatiowan1095]

nice vid..thx

[@jerushkadoesstuff189]

I would like to add to the advantages, the serve is one of the things that penholders are usually good at. Mainly the deception after the serve.

[@andyzhaott]

Penholders naturally have more range of motion in the wrist compared to shakehanders. However, with the right service grip, shakehanders' serves have about the same range of motion. At high levels, the serve quality and serve deception are about the same between the two.

[@Wally-H]

Main advantages I find as a penhold player are 1). the extreme power you can get into forehands and b). ability to return balls at the crossover point, where shakehanders often get in a muddle.

[@srikrishna_97]

Hey, amazing video! Can you talk about the effect of chop with different grip variations, A certain style of penhold seems to have a better feel for me but I am not so comfortable with chops.

[@andyzhaott]

Thanks for the feedback! Unfortunately, I’m not good at chopping at all, so I don’t think my advice would be valid.

[@AZ-ov6xw]

Please make more video.

[@lencitr]

Nice video, Can you also tell about penholder , what can be the positions of the wrist. I have an issue with the way how I think my hand should be and how I execute it. Sometimes I don't even know what would be the best position for a defense and also how to defense with a spin. Or also any tips on the right flip/spin side once it is coming from the opponent a spined shot ... thanks

[@andyzhaott]

I'll work on some videos for this in the near future

[@e-LinkCare]

Penhold for life!

[@paullee9976]

As penholder casual player and self learning for more than 10 years albeit on n off, your information is really valuable to me. I just adopted RPB since 1 year ago where I bought new penholder Yasaka Ma Lin extra off. I am struggling to have the right 1 grip for both FH and RPB since my fingers are a bit short and the blade has flare shape handle as compared to your blade’s straight handle. I am right handle and I find it very difficult to direct my RPB shot to the left side. Any tip for me? Thank you so much and keep up the awesome channel ! ;D

[@andyzhaott]

Thanks for the feedback! If you have smaller than average hands, you can try sanding down your racket handle a little. Sand a bit on the back and the sides until it feels comfortable to use the same grip on both sides of the racket, but be conservative with the sanding; you can’t undo it. Here’s a sanding guide for penhold rackets. It’s in Chinese, but it’s easy to follow along visually. kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5KbqHdvg5V6ipI With regards to blocking down-the-line with the backhand (I’m assuming you’re right-handed), you can try the following adjustments to make it a bit easier: stand with your legs parallel to the table, block the ball with your wrist slightly more retracted, and put pressure on the thumb when blocking (to open racket angle). Hope this helps.

[@bobmalack481]

The REVERSE penhold grip is fantastic, a'la Wango Hao. I been tinkering with every grip in the book for years, and at 68 this is what I now use at the club level. It's not for everybody, and it seams odd especially by Westerner's. Just look at the French teenage sensation 17 year old Felix Lebrun who just cracked the worlds top 10.

[@user-db1iz3fw8m]

Ty

[@user-vv9fq1tr5e]

Amazing penhold skills,next American pen hold sensation Better than zhaozihao Great penhold skills❤️❤️❤️ Such an oppa too 😍😍😍

[@mansoor-786]

thank you so much, very helpful video, loved it 🔥🔥❤️ quick question: I am left handed and equal in both penhold and shakehand so which grip should I use as my main ?

[@andyzhaott]

It depends on what your goals are for table tennis. If you're playing table tennis just for fun and you're not planning on playing professionally or whatnot, go with whatever you think is more comfortable and/or more fun. If you get coaching, consider picking what your coach is more experienced with teaching. Thanks for the feedback!

[@mansoor-786]

Thank you so much ❤

[@michelepellegrino6640]

when you first started playing penhold, did you have a pre-assembled cheap bat or you made a custom one? Because I'd like to have one instead of playing penhold on a concave handle XD

[@andyzhaott]

I used a cheap pre-assembled bat at first, but switched to custom later on. I highly suggest getting a good custom bat.

[@christianmoisestipactipac4260]

I just switched from SH to PH a year ago and I'm having a hard time in my index finger because it sometimes hurt the side of the finger while I'm holding the handle with the blade in the flared area in a longer period especially when performing RPB. Do you any recommendations for this? Anyways your vid is so much helpful

[@andyzhaott]

Thanks for the feedback. If it's a sanding issue, I suggest having a look at this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYubf5amoMxre7s

[@VADIBOY007]

Very good video, thank you for all the information you told. Hello from Russia, I've been playing penhold RPB for about 3 years, amateur level. Please tell me what kind of rubber do you use on the right and left?

[@andyzhaott]

Thanks for the feedback! I use Joola Rhyzer Pro 50 on both sides.

[@VADIBOY007]

@@andyzhaott why don't use DHS sticky Hurricane 3 or Skyline 3? Im use right DHS Hurricane 3 neo . sorry my English

[@andyzhaott]

@@VADIBOY007 I used Hurricane 3 NEO two years ago. It’s okay to use, but it requires a lot of acceleration to use well. Coaches told me to switch to Rhyzer instead. The rubbers I use might not be the rubbers that you should use; if you can, I recommend asking a coach about what you should use.

[@budimoc1045]

@@andyzhaott what is the thickness of the forehand and backhand rubber

[@yadadi4438]

Good video

[@andyzhaott]

:)

[@kitelau7904]

great

[@andyzhaott]

:)

[@purpose6113]

Is it realistic to use both rpb and tbh in your playing style? Or should you stick to only one?

[@andyzhaott]

It's much better to stick with only one for attacking because you don't have to make an extra decision when the ball comes to your backhand side.

[@noah7477]

With the Wang Hao grip should I press my finger tips down more strongly as I'm pulling my arm back for loops, so that the forward momentum doesn't cause my fingers to slip forward?

[@andyzhaott]

If you have issues with finger slipping, a remedy I found to work was to use sandpaper on where my fingers rested on. The rougher surface makes it less slippery.

[@purpose6113]

Hey man How do you achieve using your racket outside with the sunlight directly hitting the rubbers, without the rubbers spoiling/going flat?

[@andyzhaott]

As long as you don't leave the rackets outside for too long, it should be fine

[@myokokoaung9857]

I think in the backhand about 30 percent of the racket back area is block by the fingers and it is difficult to hit.

[@andyzhaott]

With enough practice, I got used to hitting the ball in the same area of the racket face. Occasionally, though, I sometimes hit the ball with my fingers, which can be quite painful.

[@hendralim1674]

Hi andy greeting frm indonesia. What penhold blade are you using?. Thanks

[@andyzhaott]

Hi Hendra, I’m using Butterfly Innerforce ZLC.

[@nealtran1856]

Is your blade a Photino? If yes, can you do a review about it?

[@andyzhaott]

The blade in the video is the Butterfly Innerforce ZLC

[@shen7728]

RPB for me is fun

[@kimchi2o4]

Which raquete can you recommend for me ,I play well with penholder ,I need to buy good one 😅😅

[@andyzhaott]

I started out using Stiga Allround Classic for the blade. For rubbers, something like 729 Focus 1 or DHS Goldarc 5 are good choices, but anything not too fast or too thin should work fine

[@pardediablos2137]

can we get a review of the pinpong ball robot?

[@andyzhaott]

Although it was a bit useful at first, I don't recommend practicing with a robot in general; my coach advised against it because it had a negative impact on my technique when playing against real players.

[@Kailpp]

Hero

[@andyzhaott]

:D

[@recalledsauce3955]

I want to ask you something. Can my three fingers on the backhand side be far apart in penhold grip?

[@andyzhaott]

Very good question! I don't recommend having the three fingers far apart on the backhand side because it further limits your wrist flexibility, which makes over-the-table play (pushes, flicks) more restricted.

[@cyclicalobsessive]

The sharp paddle edge under my forefinger hurts. Is it OK to round that edge?

[@andyzhaott]

You shouldn’t be applying much pressure in that area. Round it off just a little if it’s very sharp, but try not to press down on it too often with your index finger.

[@jrk1666]

for tpb you can do like cazuo matsumoto does too

[@andyzhaott]

Cazuo Matsumoto's TPB is a bit unconventional, but it's definitely effective. I'm not in a position to give any advice on it because I don't use it.

[@jrk1666]

@@andyzhaott i think he has a tutorial on it, its worth to check it out

[@The_Aviator_A330]

I’m left handed and I play a pen hold

[@yasaswynandavareek8399]

I am a beginner level and use penhold grip. But I don't know how to use rpb. The problem I face while using tpb is that when the opponent puts a lot of top spin on the ball towards my backhand, the tpb is not working well. And that's the place most of the players target to defeat me. I don't find anyone that can guide me in how to learn rpb

[@miro_lino6211]

I recently switched to the penhold technique (with RPB). I noticed every pro player leaving about 1cm space between the handle and the forehand rubber and once I played penhold for a few minutes, it became obvious, why. However: Why don't anyone leave the same space or even more on the backhand site? If you don't curl qour fingers, this makes a lot of sense to me, your fingers don't touch this part of the racket and the ball won't either, so why not save the weight? Does anyone know why?

[@andyzhaott]

I'm actually not so sure. If I had to guess, it's so that the weight is more balanced. Try it out yourself and see if you like it, since it does seem preferential.

[@miro_lino6211]

@@andyzhaott The Space where I didn't attach the rubber is only slightly behind the center of gravity, so it barely affects the balance. Besides, if you want the blade to be less top-heavy, why would you place heavy rubber where it, as I stated, barely affects the balance, instead of just placing a tiny weight at the end of the handle? This way you could get rid of top-heavyness without drastically increasing the weight. It really doesn't make sense to me. If you curl your fingers, you can't do that of course, but e.g. Xu Xin always has his fingers straight and he doesn't do it. Why? I played like this for half a year now and there were no issues.

[@budimoc1045]

what is the thickness of the forehand and backhand rubber

[@andyzhaott]

I use max thickness for both sides

[@Odenbark]

Can i use like a large handle with penhold or a short one?

[@grustache4569]

Tony Vreski in my opinion, a short one is really good because it slightly improves one of the disadvantages in the video. A longer hilt does allow more control though

[@andyzhaott]

Long handle rackets are meant for shakehand users. You could definitely use it to play penhold, but I suggest using short handle because the center of gravity is closer to the head of the racket, thereby having a bit more speed and power.

[@BeybladeY-xd5wi]

Im 11 and im obssesed with maling, both the food and person 😂

[@adq8443]

I am 14 yo I am playing for 4 years i think i want to switch to penhold but my club doesnt have a pen hold coach Should I switch?

[@andyzhaott]

Probably not

[@Justmakesomenoiz]

Great video I've played cpen for on/off 30 years. Always played a wery shallow grip and my rpb has always been my favorite stroke and also strongest side. Not he fastest person so like to try to push and get myself away from.the table to get some more time to stear the play were i want it. Just purchased a new blade and also switching to inverted rubber on BH. Always played short pips on BH before. But now I want to be able to spin much more then with short pips.

[@julianyeh3522]

GOOD ASS VIDEO DOG THANKS YOUNGER YOU