How To Hold a Table Tennis Bat | PingSkills

www.PingSkills.com - Learn how to correctly hold a Table Tennis bat using the shakehand grip or the penhold grip. This Table Tennis coaching lesson is proudly brought to you by PingSkills.
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[@pingskills]

Good to hear you are improving. Returning smashes is difficult. It's actually better to work on attacking first yourself or keeping the ball low and/or short so your opponent can't attack!

[@kbprojekty]

If every tutorial video would be that good, I'd free as much as few additional years of my life. Perfect, simple and precise explanation. I didn't expect to be hyped about a ping-pong video, but congratulations, really great job!

[@pingskills]

Both grips have advantages and disadvantages. However as you can see from the best players in the World, you can use either and be a great player. I'd choose the one you feel most comfortable with. I'm glad you have subscribed. Be sure to also check out our website where you can ask the coach any questions you have.

[@sharath1857]

Do people switch between penhold and shake hand grip Like for top spin use penhold and for rallies use shake hand

[@pingskills]

@@sharath1857 I have not seen that before. I would suggest it is much better to pick one grip and then stick with your choice.

[@pingskills]

Thanks for the questions. The best place to ask these questions is on our website under the ask the coach section. We have more room there to answer.

[@pingskills]

I think that you've got some excellent replies about this. You can play the penhold with a standard blade but a lot of people use specially made bats that have shorter handles.

[@pingskills]

Great. I'm glad you found the video useful.

[@pingskills]

Hi Soju69jinro, for some reason I can't reply directly to your comment. I think that it's best to use one of the standard grips. All of the top players use these two types of grips so that tells you the importance of it.

[@pingskills]

+Imzy Yes I think it's important as no top player has the pointer finger straight up the back of the bat. The reason is that it is bad for the backhand and it also limits the movement of your wrist.

[@GaurabPaudelja]

Well, this tutorial really helped correct my grip anomalies. Now, I make less errors while serving and returning.

[@pingskills]

Thanks. Glad you liked it.

[@pingskills]

Great to hear. Keep working hard and I'm sure you can improve even more.

[@isabelmarie2003]

Love his voice, so calming and relaxing!

[@williamlowry8809]

Lol. When I was younger I used to hold my bat in the right way. Then I went to a course, and told me to not put my index across de bat. So I followed the advice and adapted my game. I thought I was starting to become quite good, so I went to the exact same place 3 years later for another course, and what do they tell me? You have to put your index across the bat.

[@pingskills]

+William Lowry Doh! Well I think it's worth holding it the right way to keep developing your game. At least you know the best way now. Good luck.

[@villydarkvenomous2185]

Damm

[@Wally-H]

Great video, I'm still learning with the penhold after taking the game up again a few months back - spin is new to me and I need to get that wrist pivot. I can spin it both ways but at the moment I find myself drawing the bat across the ball to achieve it rather than using the wrist to maximise the amount of spin. One thing I always found with penhold is that I can get tremendously powerful and low forehand smashes - that is one of the reasons I always played penhold as opposed to shakehand. Penhold is great for an offensive game against our 'friendly' club players who find it difficult to deal with.

[@pingskills]

It's great to hear you are getting back into the game. Good luck with your table tennis.

[@Wally-H]

many thanks. As an update, I've got the wrist pivot now. I'm working on the reverse backhand to make sure that side doesn't get too exploited when we join a league next year.

[@pingskills]

Great to hear you are joining a league next year. Good luck!

[@ethanvalentine3041]

awesome grip pingskills keep it up plz.. pray for me to be a professional table tennis player like you

[@pingskills]

Good luck with your table tennis!

[@ethanvalentine3041]

thnxs.. :-)

[@khajanchim]

Great video! Can you please make a video on the slight difference in grip that we should make while switching from forehand to backhand or vice-versa? That would be really helpful! Thanks a lot!

[@ShortFemz]

i used to grip my bat with 2 fingers , and then when i watched this video it changed the way i play and i am much of a better player, thanks alot

[@NasonVSRG]

My gym grade depends on me winning lol so I came here for tips. Thanks.

[@pingskills]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@jeyoung6244]

Hmh

[@shubhangijagdev7343]

Hello, I'm a beginner in table tennis and I think this video has really taught me ways to hold a bat which is quite good.

[@pingskills]

Try to serve with a lot of backspin. This makes it much harder to attack the serve especially if it is short and low. Check out our website for more tips.

[@pingskills]

Yes, the biggest problem with this is when you switch to your backhand. You can play just as good a forehand with the finger in the correct position and then you are also ready for the backhand, that's why the standard grip is better.

[@hasantariq2286]

SH is the better grip imo ... yea the PH has its advantages but your backhand is more useful than people think and when that's being hindered by the PH grip it isn't good.

[@pingskills]

It seems like there are more shakeholders in the top 100 than penholders at the moment. The reverse penhold backhand has removed some of the limitations of the backhand for penholders though.

[@Conturnal]

I know you both focus on shakehand stuff. but you could you try to do a reverse penhold backhand tutorial? Thanks.

[@pingskills]

Google "pingskills penhold techniques" and take a look at that video. We do cover that shot briefly.

[@Conturnal]

PingSkills Ah great, thanks!

[@andyzhaott]

Many Penholders such as Xu Xin and Ryu Seung Min are forehand dominant, so they really don't need their backhand much. The traditional backhand is slightly hindered, but is much easier to learn, a lot more consistent. The reverse backhand, in my opinion, is a lot more effective after lots of practice compared to the shakehand grip. It might be harder to execute, compared to the shakehand backhand, but it can generate more spin due to the extra wrist flexibility. I feel like both the penhold and shakehand grip's advantages and disadvantages even out, with neither being better than the other. The main reason why there are less penholders than shakehanders in the top 100 is because penhold is becoming less and less popular and is being taught less and less. But there wouldn't still be penhold players up there if there was such a disadvantage.

[@fightinglionenjoyer5409]

Amazing video! Exactly what I was looking for :)

[@pingskills]

Thanks. Yes we will be updating a lot of our older videos to full 1080p HD!

[@BlindFunkey]

His name must be Skills

[@arm8636]

@cycl0ps__ ahahaha awesome

[@nathanielrodriguez9125]

This was 6 years ago nice

[@pingskills]

We've had quite a few questions about this on our website. Head over to the Ask the Coach section and search for "grip switching between backhand and forehand". With regards to which videos we film a response for, our premium members vote. So if you ask an interesting question you've got a good chance!

[@pingskills]

Great point! Thanks for sharing.

[@jeyoung6244]

GFS

[@harolartola7531]

the best tutorials of table tennis >.

[@pingskills]

Thanks harol artola

[@mdra_]

Imo PH attacking backhand is so good but defensive forehand is really hard to master and you have to go back a lot when blocking with each forehand and backhand

[@pingskills]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@pingskills]

Take a look at our video on the forehand smash. Most of the points are the same regardless of your grip. You can also search for "PingSkills Penhold" and see some techniques there.

[@jeyoung6244]

Oh

[@pingskills]

Not really. The two grips we show here are the main grips and what we recommend.

[@pingskills]

Great to hear. Checkout our website for more table tennis tips.

[@jesuscalisterio6575]

Great Video !!! I'm gonna use this in my learning material / slide presentation. Good job Coach !!!

[@GomoGomoNoRocket]

If you are using Penhold Grip, Its better not to have your fingers flat in the back because if your fingers are flat in the back of the bat, its harder to generate reverse backhand loop, and you do less spin from forehand loop. have your fingers line up on top of each other will help you generate more spin whne looping the ball and you can do reverse backhand loop. if you have your fingers curved at the back, you can learn "push" or "block" handball, which is a powerful backhand used by Ma Lin.

[@liebefussball]

Thank you so much pingskills

[@anindaabhijit4863]

i like your table tennis videos a lot. thx for the help

[@pingskills]

+Aninda Abhijit You're most welcome. If you ever have any table tennis questions then please use the ask the coach section of the PingSkills website. We love talking about this great sport :)

[@akramsandy1350]

Thank you soo much sir. Very useful and i am doing my best from this video. ❤❤

[@sashankhkale2229]

Excellent video. Thank you!

[@pingskills]

You're welcome *****

[@jcjensenllc]

Very clear explanation.

[@deepakinchennai]

the grip with 1 finger has made my game better ... now i have better control on my shots

[@ayushgoyal7493]

i have played 2 state level tournaments as a captain but both times my team lost in semis.so this year i want to win the state level. so i subscribed to pingskills. plz tell me that how should i hold the grip penhold or shakehand and a better way to defeat the opponents

[@limzs6474]

I play with the shakehand grip as it is more convenient.

[@bingvandermeer8830]

i like the hand shake one

[@16sportsboy]

i like this video alot i used to hold the penhold grip wrong but now i do it right i like the penhold better because i can spin it better

[@wuichovengeance]

i started with the shakehand grip, but i find the penhold grip a lot more interesting so i decided to switch grip

[@khateramos8634]

i am now playing table tennis thanks for the videos.

[@duhhimugly4540]

Thank god i found this!! Thank you so much!!♡ i think i'm muc h more confident now.. now that i've watched your videos. :)

[@pingskills]

You're welcome!

[@osmangoraya2330]

Shake hand grip is the best one and is suitable to majority of players

[@daksh5078]

I have been playing TT for 5 years and I am still watching this video😂

[@azharibinmuhamood3606]

Good information for beginner player

[@pingskills]

Thanks, I'm glad you found it helpful.

[@nyx1307]

Hello pingskills I feel comfortable serving with PH grip and immediately switching back to SH for further play... Is that legal? Thanks

[@TrueRetroflection]

I was wondering the same thing. I can imagine grip switches being pretty difficult to keep up with.

[@pingskills]

It can be especially switching between the penhold and shakehand. If you are a shakehand player you can use a slightly modified shakehand grip that frees up your wrist so you can generate lots of spin and don't need a big change to get back to your normal grip.

[@TrueRetroflection]

PingSkills I'll definitely look into it! Also, what's your opinion on the V-grip and Seemiller grip?

[@pingskills]

I don't have a lot of experience with them. The fact that none of the top players in the World use them these days makes me think that it's better to stick with either the penhold or the shakehand grip.

[@syikinrashid3728]

thank you pingskills for making an excellent video

[@dr.meenusharma1535]

Is it correct to hold racket in tennis style you have said it's hard but it's correct or not

[@pingskills]

I wouldn't recommend holding the bat like you do a tennis racquet. All the top players in the World use either the shakehand or the penhold grip as we explain in this video.

[@dr.meenusharma1535]

@@pingskills Thank you so much for teaching my children so nicely. They are very much motivated after looking your videos. My son Kushagra is of age 8 but he try to play his best looking you.

[@pingskills]

@@dr.meenusharma1535 That is great to hear. I'm glad we've been able to encourage them to play table tennis. Wish them all the best from us.

[@dr.meenusharma1535]

@@pingskills Thank u so much धन्यवाद 🙏

[@ellabernadethcanja2909]

THANK YOU FOR TEACHING US HOW TO HOLD A RACKET

[@pingskills]

You are welcome.

[@seriouslysirius7683]

Thank you so much🙌

[@pingskills]

You're welcome 😊

[@KNGexp]

Go Team Penhold!

[@maplelegend1]

Just to expand on @stawy22 's point, the penhold blade has a shorter grip as it is unnecessary to have a longer grip for the penhold. Just google images it to see a visual image.

[@TheJamon79]

I have questions about penhold raquets: Do JPen and CPen raquets corrospond to the way you curl your fingers as mentioned in the video? Can I put rubber on 2 sides of a penhold raquet? Can JPen and Cpen raquets be held either way (contact with red side or contact with black side)?

[@centinajosua8404]

Thank you PingSkills its very excellent i can defeat my schoolmates..

[@kakashihatake-pw1ti]

Hi, Recently I saw someone playing with a pointer finger moved to the middle of the bat. Then I tried to play like that, and it improved the consistency of my fh rapidly. much better control and i can hit harder. What do you think?

[@pingskills]

Hi kakashi hatake, The problem is that you need to switch it back when playing a backhand and as the rallies get faster you will get caught out. Also with some practice you can play the forehand just as well with the correct grip. I think holding it the way we demonstrate is best for players development.

[@preranaadhikari5775]

i have been playing tt for more than 6 years now..i use pen hold grip..cn u do a detailed video on the hw to overcome weakness of this grip..plus most of my opponents use hand shake grip sooo cn u plz tell me hw to defeat them..thanks!!

[@Overthought7]

Wow, this video is really well done. :D

[@pingskills]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

[@ytscreenname]

Any chance you will give a video for atypical grips and bats? I have been wanting to have some fun with some experimental ways to play ping pong, so I bought a pistol grip bat.

[@pingskills]

Sorry we don't have any videos on that. Enjoy experimenting.

[@artemisbak7484]

here in greece some players have their thumb on the grip and the other fingers on the one side of the bat !Is that a nice way to hold the bat??

[@gamingstarz7760]

Hi Alois, I was wondering which handle shape i should get. & I am not also sure what they look like. Could you please explain to me what a concave & anatomic handle shape looks like? Thanks.

[@pingskills]

***** The shape of the handle is not really important in regards to the performance of the bat. The best thing is to try out a few different bats and see what you like. The handle shape is really a personal preference.

[@andyzhaott]

The handle shape only affects the performance a little. I've heard that many top Chinese players use a flared (FL) handle so that it's easier to hold the bat more loosely inbetween strokes.

[@faracote9218]

Thanks for the video, I used to hold the bat with 4 fingers on the back haha

[@pingskills]

You're welcome. I hope the new grip has helped your table tennis.

[@marquezrobinson7492]

I tend to push my my thumb and pointer and middle finger together more control. The downside is that you sometimes have the ball hit your hand which sucks.

[@izzeddinkurdi-abojad5957]

Good job thanks

[@khateramos8634]

ive checked your site. it really helped me in my proper posture . but i still cant return heavy smashes. :(

[@elmehdiomari798]

Hi there Alois, thanks for the awesome videos, I was just wondering should the red face of the bat be on my forhand or my backhand? thanks for answering

[@danielangaye1775]

God bless you sir fr

[@milkyboy8371]

Tnx helped a lot

[@pingskills]

I would say more in the palm of your hand but your fingers need to wrap around the handle with your pointer and thumb on each side of the rubber.

[@simplydawny9054]

I use pin hand, and I find it easier and more comfortable.

[@clausvidebk1980]

I use shakehand grip. How close towards the blade do I place my grip? When I keep a little distance my punches become stronger, more flexibility in my wrist but I loose in control.

[@pingskills]

Choose what you feel best for your situation. Generally though I would encourage you to be closer to the rubber. See this video for more demonstrations of Alois holding the bat with the shakehand and see where he places his hand.

[@pingskills]

You're welcome.

[@daqi7057]

ph is soo much better it's harder but when you get get used to it. it so much better than the sh and the back hand is difficult but when used a lot its as good as the sh

[@devilincarnarion]

Can you make video how to.do reverse penhold backhand?

[@pingskills]

Take a look at this video. We cover the reverse penholder backhand along with other strokes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4auaGCwbL-pabs

[@enespasha4882]

hey coach after i saw your website many of my questions are answered unless two questions 1. if you saw ma longs gameplay when he takes the ball he touches the ball to his short cleaning it what is the advantage of that 2.when the player serving he takes his foot higher and fastly attractes to the ground what is the advantage of that

[@pingskills]

+Enes Pasha Ma Long is just making sure there is no sweat on the ball. As the guys play so intensely their sweat can get on the ball and if that happens the ball does not grip on the rubber so he just makes sure it is dry. With the serving there is no real advantage. Some players just like to do this.

[@enespasha4882]

Well thanks no more questions left thanks for you coach and for all who works in pingskills

[@pingskills]

+Enes Pasha You're welcome :)

[@stawy22]

are there any special bats for penhold or can you play penhold with the same bat which you used for shakehand game?

[@napleee]

You can play with both , but indeed they are special bats for penhold.

[@keegancan]

Thanks

[@muhammadikmal7956]

i have hold my racket very tightly for long time..so i decided to change it by loosing my wrist, my topspin against block are getting better, but now i have problem to loop backspin ball. should i change back my old style or keep practicing with this new style?

[@BBd-ed9sf]

Thanks pingskills bro!! u helped me a alot, but which way of holding the bat is the best???? i use the pen hold grab style bt i found that while hitting shots the ball goes in the net.. so which would be the best

[@pingskills]

+B225 B78d I like the shakehand but that's because I've always used that grip. There are World Champions who have used the Penhold and World Champions who have used the shakehand so both are good. I'd suggest you use the one that feels most comfortable to you.

[@BBd-ed9sf]

Thanks!!!! U helped me a lot man..

[@pingskills]

+B225 B78d You're welcome.

[@AlbinPeterChinnamma1991]

Thanks Sir..

[@karmelbarghouthi5436]

Hello, I watched alot of your great tips, and you motivated me to start training fresh age players. but i want to ask you about the recommended age for them to start. And should i start with regular rackets or spin and speed rackets. they will be new to the game.

[@karmelbarghouthi5436]

and sorry for my bad english

[@pingskills]

It's better to get some rackets that can generate spin so they can learn about that from the start. Don't get anything that is very fast but a good pre-made racket is ideal. If this is too expensive than you can use rackets without any spin. As for a starting age, it really is dependent on each kid and how they are developing. The main thing is you want the kids to enjoy each session so they want to keep playing. This is actually more important than learning when they first start. No one keeps playing long enough to become good if they don't enjoy the sport!

[@karmelbarghouthi5436]

Thank you v.much, but what the age of the players? Now I aiming to 10-15 yo children. Sorry for my questions but I have another one if you allow me to ask, I have now a Donic racket I bought it as one piece, are the rubbers of one piece racket replaceable ?

[@pingskills]

Yes, 10 to 15 year olds are great ages for kids to start playing table tennis! With the Donic racket you can usually take the rubbers off and then replace them. As it was a pre-made bat it might be hard getting the rubbers off the first time but after that if you use a water based table tennis glue it will be easy. We have an "ask the coach" page on the PingSkills website where you can ask your own questions and search through over 10,000 questions that we have already answered. I think you'll like it :) www.pingskills.com/table-tennis-forum#gsc.tab=0 Good luck with your teaching. It's great that you are getting involved. Cheers, Jeff.

[@karmelbarghouthi5436]

Thank you coach, see you on the page :)

[@azuanazzeham8361]

Loose grip or hard grip? Which one is better and correct?

[@pingskills]

Great question. Watch this video and let me know if it helps - www.pingskills.com/tutorials/basic-strokes-faq/the-role-of-the-fingers-in-the-shakehand-grip

[@kmkmkm4889]

I play shakehand and penhold too.

[@riarmanyt2668]

Hey can you tell that ghost serve is possible on offensive xx it has spin and speed 92 and control 96

[@pingskills]

I haven't heard of that bat. As long as the rubber has enough grip to be able to spin the ball then you can do it.

[@TetunningHD]

Thank you

[@pingskills]

You're welcome.

[@rowzeshmaharjan7208]

i want to learn the different varieties of serve

[@pingskills]

Great to hear. Take a look at our Serving Secrets Course - www.pingskills.com/table-tennis/serving-secrets/

[@andyzhou8937]

Hi PingSkills. I'm trying to enter a table tennis varsity team and in order to get in I am going to compete against other players to get a spot in the team. I have a passion for table tennis but I'm not that good at the game . I am using the penhold grip with long pimples and I play offense. Should I use a different rubber since the long pimples are mostly for control? Thanks!

[@pingskills]

+Andy Zhou I think using a normal rubber would be better as it allows you to generate your own spin. Mark V or Sriver are good rubbers that we often recommend.

[@qmanzo]

I will start with shakehand grip.i love using my forehand.

[@pingskills]

OK. Good luck!

[@TheKarthikVishy]

what is the best table tennis beginner racket and best ball !

[@pingskills]

There is no one best racquet. You need one that allows you to spin the ball and has good control. We recommend the PingSkills Rook which we sell on our website but there are lots of good options.

[@plumprice]

Hi, I have just started playing table tennis and heard that it was bad for the racket to touch the rubber (diminishes the material causing less spin). Is this true? when holding the racket isn't that touching the rubber?

[@pingskills]

Philip Ton Your hand does touch the rubber when holding it correctly but you'll notice that this is on the part of the rubber you won't hit the ball with so it's not a problem.

[@khateramos8634]

nice tip i will do that :) for sure thanks again .

[@preranaadhikari5775]

can u do a video on hw to hit smash with pen hold grip??

[@ganeshsomayaji7278]

ty

[@shailesh_uvka]

Hi there, thnx for all videos........Well, I use SH grip and am a forehand power player so I find hard on my backhand but as my opponents came to know my backhand weakness I started doing jobs on my backhand as well and I am very good at BH drives in my training sessions but I feel as if Iam loosing my FH shots as I am working with a tiny change in my grip during games i.e. I use my thumb over the rubber for BH shots and as it comes to rally for FH shots I am already used to hit it removing that thumb from rubber keeping of the top of the handle......using thumb in such manner for BH shots prevent my bat to move, and keeps bat stable during BH shots and its wondreful feeling while hitting and type of BH shots pressing that THUMB..........pls help should I still give myself bit more time to be autopilot using tiny change ..........