Table Tennis - Penhold Grip

Discussing the traditional penhold grip, the traditional penhold backhand (TBH), reverse penhold backhand (RPB) and a grip that has worked for me.
Please thumbs up if you enjoyed the video. Thanks.
chroniclesofgos...

[@marchwu2109]

the so called curl grip is the one all chinese kids learned in the street and from their parents when they were young.what you call traditional is the grip that has evolve from the curl fpr rpb and more modern style of play.

[@Soper79]

Cool thanks for the info. From my background, I didn't know that. Thanks for the heads up.

[@benthekeeshond545]

March Wu, I am not sure you heard of a Chinese National Player by the name of Jiang Jia Liang. Jiang did not curl his fingers. I would say most Chinese penholders curl their fingers but some of them don't. By the way, Jiang won the WTTC Single twice, 1985 and 1987. Jiang is one the greatest players of alltime.

[@shomurakamisan]

I customized Cpen by carving the handle, I dug up a little bit for the thumb placement where u need to grip for backhand. I use only one side rubber coz I keep hitting my finger when I use reverse Backhand. I think Jpen is perfectly designed overall..

[@SomeRandomGuy777x]

Interesting points. I would like to mention that Wong Chun Ting actually uses that grip. I Think it improves the bh but weakens the fh a bit. Makes the fh feel more unnatural imo. Though, I recomend you take a look at Wong's instructional video's on the RPB. Title: "黄鎮廷がレッスン！絶対打てる!!裏面ドライブ①基礎編" (a couple more on the same channel)

[@MrMilanoLau]

Can't see why RPB can weaken a penholder's FH?

[@theawsomekicker]

how do you do a reverse backhand? from your grip?

[@Soper79]

I was talking about this video & grip to someone on a message board. Performing the RPB with this more curled fingers approach for me is no different than with the more traditional almost straight fingers approach. It's the same motion. So if you can do the RPB, you can do it with this grip. I'd recommend learning to block first. Then later work your way with more active counter drives. Then to Loop as a progression. To me it's similar to throwing a Frisbee honestly. If I'm twiddling like I'm playing with a combination bat, I definitely prefer this grip. If I'm not twiddling, say playing duel inverted on both sides, then I prefer the more extended fingers grip as I think those fingers give slightly better power & feel on the forehand.

[@sultanabran1]

i have the problem of covering the backhand as well. the thing that helped me the most was watching your opponent and recogonising when he's going to attack early. then setting your defensive grip on the backhand side. however, all to the tips in this video are what i did to help out my backhand defence as well.

[@SteveSoper1979]

The Japanese Penhold Blade is Nittaku Airuline 8.8. It's my 2nd Jpen and I like the feel of it. The rubber on it at the time was short pips. 729 802-40 in 2.0 sponge to be exact. Although I have since gone back to inverted with this blade. I love Jpen and the style but truth be told, I play Cpen much more often as the advantages of the RPB are too great to overlook.

[@EpicWeaponries]

I play like this in the UK and I promise you this way is brilliant, I believe there is more wrist movement this way and shots are much more powerful and accurate as well as using backhand to finish a game is sooooo powerful and commonly confuses the other player when he sees that you have flipped the paddle 😉

[@Wewhoshallnotbenamed123]

I am a leisure player. Shifted recently to penhold grip due to wrist pain. With no knowledge what so ever about penhold grip. I natural picked the same grip as u have shown in your video. N i must say it was very comfortable. I was able to do all shots perfectly. Including rpb.

[@Soper79]

Awesome Kritish. Penhold in a funny way is all about doing what works for you. You ask 10 penholders what their grip is, you'll get 3 different answers. The fully curled fingers grip I really liked for if you play pips and you twiddle a lot. I now play inverted both sides so for some time now I've been using the traditional grip shown in the video. I think it gives me better feel and/or power on the FH having those fingers griped more on the back of the blade. That being said, the curled fingers approach will certainly make it easier to have less RPB shots hit your fingers. ;) Have fun and enjoy the style.

[@Wewhoshallnotbenamed123]

@@Soper79 Thank you so much for the insight.

[@marchwu2109]

@@Soper79 funny thing with what you are calling traditional. the curled finger one looks more like the old fashion "tradition" cpen grip. the grip where the finger are extended and curved is actually the grip that has evolve from the traditional grip. lgl, cnt coach, talks about this in a video somewhere.in the video he shows of ryu jpen fully extended grip for strong forehand, ma lins curled grip for good serves and 3rd ball attack,and wang haos curved extended grip where the contact point are more near the finger tips for strong rpb.

[@notzri82]

Hi Steve, I have been playing with the Excelity until now, but I decided to go with a slightly slower blade. After reading your review on other sites, I have just purchased the Airuline 8.8 and can't wait to receive it. That said, I was wondering if you have sealed your Airuline blade (and if so, does it change the feel of the blade at all; if not, does the rubber peel off seamlessly without sealing)?

[@SteveSoper1979]

Hi Joo. I always seal every single blade I buy. I think it just helps the longevity of the blade. I use sanding sealer. 1 or 2 coats should do it. I'm excited for you to have the Airuline 8.8. I like it so much more than the Excelity. The feel is hard to describe but all I can say is IMO it's better. It's a great penhold and when I do play with my Jpen (i go back & forth between that and Cpen), I'm always blown away by how good that blade is. Great feel. But it is easily my fastest blade compared to all my Cpens. Hope you enjoy it.

[@notzri82]

Steve Soper Thanks for such a quick response. I had a very pleasant experience with a very cheap 1-ply blade back in Korea and I must say that the level of control and speed I had with that cheap blade was a lot better than my more expensive Excelity. It felt as if the paddle was one with my hand. One more question for you, since I'm actually new to the concept of sealing - can you please suggest a good sanding sealer for me?

[@SteveSoper1979]

Joo Hyun Song I think almost any type will work. I use Varathane Premium Universal Sanding Sealer I got at Menards for I think was 10 bucks or something. Then I just used those cheap foam brushes to put it on. Best of luck. www.menards.com/main/interior-wood-care/stain/oil-based/varathane-premium-universal-sanding-sealer-1-qt/p-1955760-c-13129.htm

[@tonetruiz]

Such a fantastic tips! Thank you a lot. What do you use to cover the backside on red?

[@Soper79]

Usually long pips for me. But someone could use any type of pips (short or medium) or even an anti spin depending on what they like. As of right now I'm playing inverted on both sides and looking to play more RPB shots that come to my backhand so certainly a more modern style of play. Quite some time ago I settled on this conclusion. If you play a combination bat & you twiddle (I have a video on that), sure use this mostly curled fingers approach. Makes twiddling fast. However, if you don't twiddle, you're better off with the more traditional slightly curled almost extended grip I show in the video. One thing that does I didn't cover in this video is more extended fingers I think improves feel of the blade head on the forehand and it certainly allows you to have better power on the forehand.

[@shomurakamisan]

I used to use reverse penhold in 90's I had never seen people using in that time. My problem was always hitting my finger so I quit but after 30 years it became common.

[@DJShamtown]

Man, I thought I was doing it wrong. I've been playing with the curled method since I started and it was only after watching the Wang Hao instructional video did I think that my technique was wrong. Let's evolve the grip further!

[@Soper79]

Hi Sumil. Yeah it's funny but if you look around enough, you'll notice a lot of pros hold it slightly different. For some time now, I've been back at the slightly curled grip or what I call traditional in this video. Something I know now that I didn't at the time is that with the fingers more extended on the back side, I like it better for feel & power on the forehand. However, for me twiddling then becomes next to impossible. So if I plan to twiddle - then fingers curled. If I plan to not twiddle as much - fingers more straight (traditional grip). Hope you find what works best for you.

[@Listermintsluesh]

the first blade I presume it's all on one side of rubber? cheers

[@mohdazan5277]

for me, straight back finger more useful.. can help me to adjust my hit, fingers work like 'spring' at the back.. my opinion only...

[@vinbenito5979]

Can I put another rubber at the back side of Jpen racket?

[@Soper79]

absolutely you can. Perfectly legal. Now some people speculate that the setup would be pretty heavy but certainly there have been pros who play with two sided Jpens. Taisei Matsushita as an example. If you look up his name on youtube, you should be able to find some videos of him.Qiu Dang also

[@christianadriananiceta2753]

so rpb is possible with short pips?

[@Soper79]

+Christian Adrian Aniceta Absolutely it is. Particularly on short service return. In the end though, I prefer inverted for RPB.

[@christianadriananiceta2753]

Soper79 thank you :D

[@britneyloren]

which Japanese penhold brand/blades/rubber is this?

[@Soper79]

+Britney Nucci Jpen - Nittaku Airuline 8.8, rubber at that time? Probably 729 super FX. nothing too special. The Cpen is a Yinhe W6

[@ClipHighlight_Hub]

What paddle was better?

[@Soper79]

The Chinese penhold easy. I love the look & comfort of Jpen but it's simply a dated style in today's game. Got to have some form of a backhand so you're best off learning a decent RPB if you play penhold.

[@Listermintsluesh]

nice vid

[@tanxu]

your grip is great for close to the table as you mentioned. for blocking and hiting. the problem is for looping.

[@SteveSoper1979]

I think it's what you get use to. I know I certainly don't have a problem hitting any shot differently with this grip. Looping included. That being said, I certainly will never fault someone for trying the more traditional approach if they find a certain play-style easier with that grip. For the last couple of years I've mainly developed into a penhold twiddler (Inverted/Long Pips) and for the sake of twiddle speed, i don't think I can go back. Almost impossible to twiddle quickly (at least for me) with the fingers extended approach. Has to be curled for fast twiddle speed. I keep meaning to make a twiddling video as I find this style interesting. Stay tuned. :) thx for the feedback.

[@tanxu]

i know what u mean. it's much better blocking and switching. i mainly use rpb no almost no traditional block push. extending the back fingers gives much more support. i grip the blade very lose as well.

[@IGGomezGodoy]

I'm having hard time adjusting with my RPB, because I have very long fingers, should I curl them all together? what are your recommendations on this matter?

[@Soper79]

Yes, I can relate. I do not have huge hands but with fingers extended, my middle finger is right in the middle of the ideal sweetspot. I would definitely recommend for you to try this grip. You will find once you get use to it, your RPB rarely hits your fingers because they're curled. Try it out and let me know what you think.

[@tanxu]

watch the wang hao tutorial

[@marchwu2109]

i would look at xu xin grip he has long fingers and recently he is developing a better rpn