Different Grips During Rallies
Strokes and Technique
Andrew Pape Asked 13 years ago
Hi Alois,
The book "Table Tennis Tactics" by Geske/Mueller ("Meyer and Meyer Sport") talks about bat grips for shakehands players. I had noticed Timo Boll changing grips for f/hand or b/hand loops, and was wondering what you think about the different grips. I was surprised to find that players change their grips for all types of shots. Here's page 1:
"The table below was compiled by Glen Osth and Jens Felke. It shows which grips are advantageous for which strokes and side changes. eg a FH topspin is easier with the forehand grip while the backhand grip is helpful for a FH sidespin…
Strokes:
FH-topspin - FH-grip
BH-topspin - BH grip
FH smash - BH grip
BH-smash - FH grip
FH flip - FH grip
BH flip - BH grip
Quick change from FH to BH - BH grip
Quick change from BH to FH - FH grip
FH parallel from the FH corner - FH grip
BH parallel from the FH corner - BH grip
FH cross-court from the FH corner - BH grip
BH cross-court from the BH corner - FH grip
FH from mid-table - FH grip
BH from mid table - BH grip
FH sidespin - BH grip
Defensive FH chop- BH grip
Defensive BH chop - FG grip
This is mind-boggling. I am an natural backhand player and can control the ball well with a std grip. When I've tried to change to a backhand grip, it just feels awkward and a waste of time. With the f/hand, I am weaker and will do anything to improve it. Yet I don't know how to adjust the grip and whether it's worth the effort changing. As for all the other grip changes above, I've never noticed any players making these grip changes. These grip changes seem to be used by Swedish and German players.
Worth experimenting ?
Cheers,
Andrew.
Simon Gerada Answered 13 years ago
Hi Andrew,
That certainly is a very detailed list of strokes and grips. I think that it would be hard to remember what grip you should be using for what stroke. I much prefer to keep things a lot more simple.
When starting out I recommend that you use a standard Shakehand Grip for both the forehand and backhand. As you develop you'll find that you'll either be a neutral player, a forehand player or a backhand player. Depending on these your grip may change slightly to favour one particular side. If you do change your grip slightly during a rally, it doesn't matter as long as you don't get caught out with a bad grip and end up losing points because of it. If this happens you definitely need to modify your grip. Otherwise it's not a big problem. A lot of players naturally modify their grips slightly between backhand and forehand.
Thoughts on this question
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Andrew Pape Posted 13 years ago
Hi Simon,
Great to hear from you. I read a book by Victor Barna, from the old days of TT, and in those days it seemed that it was taught that you should use your thumb for backhands. I tried that years ago and found it gave a more solid and forceful backhand. It was a slower game for Victor, without much topspin. I think if someone were looping at me, and I pressed the thumb into the rubber, it would make the ball catapult off the end of the table. So maybe it's not such a good idea to use this backhand grip? Thanks for clarifying the position and pressure of the thumb and index finger for the forehand too. I'm a backhand player, and will go to any lengths to get a good forehand, so I'm glad you've given a qualified yes to trying out a forehand grip.I'll give it a go! Thanks again.
Cheers,
Andrew.
Andrew Pape Posted 13 years ago
Thanks for defining the bat grips and giving me the go-ahead to try a f/hand grip.
My f/hand has been a huge problem. My arm used to get too tense and I got no speed or spin. I have been so nervous that I've stopped the swing at the point of impact, and the ball would just drop dead. My neutral grip was no good for forehands. Now I have adopted a f/hand grip, and the situation has changed totally. By holding the bat further down the handle, I now swing naturally, getting much more speed and spin. My f/hand has worked well ever since I changed the grip. First, I had a few hits on a robot, then started playing people. For the last year I have tried to vary the f/hand, with little result. But a slight change in grip was all I needed. I don't know exactly why the grip works, but it does. Hard to believe that one tiny detail has made such a difference. Thanks again.
I hope this new-found knowledge can help other b/hand players with their weaker f/hands.
Cheers,
Andrew.
Oliver Posted 13 years ago
Is the point of doing this to get a better bat angle? Cos my coach tells me that the FH bat angle with shakehand should be much parallel to the ground when looping and because the bat is parallel with the index finger, the tip of the finger and the tip of the thumb should be distanced and for backhand the tip of thumb should be stretching out towards the tip of the index finger. Is that true?
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 13 years ago