Penhold grip

Nehemiah Stephenson Asked 7 years ago

I have probably had a ping pong table to play on for more than 5 years. 5 years ago someone introduced me to the actual game of ping pong. probably around 1 to 2 years I started getting serious about the game. and I think for less than a year I have been actually using the shakehand grip. Earlier it might just have been a all hand on the handle no fingers on the bat. and I am wondering about the penhold grip. I feel that the penhold (with more control with fingers out) is uncomfortable because it makes it to where the bat  digs into my pointer finger. so the shakehand and the curled fingers penhold are the comfortable for me. but I have been wondering about the penhold because it has more spin because of wrist movement (in my mind, if spin is the main factor and difference in ping pong so why not have more spin to deal with.) so wondering if I could switch to penhold since my body probably hasn't gotten too used to the shakehand yet. and also I am wondering about the backspin for the penhold. I feel I cant get a good comfortable way to put backspin on the ball with the penhold. so wondering how to get that.  I do have a bat that doesn't have sponge but has good grippy rubber so I can generate enough spin to know what kind of spin I'm getting. good to learn with. sorry for another long read. and thank you.

Alois Rosario Answered 7 years ago

Hi Nehemiah,

It is OK to change to the Penhold grip if you think it will be more comfortable for you.  Give it a try for a few weeks and see how it feels.

To get backspin with the penhold the principles are the same as with shakehand.  Focus on brushing under the ball with both forehand and backhand.  Take a look at the tutorials on the Backhand Push and Forehand Push.  Also look at the tutorial we have on Penhold Techniques for Table Tennis.