Penhold Potential

Dear Pingskills

Is there any tactics or shots that a penholder should focus on and adapt to his game. Or is this similar to shakehand?

What should penhold players be doing to exploit weaknesses in shakehand players? So is there any general tatics to know of?

Also what is your advised learning process for the Reverse Penhold Backhand? My consistency seems to be holding me back. And any fast long balls deep to my backhand it becomes very hard to execute the shot. When I do manage to learn it, should I be aiming to use the reverse side whenever or still exchange with the traditional backhand?

Thanks,

Dominic 

Hi Dominic,

The main weakness of the shakehand player that you can try to exploit in comparison to a penholder is their is the crossover point. This is the place they switch between forehand and backhand.

The other deficiency of he shakehand compared to penhold is that it is harder to use the wrist for the service in particular.  This isn't something that you would be focusing on exploiting tactically.

Regarding the Reverse Penhold Backhand (RPB) the main thing is to get the angle of the racket correct at the start of the stroke. This is difficult because of the angle of the wrist.  Try to get the racket into a position where it is facing the table and where you want the ball to go.  For the deep ball you need to move your feet quickly into position, usually backwards so that you are in a more effective position to make the shot. Alternatively, if you don't have time, just lean backwards slightly to get better position to make the shot.

You can use the RPB when you are looking to attack on the backhand.  It is a quicker stroke and easier to position your self for than the traditional backhand attack.