Discussion
Hi Jeff and Alois,
In general if you compare penhold and shakehand, then shakehand has more disadvantage but the majority of the world is shakehand players. Why?
Hi Harikrishnan,
I have to disagree with you on this one. If you compare penhold and shakehand I think they come out about even. The majority of players in Australia definitely use the shakehand grip and the reason is that when a player is starting they copy the players around them.
This video explains in detail how the fingers should be placed and used when using the shakehand grip. By using the fingers correctly you can get the maximum flexibility and therefore benefit out of each of your strokes.
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Ji-Soo Woo Posted 14 years ago
I think the fact that many of the players in asian countries that traditionally used penholder are now using shakehand (Ma Long, Oh Sang Eun, Jun Mizutani being some prominent examples) is an indication that shakehand is not a weaker grip inherently. In fact, overall, because of the backhand, I'd say shakehand has a slight advantage if anything. You need really good footwork to make up for the weak backhand of a penholder. Of course, penhold players using the new RPB technique no longer have this issue.
Sometimes, when playing penholders, I get jealous of their superior ability to produce spin on serve and their advantage in the short game (including those annoying penhold pushes). However, whenever I crack a beautiful backhand winner, I figure I'm not doing too badly with my choice of grip! ;)
Sandesh Shrestha Posted 14 years ago
bhaavan goel Posted 14 years ago
Curtis Lewis Posted 14 years ago