I just found this channel and I must applaud your simple and professional approach to Ping Pong. As a rookie I play casually. My space and time for playing Ping Pong are limited but I enjoy learning more and growing in the sport, which has been helped immensely but your tutorials.
+Mr Pernickety Thanks. I'm glad you are liking the channel. Make sure to take a look at the PingSkills website too and sign up for our free email newsletter with lots of table tennis tips.
Very helpful, ive recently been playing more table tennis since i got a table for free and i recently switched to this grip after noticing the olympic players that used this grip were dominant, and this grip to me is much more versatile and agile than the shakehand, i found your video whilst searching to refine my skills with the penhold and this vid certainly helped me (mostly with the topspin or loop shot, i was pleased to find that i was already doing most of these shots properly) thanks!
@poopootae I'm glad you found it useful. It is OK to have a small variation in grip between the backhand and forehand. As long as it is seamless to switch from backhand to forehand and vice versa.
@GooGooGaGa10 Take a look on our website as we have a lesson on the shakehand grip. We have also just answered a question via video about changing your grip during a rally so check out ask the coach or our search for the video on our channel. Basically it is OK to have a small change in grip as long as you are not getting caught out with the wrong grip and losing points. Good luck!
@liontoxicatorR We don't get much room here to answer in detail. It sounds like this might need a bit of discussion. It might be best if you post a question on our website under the Ask the Coach section!
Hahaha I love how you stay so calm to that little guy saying he is better. He could never know! Matt didn't even play full power, he was just showing techniques. Good video!
@AceofDlamonds Good question. I think if it is played correctly it doesn't put too much strain on the wrist. And when blocking topspin, you do need to counter the topspin regardless of which grip you use.
I started out playing table tennis using the Shakehand grip. I recently switched to Penhold. I have always dabbled with Penhold, but finally, I decided that my style dictated that I make the jump to Penhold. My serves are my strength and I can put much more spin on them and have more control using Penhold. Thank you for this video. I am positive that I made the right decision and will continue to practice both grips, but focus mainly on Penhold.
The penhold is a great grip, and much underrated. Having switched you'll get some puzzled looks, and a lot of players asking why on earth you would want to do such a thing. When they see the different variety of spin you get on your loops, chops and top spins, and they have trouble reading it, then you can say "that's why!" Penhold isn't for everyone, but if it feels comfortable, it is definitely worth a try. I find in my local league that players simply aren't used to it and they have a lot of trouble reading what's coming at them.
@argonmeditation Concentrate on your start and finish positions. These are the most critical to get right. You can practice the stroke away from the table just to get the feel of the shot right. Once you get a bit more comfortable go back to the table and try and get 5 on in a row. Work on improving your consistency. Start hitting the ball slowly and then aim for 10 in a row. You can always ask us a question on our website using "Ask the Coach". We've got more room for answers there!
That's great LAGman91. Keep up the good work! If you can find a table tennis club in your area you should try and join up, it will be a great experience.
It sounds like you need to practice this. See if you can get a training partner to play to your backhand and then practice hitting the ball down the line. If it always goes cross court you may have to even aim off the table. Don't be scared about missing the ball, it's important during training to experiment whilst you are learning.
@raegiorem If you don't have a table then hitting against a wall can help. In fact if you look at our free lessons on our website, you'll find one called practicing alone. This will give you some more ideas on how you can practice without a table. Good luck!
Traditionally a penholder would only use one side of the bat. But nowadays most people starting out with the penhold grip are also learning the "reverse penhold backhand" (rpb) which uses the other side of the bat.
@meandonlyme1998 Good question. I'm not really sure how to answer this one. Maybe try posting this on our website under our Ask the Coach section and we'll get a real answer for you!
Very nice video, thank you! Hard to find good instructions for penholders. A video with advanced pehold serve techniques would be great too. It seems to me that if you are mostly relying on RPB, like Wang Hao, then you pretty much still have the crossover point weakness in more or less the same spot? I am not an expert, I tried both grips, and to me the main advantage of penhold is more control on the spin because of its extended amplitude of wrist movement. I guess, from my limited understanding, one disadvantage of penhold would be for chopping defenders -- looks like that play style is better suited for shakehand?
Great observations. Certainly if you use the reverse penhold backhand then you do have a crossover point. You can still play a traditional backhand with the penhold though. And yes chopping is much easier for shakehand players.
@vblings The problem is that we are shakehand players so know a lot more about this style of play. A lot of our tutorials are still applicable to the penhold grip as the basic principles do not change.
I’ve had a habit of using the penhold grip for my entire life. As a kid I had a paddle that handle was too short for me, so I started holding it like that.
@gulligagardinen The main thing to concentrate on is brushing the ball on the side. To get a lot of spin you need to brush the ball and have your bat moving quickly.
@Kakashinoor Especially with the forehand loop, the principles are very similar for both the shakehand and penhold grips. Try watching the videos on our website about the forehand loop and concentrate on the start and finish position of the stroke. This will be the same and if you can get these right you are well on your way to being able to play it consistently.
When I was first learning ping pong, my brother forced me to learn the penholder grip. It turns out to be by far the best, as for me, it virtually eliminates the backhand, and most of your movement is in the wrist. Also, you can really put some spin on the ball, and make killer short shots.
@raegiorem it's really a personal preference. What grip do you feel most comfortable with. Another consideration might be which grip can you get the best coaching for where you live.
it took me about 1 summer of practice to get comfortable to play it in game situation - for my friends and it, it tends to generate more power than the forehand (when the forehand doesn't get the left foot power step forward)
i just started using penhold grip, i grip more toward the end of handle and spread out the three fingers on backside, and hold the bat somewhat perpendicular to hand. i find this grip very flexible in hitting different ball flights, though not as powerful as the shakehand grip, i can use both bat sides very naturally. the downside is work too much for the wrist, in fact curling fingers only increases burden on the wrist. good work.
@arash1902 the penhold style yr talking about is the japanese penhold style which only has a rubber on one side, in this video they are using the chinese style penhold which has two sides of rubber.
You need to try and adjust the angle of your bat so you don't hit the ball down. Watch the video and try to get a good picture in your mind of how the stroke is played. Then practice it without a ball (this is called shadow play). Once you feel you've got the stroke correct then try it out on the table.
@David Baile pen hold is an awesome grip. However, looking at the shake hand grip, it has a terribly weak backhand. So as mentioned in this video, try practising the reverse penhold backhand cause it increases your backhand efficiency alot. I am a penhold and one of the best at where i play. Hope you love table tennis too. Good luck
Nice video. However, I have a very unique grip. I hold the paddle with just my pinky and my thumb and I use my other fingers to stablize and keep the paddle flush or as angled as I need it. It works with my backhand which is not a typical backhand. There are several ways but each one has to find there own and what works. You guys should do a video on different paddle types. Thanks and great channel
Hello Alois! I have a question about which penhold grip i should use since I am extremely conflicted between using the japanese penhold and the chinese penhold. I use cchinese penhold when I serve and I switch to japanese when I rally. I tried both chinese and japanese penhold and they both work fine except for reverse penhold backhand which I prefer chinese penhold more. My question is, should I use the chinese penhold or the japanese penhold? I also want to thank you for making a video about penhold techniques since everyone is pretty much doing tutorials on shakehand techniques
Hm...I'm just a casual player, but when I first started, I held my paddle in a fashion similar to this, just because I thought it was unique and different. Interesting to find out now that there's a name to it with a good video describing the method better for me.
@raegiorem I don't think it is better as such. There are great players who have used the penhold grip and there are great players who have used the shakehand. As you say though, everything requires more practice :) Keep working hard and you'll make progress.
One thing that I disagree with PingSkill is that penholders do have a crossover point. I use all reverse penhold backhand for backhand, which mean I use RPB even for blocks, lobbing, counter-hits. I find that the transition between backhand and forehand is even harder than shakehand. As a draw back, I can get a lot of spin on both side because of the wrist motion. In my opinion, the modern Chinese RPB is a good option for an offensive two-wing looper, like Wang Hao!
![How to Receive Serves Without Worrying About Spin.[Table Tennis]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2EJM2mOkn1o/mqdefault.jpg)
![How to Receive Serves Without Worrying About Spin.[Table Tennis]](/img/tr.png)
My left ear learnt a lot from this video.
Yes, I'm really sorry that your right ear couldn't help you with this video. In our later videos we have fixed this :-)
PingSkills Haha, no worries. It was still a very helpful video :-)
i thought it was my ear and i had to clean it twice till i noticed your comment
0:11 - Basics
0:58 - Advantages
2:15 - Disadvantages (not biased at all lol)
3:04 - Forehand Technique
4:29 - Backhand Technique
5:37 - Reverse Backhand Technique
7:15 - Pushing
8:06 - Korean/Japanese Backhand Technique
8:53 - Combinations
11:03 - Credits
I just found this channel and I must applaud your simple and professional approach to Ping Pong. As a rookie I play casually. My space and time for playing Ping Pong are limited but I enjoy learning more and growing in the sport, which has been helped immensely but your tutorials.
+Mr Pernickety Thanks. I'm glad you are liking the channel. Make sure to take a look at the PingSkills website too and sign up for our free email newsletter with lots of table tennis tips.
PingSkills
Dev!
Yep u can. That's the traditional Korean/Japanese penhold grip. (The first time Japan and Korea actually AGREED on something). Plus that's what I use!
yaaaaah keep it up bro
Very helpful, ive recently been playing more table tennis since i got a table for free and i recently switched to this grip after noticing the olympic players that used this grip were dominant, and this grip to me is much more versatile and agile than the shakehand, i found your video whilst searching to refine my skills with the penhold and this vid certainly helped me (mostly with the topspin or loop shot, i was pleased to find that i was already doing most of these shots properly) thanks!
@poopootae I'm glad you found it useful. It is OK to have a small variation in grip between the backhand and forehand. As long as it is seamless to switch from backhand to forehand and vice versa.
@Golden2Talon Yeah sorry about that. We are getting better at producing our videos now so hopefully all our newer videos have better volume levels.
@GooGooGaGa10 Take a look on our website as we have a lesson on the shakehand grip. We have also just answered a question via video about changing your grip during a rally so check out ask the coach or our search for the video on our channel. Basically it is OK to have a small change in grip as long as you are not getting caught out with the wrong grip and losing points. Good luck!
@liontoxicatorR We don't get much room here to answer in detail. It sounds like this might need a bit of discussion. It might be best if you post a question on our website under the Ask the Coach section!
Hahaha I love how you stay so calm to that little guy saying he is better. He could never know! Matt didn't even play full power, he was just showing techniques. Good video!
@Zkayber Great. Make sure you check out our website too. Just Google for PingSkills!
@AceofDlamonds Good question. I think if it is played correctly it doesn't put too much strain on the wrist. And when blocking topspin, you do need to counter the topspin regardless of which grip you use.
thanks, I'm Korean/Japanese Penhold and I really needed help on my backhand technique
@Zkayber We actually have a video on how you can practice alone. Go to our website and check out our lessons page, you'll find it there.
wow...this is awsum this video helped me a lot...!!! thank u guys coz of this i've improved my backhand
BEAUTIFULLY DONE, i wasnt much of a penholder fan. but after trying this my penholder technique increased quite a bit
I started out playing table tennis using the Shakehand grip. I recently switched to Penhold. I have always dabbled with Penhold, but finally, I decided that my style dictated that I make the jump to Penhold. My serves are my strength and I can put much more spin on them and have more control using Penhold. Thank you for this video. I am positive that I made the right decision and will continue to practice both grips, but focus mainly on Penhold.
The penhold is a great grip, and much underrated. Having switched you'll get some puzzled looks, and a lot of players asking why on earth you would want to do such a thing. When they see the different variety of spin you get on your loops, chops and top spins, and they have trouble reading it, then you can say "that's why!" Penhold isn't for everyone, but if it feels comfortable, it is definitely worth a try. I find in my local league that players simply aren't used to it and they have a lot of trouble reading what's coming at them.
@argonmeditation Concentrate on your start and finish positions. These are the most critical to get right. You can practice the stroke away from the table just to get the feel of the shot right. Once you get a bit more comfortable go back to the table and try and get 5 on in a row. Work on improving your consistency. Start hitting the ball slowly and then aim for 10 in a row.
You can always ask us a question on our website using "Ask the Coach". We've got more room for answers there!
this is good for pen holds...i will let my colleague know to watch this video for sure. Good work ping skills!
I am playing table tennis about a month, I learnt the penhold 1 week after I started and noticed that my reactions and strokes have greatly improved!
That's great LAGman91. Keep up the good work! If you can find a table tennis club in your area you should try and join up, it will be a great experience.
It sounds like you need to practice this. See if you can get a training partner to play to your backhand and then practice hitting the ball down the line. If it always goes cross court you may have to even aim off the table. Don't be scared about missing the ball, it's important during training to experiment whilst you are learning.
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. Good luck with your Table Tennis!
@gulligagardinen You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it.
I've just started playing Table Tennis and I've decided to go for the penhold technique, great tutorial thanks!
You're welcome LloydVlogs33.
Good luck with your table tennis.
@raegiorem If you don't have a table then hitting against a wall can help. In fact if you look at our free lessons on our website, you'll find one called practicing alone. This will give you some more ideas on how you can practice without a table.
Good luck!
@tabletennispenhold You could try asking this question on the ask the coach section of our website and see if we can find any answers for you.
Traditionally a penholder would only use one side of the bat. But nowadays most people starting out with the penhold grip are also learning the "reverse penhold backhand" (rpb) which uses the other side of the bat.
wow great video, I am now so much more confident with penhold, can not wait for some basement table tennis!
@meandonlyme1998 Good question. I'm not really sure how to answer this one. Maybe try posting this on our website under our Ask the Coach section and we'll get a real answer for you!
Very helpful instructive video. We are all much indebted for the upload.
Very nice video, thank you! Hard to find good instructions for penholders. A video with advanced pehold serve techniques would be great too. It seems to me that if you are mostly relying on RPB, like Wang Hao, then you pretty much still have the crossover point weakness in more or less the same spot? I am not an expert, I tried both grips, and to me the main advantage of penhold is more control on the spin because of its extended amplitude of wrist movement. I guess, from my limited understanding, one disadvantage of penhold would be for chopping defenders -- looks like that play style is better suited for shakehand?
Great observations. Certainly if you use the reverse penhold backhand then you do have a crossover point. You can still play a traditional backhand with the penhold though. And yes chopping is much easier for shakehand players.
@MetroSniffStudios We are using the PingSkills touch with Vega Pro. We sell these on our website.
Hey! I simply want to give a huge thumbs up for the nice video youve here on this post. I will probably be coming again to your videos for more soon.
@vblings The problem is that we are shakehand players so know a lot more about this style of play. A lot of our tutorials are still applicable to the penhold grip as the basic principles do not change.
Thank you very much for sharing this knowledge and doing it in a way that's easy to understand
You're welcome.
I’ve had a habit of using the penhold grip for my entire life. As a kid I had a paddle that handle was too short for me, so I started holding it like that.
Nice.
Good to hear you are progressing well. Keep working on your game.
@DWILLMVP1 I'm glad you liked the video.
@gulligagardinen The main thing to concentrate on is brushing the ball on the side. To get a lot of spin you need to brush the ball and have your bat moving quickly.
@LordNibbler2300 Glad you liked it.
I was playing like that for a week and now im 1 of the best penn hold playes in our school
Well done Prince M. Keep practicing and imagine how good you could become :)
This is VERY helpful thanks👍🏾
It helped me in my school table tennis matches
This video was very informational
I'm excited to try them when I go practice on Monday. :)
Great to hear queensalvatore. Good luck with your training session on Monday.
@wluc1 It is really a personal choice. Which do you like better?
Sound quality is a real ear killer for headphone users.
Thanks for the feedback Hirobian. On all our newer videos we have increased the sound quality.
That is good new! :)
Thanks a lot pingskills - You have helped me improve more and more with your tutorials. Keep it up :)
@Kakashinoor Especially with the forehand loop, the principles are very similar for both the shakehand and penhold grips. Try watching the videos on our website about the forehand loop and concentrate on the start and finish position of the stroke. This will be the same and if you can get these right you are well on your way to being able to play it consistently.
When I was first learning ping pong, my brother forced me to learn the penholder grip. It turns out to be by far the best, as for me, it virtually eliminates the backhand, and most of your movement is in the wrist. Also, you can really put some spin on the ball, and make killer short shots.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Amazing video, i was about to try shake hand grip, but now i can try reverse back hand with the pen hold grip
@kingspartan375299 To put sidespin on the ball you need to brush the ball on the side of the ball. This will get the ball spinning around.
Love it, please show more video of penhold techniques.
i am going to try this out. looks like a very effective technique.
@GooGooGaGa10 You're welcome.
@raegiorem it's really a personal preference. What grip do you feel most comfortable with. Another consideration might be which grip can you get the best coaching for where you live.
very thorough video!
great job PingSkills!
@kevtyan If you've only got rubber on one side then you won't be able to play the Reverse Penhold Backhand.
excelente clase...!!! muchas gracias. Saludos desde Argentina...!!!
it took me about 1 summer of practice to get comfortable to play it in game situation - for my friends and it, it tends to generate more power than the forehand (when the forehand doesn't get the left foot power step forward)
@scatignani You're welcome.
your videos are getting better and better =)
i just started using penhold grip, i grip more toward the end of handle and spread out the three fingers on backside, and hold the bat somewhat perpendicular to hand. i find this grip very flexible in hitting different ball flights, though not as powerful as the shakehand grip, i can use both bat sides very naturally. the downside is work too much for the wrist, in fact curling fingers only increases burden on the wrist. good work.
Thanks for your input Aphinant Tantiwatana
Its been 11 years. DANG
As both Alois and I are shakehand players, we are going to be making a lot more videos using this grip.
Thanks, I love this video and now I've learn reverse backhand very well. thanks for help :)
@wesley621375 It's in there from about the 6:00 mark.
Thanks a lot for sharing this, it was very helpful.
You're welcome.
@liontoxicatorR Great. I'll tell Alois to watch out for your question.
@MU84R1K You're welcome!
@lclaycomb thanks for the tip. I've not heard of a pop filter before.
@arash1902 the penhold style yr talking about is the japanese penhold style which only has a rubber on one side, in this video they are using the chinese style penhold which has two sides of rubber.
@herlequin We don't use the rating system that the US does.
@NC56Fiesta Your welcome.
You need to try and adjust the angle of your bat so you don't hit the ball down. Watch the video and try to get a good picture in your mind of how the stroke is played. Then practice it without a ball (this is called shadow play). Once you feel you've got the stroke correct then try it out on the table.
Thanks for the lesson and suggestions!
Nicely made training video
I'm a pen hold user this helps me a lot......
Glad to hear it. Good luck with your table tennis.
great job guys!
Great stuff.... thank you.
I'm a penholder :) . Great video, thanks a lot.
Great video! Very informative
Thanks Steven Wang, I'm glad you liked it. Make sure you check out the PingSkills website for more great table tennis videos!
@David Baile pen hold is an awesome grip. However, looking at the shake hand grip, it has a terribly weak backhand. So as mentioned in this video, try practising the reverse penhold backhand cause it increases your backhand efficiency alot. I am a penhold and one of the best at where i play. Hope you love table tennis too. Good luck
Nice video. However, I have a very unique grip. I hold the paddle with just my pinky and my thumb and I use my other fingers to stablize and keep the paddle flush or as angled as I need it. It works with my backhand which is not a typical backhand. There are several ways but each one has to find there own and what works. You guys should do a video on different paddle types. Thanks and great channel
A very good video!
Thank you Brother, this video helped clear things up with me about pen hold grip. May you always follow GOD's guidance brother, keep safe
thanks so mutch for this video! it was very usefully.
i am looking forward playing this sport.. :)) i will practice this pen hold it looks cool and has many advantages from a normal hand shake hold.
Great video.
Awesome job here
@pingskills Okay,il be posting on the forums shortly.
Grt... thanks alot..sir.. for the help
Hello Alois! I have a question about which penhold grip i should use since I am extremely conflicted between using the japanese penhold and the chinese penhold. I use cchinese penhold when I serve and I switch to japanese when I rally. I tried both chinese and japanese penhold and they both work fine except for reverse penhold backhand which I prefer chinese penhold more. My question is, should I use the chinese penhold or the japanese penhold? I also want to thank you for making a video about penhold techniques since everyone is pretty much doing tutorials on shakehand techniques
It really is a personal preference. If you like the reverse penhold then go with the Chinese penhold grip.
Regards,
Jeff.
Hm...I'm just a casual player, but when I first started, I held my paddle in a fashion similar to this, just because I thought it was unique and different. Interesting to find out now that there's a name to it with a good video describing the method better for me.
@raegiorem I don't think it is better as such. There are great players who have used the penhold grip and there are great players who have used the shakehand.
As you say though, everything requires more practice :) Keep working hard and you'll make progress.
Awesome video thanks 👍
Jorge Salazar You're welcome.
Thanks!
Awesome video:)
You're welcome.
I was wondering how to put right and left spin on a ball while using the penhold technique???
well i play shakehand and im going to try penhold i hope i can get it down good!
One thing that I disagree with PingSkill is that penholders do have a crossover point. I use all reverse penhold backhand for backhand, which mean I use RPB even for blocks, lobbing, counter-hits. I find that the transition between backhand and forehand is even harder than shakehand. As a draw back, I can get a lot of spin on both side because of the wrist motion. In my opinion, the modern Chinese RPB is a good option for an offensive two-wing looper, like Wang Hao!