Penholders! Any advice?

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I have recently changed my grip to the reverse penhold backhand. It's a difficult transition but I definitely prefer the grip and enjoy the game more. There are absolutely no penholders in any club near me, so I was wondering if any of you guys got some general advice, tips and so on on any part of the game?
I am also a beginner table tennis player.

Thanks!
 
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says Any body knows when will be the next Asia Pacific...
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I played Shake hand and Penhold, I can tell you some about penhold.You can also find a lot video on you tube.
Pls tell me what you want to know about Penhold. There are two styles , old and new style, new one is using back hand like shakehand attack. I have been told by Chinese coach, we should decide to use one, it is not easy to use both old style and new style during the game. Normally, Penhold forehand is the main weapon, footwork is important. Back hand blocking is fast and can put back spin one it. I enjoy playing both style but I play much better with Penhold. I like to discuss with you anytime.
 
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Welcome to the forum and to penhold Tian! And I think it is great that you are trying to get out of the blocks with a focus on RPB. I play traditional backhand but I do believe that RPB is the way to go. It opens up options that are just not there with the old way. James is right that forehand is the main weapon and you will need to work on fast footwork because you will want to use that forehand whenever possible.

Your serves can be a very potent weapon with penhold because of the range of wrist movement you get.

My main bit of advice to you would be to work on your blocking. Blocking, especially on the backhand or in front of the body is another important aspect of penhold play and you will want to develop that too. It is a block, so that makes it a defensive stroke, but I feel that if used properly, with placement the block can be a potent weapon. Just watch some Waldner videos to see what I mean. I feel I get as many points from placement as I do from forehand kills.

As an extension of this we have the push block, where you engage in the pushing game with the opponent. Again, you want to be able to become so consistent with this that you start to focus on placement to gain the advantage.

This is close to one of my favorite aspects of the game, along with serves.
 
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The backhand in table tennis is a more natural motion so you will see that a lot of recreational players or amateurs have better backhands than their forehands. In fact you will see that often many of these players only use backhands for almost very return.

The dynamics of when to hit the ball are also different for backhand and forehand. In penhold the backhand is usually best when you take the ball before it hits peak height off the bounce. On the forehand it is best to take the ball at the peak of the bounce. Arm speed is always a factor so that you can make the ball dip.

Your equipment is also a factor. The blade and rubbers you are using will also have an impact on the arc of the ball once you have looped it.

We have many experienced players on this forum, including penholders and maybe some info about the equipment you use could help them in trying to guide you.
 
says The sticky bit is stuck.
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729 is a Chinese brand, but its sponge hardness is around medium, so it's good for backhand.

The red (orange sponge) is medium hard, but the black (blue sponge) is hard.

It used to be tacky a few decades ago, but last time I tried a few slabs they weren’t. Couldn’t lift a ball with it even when new.
 
says Footwork footwork footwork
I’m in a similar position to the OP. Subscribed.
I found that Wang Hao video to be very helpful with finger placement and the RPB stroke in general.

I too use the TBH for blocks or pushes in a pinch, but prefer to attack RPB when the time is right.

Still working on it... [emoji4]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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My 2cents, if u r beginner at table tennis, the only way to go (for me, IMO) is AR/AR+ blade (5ply WITHOUT carbon) and some sort of soft rubbers.
If u dont have a high expirienced friend/mate/coach who can show you some basics, you have to use camera and record your practice. Otherwise you`ll stuck on the lowest lvl..
 
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I am also the only penholder in my area that used rpb and smooth rubbers. All other penholders in my area use short pips and traditional bh. There are many strong penholders that I study on youtube: Tao Wenzhang, Bo Wen Chen, Xue Fei, Yijun Feng, Alexander Bu, Jeff Yamada are some of them. Although they are all modern penholders, they play quite differently.

There are advantages and disadvantages of playing penhold, so it is important to exploit all the advantages. You don't want to play like a shakehand player while holding penhold, because then you only have the disadvantages. Loose wrist on serves, deceptive serve returns, side spin with the rpb, forehand loop half-long balls are some of the things you want to excel at.
 
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