Just curious how many Penholders are on TTD?

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Do you adjust your 3 fingers when you do FH looping?

I try to keep the same grip for FH so as not to think about that. But I think it is a natural shape, when doing the FH the 3 fingers on the back tend to be straighter to give it more stability and power to the right.

 
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Former JPen player > 30 years ago and then stopped tt for 20+ years.
Picked up the sport 2 years ago when there was a tt venue in the Makati City, PH.
Dusted my >30 years old Nittaku 1-ply Hinoki JPen (with Senkoh-like handle) and replaced the dried up Shriver rubber with new T25. No RPB.
Then, the EJ-ing started with TSP High Large II SR with Super Spinpips. Both blade and rubber were mistakes; they were not for me.
Replaced rubber with R50. Much better but still didn't like the balsa blade.
After some practice with coach, decided to convert to shakehand and sold the Nittaku (which I regretted).
EJ-ing got worse with shakehand (e.g. Darker, Kokutaku, Loki, Nittaku, Stiga, Tibhar, ...) and rubbers (e.g. D09c/80, H3N, H3PBS, H8-80, KG10, M2, O7CG, R48/53, VTDE, ...) . After wasting a lot of $, decided that I prefer all wood blades (for feel) and had to use Tensor softer rubbers (due to injuries), even though I prefer hard Chinese rubbers without boosting. Hence, 'looking' at all wood blades now and considering those available at TT11. (e.g. Nittaku Kasumi/Latika/Violin, R+B Ruby, ... <6mm. Temporarily ruling out the likes of Infinity, TSPW, ...)
But I did buy a JPen because I miss the 1-ply Hinoki feel (which I couldn't find in 1-ply shakehand) and will return to it when I 'master' shakehand. Hence, I have a Hibi-O Tour with O7CY and a beautiful G-Max waiting at the store for me (because it has 'perfect' straight and compact grains).
 
says former JPEN, now CPEN
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Former JPen player > 30 years ago and then stopped tt for 20+ years.
Picked up the sport 2 years ago when there was a tt venue in the Makati City, PH.
Dusted my >30 years old Nittaku 1-ply Hinoki JPen (with Senkoh-like handle) and replaced the dried up Shriver rubber with new T25. No RPB.
Then, the EJ-ing started with TSP High Large II SR with Super Spinpips. Both blade and rubber were mistakes; they were not for me.
Replaced rubber with R50. Much better but still didn't like the balsa blade.
After some practice with coach, decided to convert to shakehand and sold the Nittaku (which I regretted).
EJ-ing got worse with shakehand (e.g. Darker, Kokutaku, Loki, Nittaku, Stiga, Tibhar, ...) and rubbers (e.g. D09c/80, H3N, H3PBS, H8-80, KG10, M2, O7CG, R48/53, VTDE, ...) . After wasting a lot of $, decided that I prefer all wood blades (for feel) and had to use Tensor softer rubbers (due to injuries), even though I prefer hard Chinese rubbers without boosting. Hence, 'looking' at all wood blades now and considering those available at TT11. (e.g. Nittaku Kasumi/Latika/Violin, R+B Ruby, ... <6mm. Temporarily ruling out the likes of Infinity, TSPW, ...)
But I did buy a JPen because I miss the 1-ply Hinoki feel (which I couldn't find in 1-ply shakehand) and will return to it when I 'master' shakehand. Hence, I have a Hibi-O Tour with O7CY and a beautiful G-Max waiting at the store for me (because it has 'perfect' straight and compact grains).

always nice to see a jpen player 🙂

out of curiosity though, why not switch to cpen instead of shakehand? just a question for fun

 
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I got myself a cheap cpen blade because I like to try it out.

Forehand and serve work well already but backhand still struggles a bit.i can hit rpb topspin but not consistently. Would you recommend learning TBP block and drive and rpb for spin (like ma lin) or do everything with rpb side like wang Hao?

I don't try to reach a super high level, just learn something new decently.

Maybe I put up a video next week.

BTW what do you think about my grip. Does it work like that?


 
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IMG%2020220102%20221323%20jpg.jpeg

IMG%2020220102%20221253%20jpg.jpeg

IMG%2020220102%20221234%20jpg.jpeg
 
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I got myself a cheap cpen blade because I like to try it out.

Forehand and serve work well already but backhand still struggles a bit.i can hit rpb topspin but not consistently. Would you recommend learning TBP block and drive and rpb for spin (like ma lin) or do everything with rpb side like wang Hao?

I don't try to reach a super high level, just learn something new decently.

Maybe I put up a video next week.

BTW what do you think about my grip. Does it work like that?



https://youtu.be/T3Zj6HTtjl0

At amateur level tpb is very effective. It offers far more variety in pace, spin and speed than rpb. Check out this old guy.
 
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Yeah that seems to be a style that works not at the highest level anymore but ages pretty well, he zhi Wen and ni xia lian were top 100 in the world at over 50 years old.

Until 2000 points or so any style can probably work anyway as long you master it well.
 
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Btw is there a reason why some famous Cpen players played not so fast (non carbon) blades? As far as I know ma lin and wang hao played all wood bats without carbon, xue fei I think too.

since those players are pretty offensive players why weren't they using super fast carbon blades like most SH players did since the mid 00s?
 
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Hi everyone! I thinking about completely changing my style and going Jpen. I have been using a grip that was unorthodox, thumb on the back of the paddle. I want to get to 1500-1600 USATT, and I’m about 1100 right now. Thanks
 
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Btw is there a reason why some famous Cpen players played not so fast (non carbon) blades? As far as I know ma lin and wang hao played all wood bats without carbon, xue fei I think too.

since those players are pretty offensive players why weren't they using super fast carbon blades like most SH players did since the mid 00s?

Ma Lin plays Yasaka Extra Offensive. He started in the 38mm era that allowed unlimited boosting. Hence back then most pros used all wood blade.

Wang Hao played all wood until 2009 when VOC glue became illegal. He changed to Hao 3.

Xue Fei plays N301 which has a similar composition of W968.
 
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Hi everyone! I thinking about completely changing my style and going Jpen. I have been using a grip that was unorthodox, thumb on the back of the paddle. I want to get to 1500-1600 USATT, and I’m about 1100 right now. Thanks

Jpen requires very fast footwork so you can attack with FH from all angles.
 
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bit of a rant, finding a good rubber for JPEN is honestly pretty hard if you're looking for rubbers that aren't made by butterfly

to me, a good rubber for JPEN is a rubber that does everything well, from blocking to short game.

since you're running all over the place with only one rubber to play with instead of two, you're already at a disadvantage compared to SH and CPEN. and believe me it sucks a lot if (for example) your rubber is only good for looping and horrendous at short game and blocking.

rasanter R50 is pretty good in the do-it-all aspect while still packing a punch, it even has a better feeling compared to fastarc g-1. the durability of the rubber on the other hand is a let down.

fastarc g-1 is the only rubber that satisfied my requirements but i dont like how the rubber feels and its pretty boring if you play with the same rubber for years.

ever since i made the switch to CPEN, i don't really have this concern anymore. i just slap on a pair of cheap tacky 729s and feel satisfied.
 
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Found out last night, the dept of parks rec ctr i play at has changed schedules. No more evenings for TT. Only daytime.

:(

--------

re: grips - i've heard of players switching grips between their FH and BH, however, I am at a level that I cannot do that quickly and effortlessly. I use only one grip. I have experimented with a few different grips after my 32 years break. I have come back to the one I used as a kid, 3 fingers somewhat curled on the back. Find what works for you and is comfortable for you. Then put in the time playing and getting used to it.

I tried the 3 fingers extended on the back - great FH, but as I was also trying to learn RPB, i misjudge and ball kept hitting my fingers.
 
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found this channel pretty interesting. That stroke in the video looks interesting, looks like a topspin with the traditional penhold side.

Not sure how effective it is though but looks interesting

This does look interesting!! Thank you for posting the video!

For any TPB players, this may be a good intermediate step/stroke to learning RPB proper should a player use 2 rubbers. For one rubber, this looks like it adds a dimension to the TPB gameplay that may be unexpected for the opponent.

 
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https://youtu.be/qII51IqnCqY

Another example of excellent use of TPB. Cpen is still a very competitive style as long as you can run fast

Great match, dynamic CPEN! Thank you for the video!

Interesting on his grip. Watching at work, meaning I should not be watching LOL, it seems his grip has somewhat extended fingers. At 1:52 we see his grip. He RPBs occasionally and lots of TPB. Wonder if he switches grip for TPB. I for one could NOT TPB with the extended fingers grip.

 
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Hi everyone! I thinking about completely changing my style and going Jpen. I have been using a grip that was unorthodox, thumb on the back of the paddle. I want to get to 1500-1600 USATT, and I’m about 1100 right now. Thanks

Belated welcome to the thread Flathitter!First time I've heard of a PH grip with thumb on the back! Will you continue with that grip when you switch to JPen?What aspects of the game does your grip help, if any?? What aspects of your game does it hurt, if any? Have you tried other grips before?

 
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