I'm a part time Table Tennis coach at a local TT Club here in Sweden.
A few weeks ago a kid originally from China started to play during one of the practice sessions where I coach. The thing is, he plays penhold with RPB. Since then I have tried to play some penhold and been watching others who play penhold and so on, to help him get better. He really wants to get better and it is quite the challenge. As you can imagine, some of the stuff I talk about can't be directly transferred to PH from SH.
I find it hard to play penhold, but it is very interesting. Penhold is fun!
I will definitely play and practice more. I've tried RPB but I it's to hard to be consistent. I usually just push block with my BH.
Mostly my penhold play comes down to serve and attack to this point. But as I improve that will probably change.
This is an interesting question, because I have struggled similarly. I would never say
I think you should stick with PH. switching between grips wont make it work, because TT is a technique based sport. So you have to practice and practice over and over again. By technique i also mean what you have to improve your muscle memory. My advice will be: you dont have to practice 1..x rpb topspins for 1 session, you have to balance your exercises. Just make 1 rpb 1fh, then switch for expamle 1 fh 2 rpb from left side of the table and so on. Do it slowly and you have to understand whats going on and WHY(!) you r doing this . But yes, sometimes you have to focus only on 1 stroke (multiball session is the best way). Try to focus on ur body,your feet, try to make a perfect rpb stroke. Slow down the tempo if needed. Thats just my 2 cents. hope u get my point (SORI BAD ENGRISH HERE
)
Yeah, that's probably the best, even if I'd be doing it I should be using the same type of blade combo, which is also something I'd have to fix unless I'd want to use PH blade with SH.
Focusing on using RPB more often / in drills / or/and whenever possible for a while is probably a better choice yes.
I just thought of this because, I figured whenever I try shakehand, now and then, I usually have the bad habit of trying to twist my fh side on the bh (TP style in SH) which works poorly... that's why I considered using shakehand to attempt to opposite effect on penhold.
Though, it's also a psychological factor that needs to be worked with so it's not even certain it had worked on the long run, because you (or I) feel inferior on the RPB your body wants naturally to step over, or go TP instead. So I think it's about somehow re-programming away that fear factor.
Because most often when I use RPB, I've decided it beforehand.. whenever I change to RPB during a rally without mental preparation it always feels somehow resistant, slightly delayed and most often one way or another fails the stroke. So annoying:x
I just want to have a ninja Wang Hao precision + Wong Chun Ting power, with a dash of Xu Xin sidespin RPB, is that too much to ask for.
But yeah, Thanks for all the replies!
A good blend of RPB and TPB like Ma Lin is a deadly weapon. TPB gives you more varieties - block, power push and side slice. That's why Ma Lin usually beat Wang Hao despite that Wang Hao is stronger in general.
My short game was good with it, serves as well. However, looping was a tad difficult as you have also mentioned. Plus, I love the feel of all wood friendship z1 blade. May be I am not born for balsa blades (earlier have tried TSP black balsa 7.0 as well).
