Finger placement penhold

[Will d]

I have recently changed from jpen to cpen and wondered about the different finger placement on the backhand rubber I have seen Félix Lebrun and dang qiu curl their fingers and players like xu xin have straight fingers what are the advantages of the two different finger placement??
Thanks for any responses

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I always say, do what makes you feel comfortable.

 

[PoppaChubby]

I think there's more pressure on the blade with the Xu Xin grip, that's why he was so powerful with his forehand. But there's less mobility in BH, as having straight fingers also stresses the muscles in the arm and tendons through the wrist. Curled fingers gives a more neutral hand position, less pressure but also less stress on muscles and tendons, the wrist gets more freedom of mobility for BHs. But of course, less power for FHs.

Hands and Wrists: Natural Positions

Posture Description Image

www.msdprevention.com

 

[Federal_Agent]

I made this transition of the grip and created the positioning of the curved fingers for comfort reasons... I first adjusted the grip to make backhand shots easier and forhand shots it was easier to adapt the angle!

 

[Dominikk85]

I think there's more pressure on the blade with the Xu Xin grip, that's why he was so powerful with his forehand. But there's less mobility in BH, as having straight fingers also stresses the muscles in the arm and tendons through the wrist. Curled fingers gives a more neutral hand position, less pressure but also less stress on muscles and tendons, the wrist gets more freedom of mobility for BHs. But of course, less power for FHs.

Hands and Wrists: Natural Positions

Posture Description Image

www.msdprevention.com

I think the big issue with straight fingers is that you cover a large area of the backhand rubber with your fingers so you only have a small area to hit the ball.

 

[netdriver]

curled or straight it doesnt rly matter as long as its comfortable to you

my own grip is semi-curled although sometimes it can be a bit more curled; its not necessarily fixed, its what is comfortable at the moment

do keep in mind though that xu xin has big hands so the way he grips is comfortable for him, i tried straightening my fingers like he did and its quite uncomfortable and painful for me to hold my paddle since my hands are quite small

if u were to imitate a pro player, dang qiu's grip is probably the best to follow. its the more "balanced" and conventional grip

 

[mightymouse]

Even if you curl your fingers, there are 3 options:

1. Only middle finger touching the back of the blade.
2. Middle and ring finger touching the back of the blade.
3. Very rare --> middle, ring and pinky finger touching the back of the blade. Usually when you have 3 fingers touching the back of the blade, they are straight and not curled. If they are curled, it is very unnatural for me to do so.

When I was a penholder, I was #1. Try to do #2, but during play they are always back to #1.

 

[Jan_]

Xu Xin has straight finger for more support for his forehand, Lebrun curls then for better backhand. Whatever you do, it hurts the other side.

A good compromise is Wang Hao's grip. 2 fingers with the pinky not touching, with very light curve. And Ma Lin's grip for good fh/tbh.

 

[Will d]

Even if you curl your fingers, there are 3 options:

1. Only middle finger touching the back of the blade.
2. Middle and ring finger touching the back of the blade.
3. Very rare --> middle, ring and pinky finger touching the back of the blade. Usually when you have 3 fingers touching the back of the blade, they are straight and not curled. If they are curled, it is very unnatural for me to do so.

When I was a penholder, I was #1. Try to do #2, but during play they are always back to #1.

What do dang qiu and Felix Lebrun do??

 

[Dominikk85]

I do it like this

Here is dang

 

[Caravenav]

The finger's placement will depend mainly (not only) on your backhand. If you play only RPB (reverse penhold backhand), you can place your finger a bit curled. This will give you more rubber area to hit with RPB, but the forehand will be less strong (in power and spin). If you straighten your fingers (Xu Xin style), your forehand will be stronger, but you have less area in RPB, and you will probably hit your finger sometimes.

If you are using both RPB and TPB (traditional backhand with the same rubber of the forehand), Ma Lin, Liu Guoliang style, you cannot place your fingers straight, they should go a bit curled and mainly the middle finger over the rubber, sometimes the ring finger will contact the rubber as well, depending of the size of your hand.