First Time Penholder: Help me out!

[doppelmoral]

Hi Friends,

I ordered a penhold blade because I want to try it out and want to explore Table Tennis from a new perspective. It is mainly for fun. I love my current Shakehand Setup (Xiom AJH TMXi Pro with H3N BS), so i got myself a similar penhold blade that is cheap (Yinhe Pro 05).

The first thing that I want to ask is about weight. I dont know anything about weight balance of Penholder blades. With Shakehand blades, people often worry about head-heavyness. Is there anything I need to know about penhold setups? I was thinking about putting H3/B2 on FH and a regular tensor on BH (I will try to play RPB).

Second, I dont even know how to hold the racket as penholder, what the key points are, how to play FH or BH with that grip. I definitely want to use a grip that makes it easier to play the RPB, so a balanced grip of FH and BH.

Are there some resources on youtube that you guys can recommend? I would be interested in studying some videos and going from there.

FYI, I have around 1500TTR and play offensive looping style on both wings, so decentish fundamentals.

Thank you very much for your help!

 

[SFF_lib]

Weight balance - penhold blades usually have a large dimension, hence more head heavy. I would suggest orange sponge H3 provincial 40 on FH.

Penhold grip -

(Wang Hao grip)

Yinhe 05 Pro - inner ALC type. A bit soft so it will go well with Chinese rubbers both sides. I use TG3 on my W968 bh it works much better than Euro or Jap rubbers.

 

[mightymouse]

@SFF_lib Good video, thank you for sharing.

I am a shakehand player but started as a penholder. Because of the frustration in BH, I switched to shakehand grip. This was long long time ago, during TPB (no RPB back then). But I really enjoy the video and I always favor Wang Hao's grip compared to Ma Lin or Xu Xin (position of fingers on BH side).

 

[olive-nguyen]

Hello!

Nice to have another penholder 'ere.

If you're starting as a penholder, and a cpen one with rpb that is, I suggest you take on wang hat's grip. Grip semi deep with thumb and index, and backhand side place finger bunched together flat on the backhand rubber, with the pinky stacked slightly onto the ring finger.

 

[Lula]

I have played shakehand for like for over 20 years, tried penhold last 4 months. Play at least as well now, maybe better. I think the basics are very similar to shakehand. Most difficult for me was closing the racket angle on forehand, important to push with thumb and turn wrist. For backhand i think it is easiest to go from the elbow and start with block then punchblock and last topspin, like shakehand.
No consensus how you should how the racket, trial and error. I think it works best to have the finger aligned up from the handle and try to curl them a bit.

Good luck.

 

[SFF_lib]

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/just-curious-how-many-penholders-are-on-ttd.14157/

This thread was started in 2016 for penholders. Maybe we can revive the thread? 🔥🔥

Is Felix going to revive the penhold style? Time will tell

 

[olive-nguyen]

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/just-curious-how-many-penholders-are-on-ttd.14157/

This thread was started in 2016 for penholders. Maybe we can revive the thread? 🔥🔥

Is Felix going to revive the penhold style? Time will tell

Ok!

 

[doppelmoral]

thanks for all the infos guys! very helpful

another thing: how do I glue penhold racket for the first time? should I leave a ‚gap‘ or just glue it regularly?

cheers

 

[SFF_lib]

thanks for all the infos guys! very helpful

another thing: how do I glue penhold racket for the first time? should I leave a ‚gap‘ or just glue it regularly?

cheers

Good question.

Leave a gap - head heavy, favours people with stronger wrist or plays FH dominant style

No gap - feels more balanced, suitable for two wing playstyle

 

[doppelmoral]

Good question.

Leave a gap - head heavy, favours people with stronger wrist or plays FH dominant style

No gap - feels more balanced, suitable for two wing playstyle

thank you!

I also found this recently published video, dang qiu explaining his grip:

 

[olive-nguyen]

Wow. I myself didn't know about this. No wonder why felix doesn't leave a gap in his bat. I thought he glued it with no gap to provide comfort for the index finger.

 

[SFF_lib]

thank you!

I also found this recently published video, dang qiu explaining his grip:

This is very well explained. Thank you

 

[SFF_lib]

Wow. I myself didn't know about this. No wonder why felix doesn't leave a gap in his bat. I thought he glued it with no gap to provide comfort for the index finger.

Yes that too

It depends on how long your fingers are.

No gap - you feel the blade quite thick. If you have a small hand it strains the fingers during a game. Clearly not a problem for Felix as he's quite tall. But it suits his game style.

Gap - you can wrap around the handle easily with a small hand.

 

[doppelmoral]

Yes that too

It depends on how long your fingers are.

No gap - you feel the blade quite thick. If you have a small hand it strains the fingers during a game. Clearly not a problem for Felix as he's quite tall. But it suits his game style.

Gap - you can wrap around the handle easily with a small hand.

I have large hands. And, I want to play a style in which I can easily play backhand loops (I am not looking for FH-oriented style).

So, would no gap be better in that case?

Cheers

 

[SFF_lib]

I have large hands. And, I want to play a style in which I can easily play backhand loops (I am not looking for FH-oriented style).

So, would no gap be better in that case?

Cheers

No gap for sure. The FH rubber will help the grip

 

[olive-nguyen]

So more backhand oriented?

A little off for a penholder eh?

I guess no gap is suitable for you, and since it's backhand oriented you can try tpb, as it's both wing attack.

 

[doppelmoral]

So more backhand oriented?

A little off for a penholder eh?

I guess no gap is suitable for you, and since it's backhand oriented you can try tpb, as it's both wing attack.

I am not playing backhand-oriented at the moment. As a shakehand player, I am using quick medium power backhand attacks when the ball is rising (over the table), and going for big FH attacks while taking a step back

so I am looking for a more balanced playstyle and therefore grip. I wouldnt say I am a backhand-oriented player. And I want to keep a similar style when trying out penhold instead of stepping around to my FH for most balls

That is what I meant

 

[olive-nguyen]

Oh. Slight misunderstanding. If so, is suggest you look at the Ryu Seung Min tutorials where he shows about the backhand shoto and slightly more high risk high rewards to step around forehand backhand drive. His tutorials on forehands are superb too.

 

[doppelmoral]

My blade arrived today: I received a Yinhe Pro 01, despite ordering a Yinhe Pro 05. Classic Aliexpress moment right there.

I am sending this blade back. Now, I am considering if I should order Yinhe Pro 05 again. I am looking for a penhold blade with w968 / innerforce structure. My Shakehand blade is TMXi Pro.

Any recommendations? Or should I get Yinhe Pro 05 again and hope that they ship the correct blade this time

 

[greenbeanmachine]

My blade arrived today: I received a Yinhe Pro 01, despite ordering a Yinhe Pro 05. Classic Aliexpress moment right there.

I am sending this blade back. Now, I am considering if I should order Yinhe Pro 05 again. I am looking for a penhold blade with w968 / innerforce structure. My Shakehand blade is TMXi Pro.

Any recommendations? Or should I get Yinhe Pro 05 again and hope that they ship the correct blade this time

When playing penhold I have an easier time with outer ALC / outer hardwood blades. These blades make it easier to change pace (either fast to slow, or slow to fast) and they make it easier to hit through spin and take the ball directly off the bounce. This playing style is very beneficial to penholders, and pretty much every well-known penholder (except Felix) uses outer carbon / outer hardwood. If you really want to immerse yourself in the penhold style, I think outer construction blades are the way to go. But Pro 05 will be more similar to your shakehand blade so it might be an easier transition.

Just so you know, I play both grips (but primarily penhold) and I'm also in the 1500-1700 range. When playing shakehand I like softer inner construction blades, but when playing penhold I like hard outer construction blades. Playing penhold when you have the fingers on the back of the blade, I find it's much easier to play soft touches and drop shots with a hard blade, and it's much easier to hit/flick high balls with lots of power. Playing with a softer blade makes your touch less precise, so you have to resort to more of a two-winged looping game. That's totally fine but it's not really the "classic penhold style". With the increased feeling you get from a penhold grip, I think you should really take advantage of it by playing with a hard blade.

I would recommend Pro 01 over Pro 05, but you can play with either. But I think the best answer here is Ma Lin Extra Offensive (around the same price as Pro 01/05). With Skyline 2 forehand it's a dream -- I can receive fast loops and make them bounce twice on the opponent's table. Hurricane 3 is also a good choice on both sides but not as good as Skyline 2 for feeling. Tensor RPB (if that's what you want) will work better on a hard outer construction blade. I'd recommend Rakza 7 or Rakza X for this. If you feel like you can generate a lot of power on RPB, Hurricane 3 is a great option.

Regarding a gap on the forehand rubber: what the others have said is on point. A bigger gap will favor more forehand-dominant play and a smaller gap will favor more balanced play. Even if you want to optimize for backhand play, I would recommend for you to use a small gap of a few milimeters -- otherwise it will be hard to use the middle knuckle of your index finger to control the blade. Even Wang Hao (very backhand-oriented player) had a small gap for this reason, and all of the backhand-oriented penhold players I've ever met will use at least a small gap. You can see photos of Wang Hao's equipment here. Felix is somewhat odd for not having any gap at all.

MLFM Table Tennis has some good penhold tutorials. Here's one on the different penhold grip variations:

And one on RPB technique: