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!
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!
Penhold blades will be head heavy no matter what because of blade construction, it's just that kind of a style. If you are looking into Ch.pen with RPB, just put whatever you like, get a cheap popular blade like Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive, then sand the edges a little bit until it feels comfortable enough, don't overdo it though, although first you need to understand the grip, which what makes this style difficult and complicated. If you want classic Chinese penhold with RPB, you should grip the racket with index and thumb, they need to grip lightly though. Cannot stress enough the fact that you need to grip the racket lightly, do not tense up. At first it's understandable because you might lack the finger strength but try to maintain it relaxed. Index is mainly for holding the racket, thumb is used to apply pressure and adjust the angle. Most importantly, fingers on the RPB (backhand) side, need to act as support. In order to do that, you need to curl middle finger as well as ring finger and rest parallel to the handle (if you go to the side, you will compromise your grip and it's going to be incorrect) on the middle, as well as curl it so the tips of the fingers could apply pressure (they also help to feel the ball and the racket more). If you do it correctly, you should be able to fit a table tennis ball in that gap you create with fingers on RPB side, it's like a little cave. For forehand, apply pressure with thumb to adjust and close the angle accordingly. For backhand, prioritise the tension of index finger during a stroke. The additional pressure of fingers should only be applied during the stroke, preferably near the end of the stroke when you are just about to hit the ball. Once again reminding to keep the whole arm relaxed, grip should be fairly lose. If your grip is too tight and you tense up unnecessarily, you'll end up feeling pain, developing blisters on the side of index finger because of pressure and friction, it's incredibly annoying and painful, takes time to heal. Note that you'll inevitably feel the irritation in that part when you'll start as it's part of the journey, the skin needs to harden there
Another note, or rather a sign that you are probably assuming a correct grip is when you hold the racket infront of you... It should be quite slanted, open. Wrist should be open
Additionally, try to keep the thumb further away from the handle, the center, otherwise you'll find yourself having trouble to properly close the racket when needed
P.S Do not focus on angles that much. Chinese penhold becomes incredibly difficult and overcomplicated when you start playing with angles a lot. Just understand and apply key table tennis mechanics, things will comes out naturally. Prioritise force trajectory instead of an angle
P.S #2 Make sure to properly warm up your wrist. Depending on weight of your setup and level of technique, RPB can strain the wrist hard... Age can also become a factor in getting a possible injury. Take care of yourself
