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Is there a wrong way to hold the bat?

Strokes

Jonn Jonn
Jonn Jonn Asked 18 years ago

i hold my bat in a very unique way. i have watched yoru tutorial on how to hold it properly, and tried it, but didnt improve my game. the way i hold it gives me alot more control over the ball and improves my game

my main question is, is there an "illegal" way to hold the bat?

I have some pictures of how i hold my bat i would like to show you.

Front view:

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u301/jonnygrifff/100_2429.jpg

Back view:

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u301/jonnygrifff/100_2430.jpg

Jeff Plumb
Member Badge Jeff Plumb Answered 18 years ago

Hi John,

There is not an illegal way to hold the bat. Looking at your photos though, I would strongly recommend that you try to use the standard shakehand grip. If you have been playing for a long time with your current grip it will take some time to adjust. With your current grip, the backhand is almost impossible to play as your fingers will be in the way. Although some players have a slightly modified grip I have never seen a good Table Tennis player use such a grip.

I also noticed your bat in the photos. I would recommend that you get yourself a better bat as well. The problem with your current bat is that it is not possible to generate much spin. The ball simply will not grip into the rubber enough. Spin is crucial to improving in Table Tennis. The hit a ball strongly you need to generate topspin so that the ball will dip. We have several bats in our online store that are ideal for following our online lessons. You can generate excellent spin with these bats, and they are not too fast so that you cannot control the ball.

So in summary, even though it seems hard at first, try to stick with the conventional shakehand grip. As you improve your game will definitely benefit.

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6 comments from the PingSkills community.

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Jonn Jonn

Jonn Jonn Posted 18 years ago

hey thanks for the advice!

 yeah i will try to play with the shake hand grip for now on.

 for my backhand, i would normaly just quickly amost slide down my fingers so i am allowed to hit it, but yeah i agree, its a really bad way to hold it, if you are going for a backhand

I am actually planning on going to buy a new paddle sometime in the near feature, so hopefully that will help improve my game

 

thanks for the advice
p.s. You guys rock!

Jonn Jonn

Jonn Jonn Posted 18 years ago

i got a new bat, and it seems like i can generate as much spin with my hard bat as my new soft bat.

 

is there also another good reason for have a soft bat? is it easier to return slams?

Jeff Plumb

Member Badge Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 18 years ago

Hi Jonn,

The biggest reason for using a decent bat is to get quality rubbers that allow you to spin the ball. With a hard bat, it is virtually impossible to generate your own spin. With a decent bat you can get plenty of spin to allow you to play a range of strokes and serves.

If you cannot generate any more spin with your new bat than your old hard bat then it means either:

  1. Your new bat is no good - It may have a sponge rubber but it too has no grip or
  2. You need to learn how to hit the ball with more spin

What sort of bat did you buy? Let us know and we will see if we have heard of it and also let you know whether we think it is a good bat. There is such a large range of bats available it really makes it hard to choose a good one. That's why we have selected 3 bats that we have tried and can recommend in our store

With relation to the spin, we are planning on shooting a video soon on why a good bat is so important in Table Tennis. In this lesson we will demonstrate how to generate spin when hitting the ball. We will feature it on our blog and our lessons so keep an eye out for it.

Jonathan Huynh

Jonathan Huynh Posted 13 years ago

Ii modified my grip from the shakehand. two fingers on the back and the front's the same. The two fingers are place rougly where the one finger was before, give or take a few mm.Ii've been playing with this grip for 1 and 1/4 years rougly. Do you think this is okay? The backhand, i quickly bunch the two fingers up and place my thumb more forward on the other side. I hope this is okay!

Cheers

Jonathan

Alois Rosario

Member Badge Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 13 years ago

Having two fingers on the back of the bat will mean that your wrist will be tighter and not as able to generate speed and therefore spin.  You are better off to have just the one finger on the back.  With a bit of training you will get used to it.

Jonathan Huynh

Jonathan Huynh Posted 13 years ago Latest

thanks, i'll try it!

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