Pencil grip vs shakehand grip

Table Tennis Strokes and Technique

Last updated 8 years ago

Zac Crutchfield

Zac Crutchfield Asked 8 years ago

What benefits are there in the "shake hands grip" and the "pencil grip" and in your experience is it hard to get used to playing someone with the opposite grip.


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario Answered 8 years ago

Hi Zac,

Traditionally the shake hand grip is better and easier for the backhand side.  The Penhold or Pencil grip was easier for utilising your wrist and generating spin on the ball.

The Penholder grip when you use one side of the bat only eliminates the crossover point but now with the use of the Reverse Penholder backhand this isn't such an issue.

How you play against these different grips depends on your own abilities and strengths.  They are different like other players have different strengths and weaknesses.


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