Ping Pong Grips: The Complete Guide

Last Updated on April 24, 2024 by Alex Horscroft

While it’s tempting to dive straight into learning table tennis techniques you should first consider the various ping pong paddle holds. This is because each grip has its benefits and disadvantages, and whichever one you choose will shape what kind of player you will be.

You will also find that if you don’t select one of these grips you will likely give yourself a handicap. What’s more, you’ll probably develop bad habits that are hard to break. Trust me, I’ve been there!

So sit back and take all this juicy info in. I’ll cover how to adopt each of the ping pong grips, as well as their advantages and disadvantages.

What Ping Pong Paddle Grips Are There?

While many players make minor micro-adjustments within specific grips, almost all fall into five distinct categories.

Of these five, the following three are the most common:

• Shakehand
• Chinese penhold
• Japanese penhold

The remaining two are exceedingly rare and not quite as effective. However, they might prove useful to you, or just be interesting to learn about.

• Seemiller
• V-grip

Grip	Shakehand	Chinese Penhold	Japanese Penhold
Backhand	7	5	3
Forehand	8	9	10
Serve	8	9	9
Receive	7	8	7
Difficulty	2	4	6
Versatility	10	8	5
Popularity	10	7	3
Main Benefits	Well-balanced, easy to learn	Strong forehand, service, and receive	Killer forehand, great serves
Main Weakness	Crossover	Weak backhand	Very weak backhand

Shakehand Grip

If you go to play table tennis with someone, chances are they are going to use a forehand grip, especially at the lower level. It’s the most popular grip today by a landslide.

Most blades come with flared, straight, or anatomic handles. These are all perfect for the shakehand grip

How to Do a Shakehand Grip in Table Tennis

To adopt a shakehand grip, imagine you are shaking hands with your bat.

Position your index finger along the edge of your backhand rubber, with your thumb wrapping around the blade. Your thumb should rest on the curved edge at the top of the handle.

You then wrap your remaining three fingers around the handle to secure it in place.

Advantages

Without a doubt the strongest aspect of the shakehand grip is its versatility. It’s just so damn good across the board and supports the broadest range of styles. This makes it a great grip to start with if you are unsure of what type of player you want to be.

More specifically, its backhand prowess is what gives it such a large advantage over the other popular grips. Most shakehand players feel very comfortable counter-hitting on the backhand side, the same cannot be said for penholders.

This is one of the reasons we are seeing fewer penholders in table tennis than in days gone by. The game has become faster, with an emphasis on pinning each other on the backhand side. As this is problematic for penholders, we are seeing more of them converting over to the shakehand grip.

Just take a look at the top Chinese players today, bar Xu Xin, most are using a shakehand grip.

Disadvantages

In my opinion, there is only really one weak area when it comes to the shakehand grip and that is the crossover.

This is the point in line with your shoulder where you have to decide whether to play a forehand or backhand shot. For many people, balls that land here are hard to deal with. You don’t have a lot of time to react to quick balls that land in this vicinity. Therefore you need to decide early whether to go backhand or forehand so that you can move to get your feet in the right place.

That being said, this weakness is also shared by the new version of the Chinese penhold grip known as the reverse penhold backhand, or RPB for short. So in all likelihood, you’ll rarely face a player who doesn’t have an inherent weakness in the crossover as these are the two most popular grips.

Another area you could make a case for weakness is the reduced feeling and spin. The penhold grip has better feeling than the shakehand grip and increased mobility. However, the feeling and mobility of the shakehand grip is still very good so I don’t consider it a weakness.

Shakehand Grip Variations

You can tweak your shakehand grip to favor particular strokes, namely your forehand or backhand side. Having an accentuated grip can help you develop more effective shots,

However, this comes at a cost.

If you use either an extreme forehand or extreme backhand grip you become reliant on it. And if you can’t adopt it in time to play your given shot you’ll miss or play a poor stroke.

So my word of warning is caution. Most coaches will probably train this out of you but extreme grips can be useful if used properly.

Extreme Forehand Grip

The most popular of the two grips is easily the extreme forehand grip as forehand is more popular than backhand.

I’ve been using an extreme forehand grip for as long as I can remember, and it started off way too extreme when I first started the sport. I soon learned I had to tone it down a bit and I’m pretty happy with my grip today.

To use an extreme forehand grip you want to ever-so-slightly rotate your paddle anti-clockwise in your hand. This will cause the bottom left portion of your palm to rest more on top of the handle than to the side of it.

You will also find that it allows your paddle to lie more in line with your wrist.

Extreme Backhand Grip

The extreme backhand grip is less common but you still see it in moderation. While I predominantly use an extreme forehand grip I do transition to a somewhat extreme backhand grip for my backhand strokes as well.

The greatest player of all time, Ma Long uses an extreme backhand grip too. I have to say, I was pretty shocked when I found out.

To adopt an extreme backhand grip you almost just do the opposite of the extreme forehand grip. Rotate your paddle slightly clockwise, and for an added touch you can move your thumb upward so that it covers the name of your rubber.

This provides more support when playing backhand strokes leading to more power and control.

Chinese Penhold Grip

The Chinese penhold grip is the second most prevalent grip in the sport.

Originally the Chinese ping pong penhold grip involved striking the ball on just one side of the paddle. This meant inverting your forehand face over to your backhand side so that you didn’t have to use your backhand.

However, over time this was found to be unfavorable and hence the reverse penhold backhand grip was born.

Chinese penhold works best on a Chinese penhold handle blade. This type of blade is similar to the straight shakehand blade except the handle is much shorter.

How to Do a Chinese Penhold Grip in Table Tennis

As the name suggests, the penhold grip in ping pong is just like holding a pen. Grab your paddle like you are holding a pen by wrapping your thumb and index finger around the handle.

Then rest your three remaining fingers on the backhand side beside one another. Most players curl their fingers inwards a little bit.

Advantages

The reverse backhand penhold grip offers the best of both worlds. It has the touch and excellent forehand that penhold offers, while simultaneously adopting a stronger backhand like for the shakehand grip.

This makes it more balanced and far better for the modern game. You can’t get decimated by being pinned on your backhand as you could before with the traditional Chinese penhold grip.

Given its excellent touch and feeling, the RPB grip feels great for both serving and receiving, and it still has a super forehand for 3rd and 5th ball attacks. It’s a great grip for power-loopers.

Disadvantages

By changing the traditional Chinese grip to reverse penhold backhand it introduces a crossover like the shakehand grip. This can make it difficult to decide whether to play a forehand or backhand stroke.

You need to be able to read the ball well and have good footwork to make up for this flaw.

Another drawback is the reduced hitting area on your backhand side. While the RPB grip provides far better backhand shots than traditional penhold, it’s still not as good on the backhand side as the shakehand grip. This is partly because you have three fingers resting on your backhand rubbers which take up quite a bit of space.

The shakehand grip, by comparison, has just one, and it rests right along the edge. So while your backhand is good, you should always be actively seeking to use your forehand with the newer reverse penhold backhand grip.

Japanese Penhold Grip

Although pretty rare, the Japanese penhold grip is the 3rd most common type of grip in table tennis.

The Japanese penhold grip in table tennis involves you using your forehand side of the paddle exclusively. This means you invert your forehand for shots that land on the backhand side of the table.

Japanese penholders traditionally use Japanese penhold blades. These are light and very fast. They are often made from just a single ply of wood and use cork for the handles (hence the light weight).

They also have rectangular handles and an elongated paddle face. As such, they feel very different from Chinese Style blades.

How to Do a Japanese Penhold Grip in Table Tennis

There is little variation between the Chinese and Japanese penhold grip. The main distinction between the two grips is where the middle, ring finger, and pinkie lie. Where they curl near the edge of the backhand side for the Chinese penhold grip, they extend straight outward for the Japanese version.

Some players rest thee fingers on top of one another while others spread them out a little.

Advantages

Everything about the J-pen grip is built for a strong forehand from the blade to the grip.

The blade is thick, lightweight, and fast which gives you the acceleration and power you need to kill points. And the grip has your middle, ring finger, and pinkie lie directly behind where you are going to strike the ball. This once again increases your power and also helps with control.

Of course, like the Chinese penhold grip you also have great touch and wrist mobility. This makes it superb for serving and touch-play — key tools you’ll need to execute your powerful forehand.

Another benefit to the Japanese penhold grip is the lack of a crossover. Because you are using your forehand side of the rubber on your backhand side you never have to decide what side of the paddle to use. This means fewer unforced errors.

Disadvantages

With such an impeccable forehand it’s only natural for the grip to have its shortcomings. And its drawback is a deal-breaker for most people.

The backhand stinks. There’s no way around it, unfortunately it’s just that bad. You can’t loop with it, and in today’s game, that puts you at a major disadvantage.

This means you need to have to be very tactical and have super footwork to get your powerful forehand in. To become effective at this you need to invest tonnes of hours of training — it’s not the sort of grip you can pick up and become effective with right away.

Seemiller Grip

The Seemiller is a very rare grip. I’ve never actually encountered a player who uses it, but in the interest of helping you learn all there is to know about grips I thought I’d best include it.

The Seemiller grip is tailored for the forehand attacker. You use your forehand rubber on both sides of the table. While it can seem difficult to use, there is documented evidence of it working very well. Dan Semiller, the player who invented it, used the grip to rise to number 19 in the world.

How to Do a Seemiller in Table Tennis

The Seemiller grip is actually a lot like the extreme forehand grip we covered earlier. You adopt a standard shakehand grip by rotating the paddle clockwise slightly. This means the bottom right part of your palm should be behind the handle of the paddle rather than resting on the side.

You then simply wrap the end of your index finger over the edge of your bat.

Advantages

As the seemiller grip mirrors the extreme forehand shakehand grip it should come as no surprise that it has an excellent forehand. That’s kinda what the Seemiller grip is all about. Everything you do is to set up forehand kill shots.

Much like the traditional Chinese penhold and Japanese penhold, the seemiller grip also sees you use only your forehand rubber (at least, most of the time). This means you don’t have a weak crossover like the regular shakehand grip does.

However, it’s actually a good idea to use your backhand rubber for the purpose of twiddling. As the seemiller grip has your forehand inverted to the backhand side you essentially have a backhand rubber that you never use.

So make use of it by placing a tricky rubber on the backhand side like long pimples or anti-spin. That way you can unexpectedly twiddle to give your opponent a tough ball to deal with — the perfect setup for your forehand dominant play!

Disadvantages

There’s a reason the seemiller grip isn’t very popular, and that’s simply because it’s tough to use. The rule change requiring different rubber colors also hurt this grip immensely. Before you could have two black rubbers and twiddle — it was one of the best strategies in the game.

The main issue with the seemiller grip is the lack of versatility on the backhand side.

It suffers in all areas of the game, not just attack. The only shots you can really perform with an inverted forehand are blocks, drives, and to some extent, smashes.

You can’t loop, you can’t chop, you can’t even lob. So you are very restricted with your inverted forehand. This is why it is so important to have stellar footwork to use your regular forehand on the backhand side.

And to put it bluntly, it’s just an awkward grip to use. I don’t recommend it.

V-Grip

Now the v-grip is even rarer than the seemiller grip, but it is certainly one that interests me. It’s a very strange grip, but while odd I do think it could have some practical application for the right player — that is provided you put in the hours to learn its intricacies.

How to Do a V-grip in Table Tennis

The v-grip sees you shift your index finger over to the other side of the handle with your thumb. As a result, your index and middle finger form a “v” if viewed from the side, hence the name.

Both your index finger and middle finger curl inwards over the rubber. Your thumb rests just beneath your index finger and your ring finger and pinkie grab the blade as usual.

What Interests Me About the V-Grip?

The thing I find so fascinating about the v-grip is how fundamentally different it is from all of the other grips. There’s very minimal footage of the grip online, but as best I can tell, you use one side of the rubber for pushes on the forehand and backhand side. And then for all topspin strokes on either flank, you use the opposing rubber.

No other grips are like this.

What excites me about this grip is the promise for short spinny topspin strokes. Think about the nature of heavy topspin shots in today’s game. The loop is probably the shot that comes to mind — it has a long stroke length and limited wrist movement.

This is partly because of the orientation of the wrist. There isn’t a lot of room to move. But with the v-grip, your wrist rotation shifts. The altered angle makes wrist mobility much easier.

As such, I hypothesize that you can produce tonnes of topspin with a much shorter stroke length because you can rely on the wrist. Now do I think this could work well at the top level? Certainly not. But I do think it could be very effective at a club level.

Advantages

I would say the primary benefit of the v-grip is the elevated spin for short strokes. You can generate far more spin on your forehand just using your wrist than for other grips. This could be hugely beneficial to some players. Older players in particular I feel may benefit, as they lack the speed and fitness to execute demanding loop strokes.

The v-grip also feels pretty great on the backhand side. As the index finger is further up like the thumb is for the extreme backhand shake hand grip, backhand strokes feel well-controlled and powerful. Punches in particular feel awesome.

Disadvantages

Understandably this grip has quite a lot of issues which explains why you never see it. This begins with pushing which feels awkward. Wrist mobility is actually really poor here — that’s the price you pay for improved wrist mobility for topspin strokes. The handle also gets in the way for backhand flicks, so I ended up placing it below my wrist for flicking on that side.

Another issue is that smashing is very weak. Bar the extreme backhand shakehand grip, smashing feels great for all the grips, but not with this one. Your best bet is to transition to regular shakehand for smashes. However, it’s very hard to do. Although it may seem odd, I recommend using your non-playing hand to help change your grip — you should have enough time to do it.

And the final gripe is just how uncomfortable the bat is to hold. The skin in between your index and middle finger gets very sore after only a short while. I imagine it takes a while to build up resistance to use the v-grip regularly. You might also have to sand your blade a bunch to get it to a position where it is comfortable to hold for extended periods.

Tips for a Successful Ping Pong Grip

Whatever grip you choose to go for, I want to help you make the most out of it that you can. So here are my top tips for success:

1. Choose a grip that compliments your style. If you know what type of style you want to use, choose a grip that pairs up well. This will speed up your progression and means you’re less likely to be tempted to switch later.
2. Use a loose grip. Table tennis is a spin-orientated game that requires good technique. If you hold your racket too hard you lose feeling of the ball, produce less spin, and play robotic-like. Loosen up that grip!
3. Recognize the fundamental weaknesses of your grip. By recognizing innate weaknesses you understand that these are areas that need specific training to improve.

The Bottom Line

Each of the ping pong grips have their pros and cons. And while the shakehand grip is the best performing across the board, it might not be the right grip for you. My advice is to give each of the grips a go to see which you prefer.

And don’t rush in making your decision! Once you pick it’s not a good idea to keep swapping around. To become an expert you need to focus your efforts on one grip and one grip alone.

FAQs

Can I Use a Penhold Grip with a Flared Handle Blade?

You sure can, a lot of players do. But I would recommend getting a penhold ping pong paddle over a straight one. This is because they are more comfortable, and more head-heavy which compliments the penhold style.

Do Players Change Grip When Serving?

While penholders don’t change grip when serving, almost all high-level shakehanders do. This is because the shakehand grip is a little restrictive when it comes to serving. The only top player I can think of who doesn’t alter his grip when serving is Vladimir Samsonov.

What Is the Best Way to Hold a Ping Pong Paddle?

Each grip has its merits, but overall the shakehand grip performs the best across the board.

Which Type of Grip is Best for Short Play?

Chinese and Japanese penhold grips have better feeling than shakehand which makes them great for short play. However, the lack of an effective backhand flick with Japanese penhold is a serious flaw. This is a weakness that Chinese penhold does not have. As such, I would argue it is the strongest grip for short play.