Reverse Penhold Backhand: Upgrade Your Penhold Grip!

Last Updated on May 23, 2024 by Alex Horscroft

Struggling with your non-existent backhand when playing penhold? You’ve come to the right place! Reverse penhold backhand (RPB) will solve your woes. It involves striking the ball with both sides of the paddle, removing the need to use your forehand rubber on the backhand side. 

The Rise and Fall of the Traditional Penhold Grip

Forget about Ma Long and Wang Chuqin, and let me cast your mind back to the 1980s. If you’re like me, you weren’t alive, but fear not, I’ll set the scene. 

Times were good, at least they were for Asia, China, and Japan dominated the standings. This was partly due to their signature grip: traditional penhold. It may be uncomfortable as hell (just try it out, your hand will curse you for it), but who cares about comfort and pleasure? It’s all about winning, and the grip helped you do just that. Yet the top players sensed this was a high that would not last…

Over time, the game became increasingly fast, and the pitfall of the penhold grip was exposed for all to see. It’s backhand stinks. There’s no way around it. Traditional penholders struggled to move fast enough with the developing game, and no longer could they rely on their superior forehand. A change had to be made.

Hence, the reverse penhold backhand was born. Not keen to entirely ditch the grip they created, players borrowed the wrist turn from the shakehand grip, allowing them to hit the ball with their backhand side like they always should have. Stubbornness is a killer!    

Read More: How to Beat Penholders

How to Hold Your Paddle With the Reverse Penhold Backhand Grip 

You don’t need to change your penhold grip at all to start using the reverse penhold backhand, however, small adjustments may make it easier to use. As a recap, to adopt a penhold grip you hold your paddle like you are holding a pen. Face your handle upward and wrap your thumb and pointer finger around it, then let your remaining three fingers rest on the backhand side.

Normally, switching from traditional to reverse penhold backhand grip should make play more comfortable, as you don’t have to awkwardly bend your wrist to invert your forehand. That being said, you may want to curl your fingers inward more than usual which can feel strange. This is because they eat up the hitting area on your backhand. 

Pros of the Reverse Penhold Backhand

A Far Superior Backhand

The main reason the reverse penhold backhand grip is superior to traditional is because it gives you a much more versatile backhand. With traditional, you can’t spin well at all because of the position of your wrist. The only strokes traditional can perform well are drives and blocks, but even they are worse.

In other words, all backhand strokes across the board are greatly improved. But most importantly, it enables you to flick and loop the ball on the backhand side. These are musts in the modern game at the top level. 

Easier on Footwork

Guess what happens when you don’t have to cover the entire table with your forehand… your poor old legs get a much-needed break! Ma Lin must have been mighty jealous of Wang Hao!

A dependable backhand means you don’t have to commit to forehands too often and can take a more tactical approach to move across at optimal moments. 

Cons of the Reverse Penhold Backhand

Crossover Introduced

Unfortunately, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to the RPB grip. By striking the ball on the back of your paddle, you introduce a crossover — the point in the middle of your body where you have to choose between forehand and backhand.

At times, players get caught out here deciding which side to hit with. Ultimately though, it’s a small price to pay for a dependable backhand. 

More Awkward Than Shakehand Backhand

While the RPB backhand is greatly improved on traditional penhold backhand, it’s still not quite up there with shakehand. For starters, your fingers rest on your backhand side, limiting the available hitting area.

Yet a bigger issue is that the stroke simply feels more awkward to use. Due to the wrist position, many RPB players naturally produce sidespin when they hit the ball. This is difficult to prevent and can be a big issue against lefties as the sidespin shifts the ball to their forehand. 

Takes Time to Adjust

While you might think RPB is an easy switch from traditional, you’d be wrong. It takes a long time to become familiar with the new style of play, and even longer to break old habits. Many ex-traditional penholders find themselves reverting to inverted forehand out of instinct when they don’t have much time to react. If you’re thinking about switching, just be patient. It will be tough to do away with the years of muscle memory from using traditional.

Added Expense

For traditional penhold, you only use one rubber on the forehand side, whereas for RPB you have a forehand and backhand rubber. This effectively doubles your expenses. You won’t get any sympathy from me, though! Now you know how the rest of us feel! Hopefully, your tastes aren’t expensive! Dignics! *cough, cough* Excuse me. 

Closing Thoughts

In the modern game, I see little reason to cling to traditional penhold. Table tennis today is simply too fast, even successful pros who use the grip are forced to retire early as it puts too much strain on the body. Instead, make the switch to the reverse penhold backhand grip and become a more balanced player. Adjusting will take time, but ultimately it’s worth it.

Want to learn about all of the table tennis grips? Give my breakdown a read!