I was wondering how y’all hold your ping pong paddles. I know most people hold them in the tennis-racket fashion. I hold mine differently. I put my thumb and first finger around the handleand hold it with the paddle pointing down.
Does anyone else do it this way?
My friends tell me that my way is how the pros do it. Anyone know if this is true?
Which way is better? I like mine because backhand and forehand are equally easy.
Pen-grip here. Haven’t played in a long time, tho.
I used to play quite a bit, never pro quality, but shrug
I did the pen style, but also did similar to a racket hold, but had the base of the paddle as far down in my grip as possible. This way my forefinger would actually point along the back of the paddle. Found this gave me support on the hard hits.
CandyMan
Yeah, I hold it the way you do. I find it is a lot easier to get the down-spin on the ball that way. Just a lot easier to control in general.
I learned how to play in Indonesia, and that’s how they showed me to hold it.
My friend was a standard tennis gripper, and we were always really evenly matched. He seemed to be able to slam the ball with more accuracy than I could, but I could put better spin on the ball. My backhand was always a little weak, though, because my fingers got in the way a lot.
I guess, if you’re just an amateur like us, it all comes down to what you are comfortable with.
I’m glad there are other people like me out there. I always get persecuted :O)
Several of the Chinese players I knew in college (who were amazingly good) eschewed the handle altogether. They had the thumb along the lower edge of the paddle and the next two fingers along the the other edge of the other side. (I guess part of your palm is still around the handle this way, but I’m not sure that’s important).
I eventually experimented with this approach and really grew to love it. I seem to get a lot more spin and accuracy this way…
Unless my opponent needs a handicap, I play “western” or racket style. My index and middle fingers rest on the “backhand” side of my paddle.
Pen style is a bit better for spin and backhand shots, but you’re at a real disadvantage on forehands. However, you only need 1 sheet of rubber, which might be important in countries where several dollars is quite a bit.
Sorry, the first part is sort of unclear. I play pen-style to handicap myself. I’m much better at racket style.
Racket style:http://home.keyworld.net/~bstt/jpgs/waldner2.jpg
Pen style(although it’s hard to see): http://home.keyworld.net/~bstt/jpgs/ding.jpg
Chinese professionals (usally) hold it pen-style. Swedish professionals hold it racket-style. And we all know that the swedes are the best so change your style… 
I play with the “shake-hand” grip - what everyone here is calling the racket grip. I enjoy a modest level of success in my local club.
The pen-grip seems to be a predominantly Asian method.
Good overview of different grips at Table Tennis Australia
For information on tournaments, places to play, rules, etc., here in the States see USA Table Tennis
My own grip is apparently quite unusual. Everyone I’ve played with comments on it and wonders how I make it work so well. It seems perfectly natural to me. I hold the handle loosely between my thumb and the side of my hand with my four fingertips on the rubber not far from the handle. Unlike many (but not all) users of the pen grip, I use opposite sides of the paddle for forehand and backhand. About a third of the side of the paddle that I use for my backhand is “wasted” because my fingers are blocking it, but this is rarely a problem for me, as I tend to use the far end of the paddle. For a few shots, I curl my fingers up so that the area near the handle is freed up.