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The sport of table tennis or ping pong, is a fun indoor sport for 2 or 4 people. On a casual level, families might have a ping pong table in their family rec room or basement, much like a pool or foosball table; but few know how to play table tennis or ping pong to achieve the best results. Below, we’ve outlined the basic grips (ways to hold the table tennis paddle) of table tennis, to help you maximize your performance, both recreationally and professionally.

The way that you hold your tennis table paddle can dramatically alter your performance based on what type of game you are seeking to play (whether professional or recreational), what strokes you will be predominantly using, and the like. There are three basic ways to hold or grip your table tennis or ping pong paddle: the shakehands, penhold, and seemiller grips. The shakehands grip is the most commonly used, both in family rec rooms and professional matches, as it allows for strong mobility in both forehand and backhand strokes. The penhold grip is a more antiquated grip for table tennis players, used more often by professional players seeking to surprise their opponent with a different grip. This grip affords the table tennis player a much stronger forehand predominant stroke, and disables the ease of a backhand because of grip position. Lastly, the seemiller grip was developed by 5 time US Table Tennis champion, Dan Seemiller. This grip is hardly ever used as it is considered disruptive to form, as it employs only one side of the paddle for both forehand and backhand strokes. It is a slight variation from the shakehands grip, allowing for strong control of both forehand and backhand strokes.

How to use the Shakehands Grip:

· Grip the paddle’s handle with all fingers, palm facing you.

· Extend index finger straight out along the base of the rubber part of the paddle (the actual paddle part) on one side of the paddle.

· Close thumb around the other side of the paddle (from your index finger), also along the base. Your thumb should meet the three remaining fingers wrapped around the handle of the paddle.

· Make sure your extended arm and paddle edge form a straight line. It should look like you are shaking hands at a 45 degree angle.

How to use the Penhold Grip:

· Wrap your thumb and index finger around the base of the rubber paddle (where the handle meets the paddle part).
· Your middle, ring, and pinky fingers should be folded behind the paddle and out of the way.
· The tips of your index finger and thumb should be touching.
· The grip should look as if you were holding a pen.

How to use the Seemiller Grip:

· Grip the paddle’s handle with all fingers, palm facing you.

· Extend index finger straight out along the base of the rubber part of the paddle (the actual paddle part) on one side of the paddle.

· Slightly wrap or hook your index finger around the edge of the paddle.

· Close thumb around the other side of the paddle (from your index finger), also along the base. Your thumb should meet the three remaining fingers wrapped around the handle of the paddle.

· Make sure thumb points forward towards the game.

· Make sure your extended arm and paddle edge form a straight line. It should look like you are shaking hands at a 45 degree angle.

Things to keep in mind:

· Keep your grip loose.

· Each grip preference requires a different type of paddle. Play around with the different grips and see what feels most comfortable for you, before you opt for a particular paddle.

· Choose to play a game or opponent that matches the type of grip and stroke that you are best at. For example: use a shakehands grip for a general game that will require forehand and backhand. Use a Seemiller grip for a professional game that requires a lot of blocking.

· If your grip feels uncomfortable, make sure your form is correct.

· Best thing to do if you have any questions or problems, is to ask a certified table tennis coach or locate a supplier.

As a ping pong player, you need to consider the fact that your equipment is an investment that you need to take care of. Although the equipment isn’t that expensive compared to other sporting equipment; not taking care of your ping pong equipment will not only cause you to constantly purchase replacements but it will also affect the quality of your performance whenever you play ping pong.

One thing that you need to take care of is your paddle and the rubber glued on it.

In order to protect your ping pong paddle and the rubber, you will want to purchase a paddle case. With this, you will be able to effectively protect your ping pong paddle from accidental drops and bumps. You can either choose from a canvas case or there are also some available hard cases that will be able to offer heavy duty protection to your paddle.

If you own a customized paddle, you know how expensive it can be to get one specially made for you. Now, what if you left your paddle on a bench and someone sat on it? It can be quite frustrating and it will indeed cost you a lot of money to get another one made. But, if you are just a beginner, with a pre-made paddle you will want to settle for the canvas type paddle case.

Another thing that you need to protect is the rubber attached to your paddle. This is the one responsible for gripping the ball and making it spin. Without it, you will only achieve weak or little spins on the ball. The rubber will grip the ball and it will also provide you with control.

After a game, you will want to clean the rubber with a water based rubber cleaner that is specially formulated to clean ping pong paddle rubber. With this, it will get rid of the dust, oil and other contaminants that it accumulated during the game. You will be able to get this in your local sporting goods store. With it, you will keep your rubber as good as new.

After cleaning it, you will also want to further protect it from accumulating dust and other contaminants again. In addition to the paddle case, you will want to get a protection sheet. This is a plastic sheet with light adhesive that sticks to the rubber. Be sure to place these sheets on both sides of your paddle to ensure maximum protection of both rubbers.

These are the ways on how you can take care of the ping pong paddle and the glued rubber. By remembering these things, you can be sure that you will be able to keep your ping pong paddle and rubber as good as new.

Playing ping pong or table tennis isn’t just about hitting the ball back to your opponent’s side of the table. You have to remember that you will need to know about the different types of grips used to hold the paddle in order for you to know which one is the most effective and also which ones that you are comfortable with.

Basically, in ping pong or table tennis, there are two types of grips. The first is the shake hands grip and the other is the pen hold grip. Both grips have different variations and each variation have its advantages and disadvantages that you should know about.

If you are a beginner in the sport of ping pong, it is recommended that you use the pen hold or the shake hands grip. These two standard ping pong grips are easy to learn and you will get a lot of advice and tips on how to use the grip effectively with these paddle grips. The reason for this is that pen hold grip and shake hands grip are very popular among a lot of people. In fact, these grips are what most professional ping pong players use.

In the shake hands grip, you will handle the paddle as if you were shaking someone’s hand, hence, the name shake hands grip. On the other hand, the pen hold grip is handled like a pen. Just make an “OK” sign then insert the handle of the paddle between the index finger and the thumb facing downwards.

You will also see that the shake hands grip will have a lot of variations. However, the two variations that are commonly used are the shake hand shallow grip and the shake hand deep grip.

In the pen hold grip, you will also see that there are variations for it. The common variations are the traditional Chinese grip, Japanese or Korean grip, and the reverse pen hold backhand grip.

Whatever grip you choose, it is important that you are comfortable with it. You have to remember that different people will have different opinions about the different grips.

Usually, if you live in western countries, you will see that the shake hands grip will be the more dominant kind of grip. It feels natural and it will be able to provide good attacking power on both backhand and forehand strikes.

However, if you want to be unpredictable and have more spin on your ball, the pen hold grip is the grip for you. Although it will require a lot of footwork and may feel awkward especially for non-Asian players, you will see that when you get used to the pen hold grip, you will be able to manipulate the ping pong ball quite effectively by putting unpredictable spins.

These are the available paddle grips for ping pong. Whatever you choose, you will see that each grip will have its advantages and disadvantages. Always remember that you should choose the grip that suits your needs on your playing strategy and also one that you are comfortable using.

After learning the basics of ping pong, you now want to learn how to improve your game. You have to consider the fact that the game of ping pong will not only rely on your quick reflexes, excellent hand eye coordination, speed, and quick thinking, but it will also rely on the ping pong paddle.

If you want to improve your ping pong skills, your basic or ready made paddle that you can buy on the market isn’t enough. You have to purchase a new paddle which is better in quality so that you will be able to enhance the power when you hit the ball, increase control and accuracy, as well as put more spins on the ball.

The first step when buying a paddle is by buying a blade with no rubbers attached to the blade. There are quite a lot of blades available on the market today. For your first serious ping pong paddle, you may want to start with an all around blade that is available from ping pong blade manufacturers, such as Stiga, Butterfly, Double Happiness, and Donic.

Since you are still developing your skills as a ping pong player, you don’t need to try hard when choosing a ping pong blade regarding the weight, head size, balance, speed and other factors that professional ping pong players look for. An all around blade will do just fine.

When choosing a blade, you should go for one with a handle type that best suits your grip type. If you use a pen hold, then you may want to go for a blade with a handle designed for pen hold grips and the same goes for the shake hands grip. Try to go for the blade that has handles that feels good to you. There are quite a lot of handle types available but as a person who is buying his or her first paddle, just settle for one that is comfortable to handle.

The rubber is also an essential part. You will need to attach this to the blade. When choosing a rubber, it is highly recommended that you go for smooth rubbers that you will place on both sides of the paddle. Try to stay away from rubbers with pimples as these are specialized and will limit certain strokes and spins that you can do.

Lastly, you will want to buy a good cover to store your ping pong paddle in. With it, you will be able to keep it safe from getting damaged by dirt, liquid spills, and sunlight. These elements can weaken the rubber and can affect your games.

These are some of the things that you need to remember when buying your first ping pong paddle. By following these tips, you can be sure that you will be able to enhance your skills more and also improve your performance when playing ping pong.