A neutral shakehand grip

Originally uploaded by the brownhorse

EDIT: I now realise that having a neutral grip isn't absolutely necessary. If Timo Boll changes grip then it should be okay. We just need to work on our grip change over if we do change grip though.

One big issue for me was placing the thumb pointing up on the backhand side. This enabled me to play solid backhand shots. But what happened was when the ball came to my forehand, it was difficult to play the forehand shot with that backhand orientated grip; with the thumb pointing up. Try it now, its hard to get over the ball. This forced me to change grip when alternating between backhand and forehand. The huge downside of changing grip is that it takes time within points. So unconsciously I was running backward to give me more time to change grip, narrowing my ability to play greater angles than I would if I were at the table.

After I reached a certain level, I realised this and that I needed a neutral, one grip so my crossover would be fine and I wouldn't fall back. I found a neutral grip, placing my thumb down when playing the backhand and rotating where my palm was placed on the racket also, for the forehand. What I found was that I had to bend my wrist toward myself to hit a backhand. This is what I realised that Wang Liqin does.

If you play with the thumb up on the backhand, you might have a brilliant backhand but the forehand will suffer. Or you will learn to adjust. One pro that I feel used to do this was Kreanga. His backhand is brilliant and his forehand has adapted to it. His strokes are rather weird as a consequence.

Coaches won’t necessarily pick up on this and tell you this. Well I never was told. It was all self discovery. I see so many people who are starting table tennis with this problem, and it’s only a minor thing that can largely hurt their game. I think this is why some basement players have weird styles, such as playing their backhand on their forehand.

In short, find a neutral grip. I found that after I found a neutral grip, my level dropped a bit. Don’t let the drop in level first off discourage you, probing you to revert to changing grips for each shot you play. I felt my level went higher than it would have been if I kept my backhand orientated grip.