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Where should THUMB be during shakehand grip? |
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Cho88
Member Joined: 10/14/2012 Status: Offline Points: 11 |
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Posted: 10/14/2012 at 7:30pm |
OK, so first pictures of where my thumb is while I'm holding a racket:
From what I've seen on the net, most people have their thumb touch the rubber, and also my trainer advised me to lift my thumb so that it touches the rubber. This is how he (and lots of other people) hold the racket: I am pretty much used to holding my thumb lower, as in the first 3 pics (2nd pic of Timo Boll is a little bit too low even for my taste hehe). When I lift it and touch the rubber it somehow restricts my forehand movement. I simply am not used to it. Is it really necessary to touch the rubber with your thumb? Most of the people seem to hold it that way, but as noted from the pics, there certainly are exceptions. Thank you very much for your help! Edited by Cho88 - 10/14/2012 at 7:36pm |
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kenneyy88
Premier Member Joined: 01/06/2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4074 |
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Thumb should be resting on the bevel on the handle. You should feel yourself pinching the paddle with your index and thumb.
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Cho88
Member Joined: 10/14/2012 Status: Offline Points: 11 |
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When I try to pinch the paddle my thumb wants to go lower a little bit, it gives me much better feeling. Is it a bad habit? I play much better with my thumb being as in the first 3 pics than when I pinch it. Pinching kinda restricts my movement, it sucks the power out of my forehand. My trainer's thumb is like in the 4th picture, that's way too high for me. I also read on the net about low and high placement of the thumb during shakehand grip. So obviously there are variations. Also here guy advises that you should hold it as you feel the most comfortable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKVdSGCNr7I&feature=player_embedded I have just recently started with the TT training so I was wondering if I should try to change my grip by lifting my thumb a bit? I know my game will suffer if I do it, just don't know if it's worth it. Especially since the "lower thumb grip" obviously exists, even though it might not be predominant. Edited by Cho88 - 10/14/2012 at 7:52pm |
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Tinykin
Platinum Member Joined: 10/30/2003 Location: England Status: Offline Points: 2337 |
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OP, also note that the photos were taken during the rally. The fingers and thumb move around as the player adjusts his grip for whatever stroke he's playing.
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Baal
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Lots of room for individual variation on this.
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JimT
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It could be just me but I move a bit both my thumb and my index finger depending on the stroke.
1) serve - both are holding the racket a bit lower (off the face) than usual so I could do a faster swing/snap motion 2) opening FH loop close to body - both fingers are on the face, deeper into the racket so I basically perform the loop as if the racket were my palm 3) counter-loop or kill-loop - index finger a bit lower but still on the face, thumb slides down to the top of the handle, so the arc of the swing is a tad longer 4) FH block (simple and fast) - index finger moves up the face becoming less horizontal, thumb stays in place 5) FH block (slowing the ball) - thumb goes lower, index finger presses on the face forcing the ball down a bit more Etc. Some players say that they never change the grip or finger position but I really really doubt that - that's what they were taught but literally nobody can do that. Some elite players also say that they change fingers' position for a smash or a BH loop... but generally they do indeed prefer not to change it much because it creates problems with transition from one shot to the next one. |
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Baal
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Yep, nearly everybody (elite players also) slides their grip around at least a little bit from shot to shot, including where their thumb sits. Also, different players can differ a lot in where their thumb sits most of the time. That is clear from the photos posted by the OP. This is one of those things, like how much the elbow is bent on a forehand loop, that doesn't have just one correct answer. Also, some players change their grip more than others as they hit different shots. I have even known some elite players who say they don't change their grip but when you watch them closely you can see they are doing it some.
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BMonkey
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TT newbie
Gold Member Joined: 11/25/2011 Location: Far Far Away Status: Offline Points: 1391 |
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Basic tips I learned from my coach:
- During an offensive backhand stroke the thumb must make pression on blade surface. - During an offensive forehand stroke the index finger must make pression.
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Nagatito
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I was training yesterday and I have a really inconsistent BH, I ussualy use my thumb on the blade, so I dont know why I used it on the rubber and I could control much more, for me its easier to make my BH topspins and is harder for the other player to get them.
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NextLevel
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Cho88,
Definitely not necessary. Any grip that makes you play better is the grip you should use. The biggest technical limitation of a novel grip is that since your teacher doesn't use it, your teacher may not understand its subtleties. That is largely why the popular grips dominate - starting from scratch to work on a grip is harder than learning the grip from someone else. IF you want to change your grip, do so for a while and see what happens. I have changed mine for a few days now and I like the short term results enough to stick with it.
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I like putting heavy topspin on the ball...
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Benigma
Super Member Joined: 03/03/2012 Location: land of hope Status: Offline Points: 240 |
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Placing the thumb on the rubber was something that I used to do, and I found that it made my backhand loop a lot easier to execute because my wrist was significantly more flexible. However my forehand was at a disadvantage because I couldn't get the right angle on my forehand loops. Some players do alternate between grips when they play different strokes and thats fine.
But I have forced myself grip the handle the original way, where the thumb only touches the topmost part of the handle, and does not touch the rubber. |
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koshkin
Silver Member Joined: 10/30/2003 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 523 |
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Everyone's grip is a little different. I have a pretty high grip, so my thumb is usually on the rubber. My grip is similar to Kong's in the picture above. Some people have a low grip and their thumbs are on the grip. I do not think there is a right or wrong way of doing it. Same for grip changing between strokes. I do not consciously change my grip (other than for serving), but I am sure it changes a little bit between FH and BH. I do, however, know people who consciously change their grip for different shots.
ILya
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SeeReed
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My coach suggest change grip during play to maximize each shot only if you are able do it with good results otherwise stay with one grip most of time.
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blahness
Premier Member Joined: 10/18/2009 Location: Melbourne Status: Offline Points: 5443 |
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FH is easier with the thumb hooked on the handle "ramp" like ZJK. However, BH is easier with the thumb on the rubber.
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Imago
Premier Member Joined: 07/19/2009 Location: Sofia Status: Offline Points: 5897 |
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Not if you loose your ring and little finger when whip hitting from BH.
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FireHorse
Silver Member Joined: 09/05/2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 567 |
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I think it depends on your habit. But I see that most of the shakehand Chinese players now having their thumbs presses on the rubber during backhand strokes. I watch an instruction video where Ma Long shows the thumb presses on the rubber when he talks about backhand stroke and even though I don't understand Chinese, I think he might say that having the thumb on the rubber during backhand strokes help stabilize the blade to make the stroke more accurate or something like that. I think someone who watches that video and understand Chinese could verify that for me. And I'm sorry that I do not have the link for that but I think anyone can find it on youtube.
I changed my grip to always have the thumb presses on the rubber no matter if it's forehand or backhand strokes.
FireHorse Edited by FireHorse - 10/16/2012 at 2:39pm |
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Baal
Forum Moderator Joined: 01/21/2010 Location: unknown Status: Offline Points: 14336 |
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The ultimate example of a thumb pressing the blade on a backhand is
Kreanga. You can also see this with Persson, but not quite to the same
extent. Also, Kong Linghui a little. There is no doubt that this can
stabilize your backhand, unless you move it out of the way, it can hurt
your forehand a bit. It's a tradeoff. Kreanga has a big grip change
between forehand and backhand because of that.
Edited by Baal - 10/16/2012 at 12:37pm |
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Baal
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Here is Persson. Thumb still a bit high but not as extreme as Kreanga on backhand.
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cls2222
Silver Member Joined: 10/23/2010 Location: U.S. Status: Offline Points: 646 |
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You forgot to add "put your left toe over your right toe" jk :) It all varies stylistically from player to player. TB plays with that weird grip so that he doesn't have to transition between BH and FH (at least that's what I see from watching him play, very smooth BH-FH transition, just like ZJK). |
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Korbel
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Baal
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If you watch this clip you can see that whenever TB transitions from FH to BH there he makes a big grip change, bigger than most top players. You can really see it at around 2:12 on this video (where he transitions to a FH after hitting a bunch of BHs), as well as in other places (real obvious at around 12:00-14:-30). The transition is still smooth. His FH grip is a bit unusual.
Edited by Baal - 10/16/2012 at 5:00pm |
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power7
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You have to change your grip going from FH to BH for hitting hard. If you're not pressing on the rubber from the other side, you must have wrist of steel to keep the ball under control. It's one of the only tactile ways of knowing your paddle angle more precisely.
Edited by power7 - 10/17/2012 at 1:15am |
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pingpongpaddy
Gold Member Joined: 06/27/2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1286 |
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imo
its best to think of the grip as a 'ready position' from which you want your fhs & bhs to flow. For complete control of the ball it seems obvious that it should be easy to open and close the racket angle for different shots, so it seems sensible that this 'ready position' should be halfway or neutral. Its generally accepted too that the arm and grip should be relaxed as much as possible, so its good to ensure that forefinger and thumb do not press at the same time. Its also good if the fingers round the handle are NOT wrapped tightly Any thinking that requires fingers and thumb to be in precise positions is wrongheaded and will lead to tension. When holding your racket at ready, your partner should be able to pull your racket out of your hand easily or it is too tight!! |
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Baal
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+1 |
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Baal
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Actually, consciously messing around with your grip is the ninth circle of table tennis hell. There lies madness. Usually more problems come from feet and body than from hands or arm.
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BMonkey
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Baal
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Yep. |
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V-Griper
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My hypothesis is that thumb position correlates with paddle rotation in the grip. i.e FH, BH, or neutral biased grip.
FH biased- it's actually kind of difficult to put your thumb on the rubber the more FH biased your grip is. Try it. Hence you will see that most players with a FH biased grip don't have their thumb on the rubber. Neutral grip- Obviously can go either way. BH biased- Thumb is almost always on the rubber i.e. pressing the back of the blade. Some players switch- Timo(wonder if he puts his thumb up on his BH) Most don't-ZJK Imo what your really asking is what kind of general bias on your grip works best for you. Obviously the bias on the grip comes with a set advantages and disadvantages. For example ZJK has a heavy BH biased grip and he does not, afaik, switch on his fh and it shows. It is not quit as good as ML's, who has a neutral or very slight BH bias. That's not to say he does not have an effective FH just that he optimized his game around his BH. On the other hand ML's BH flip and punch block aren't quit up to where ZJK's is. In the end they're somewhat evenly matched. Note: Imo ZJK's flip is strongly correlated to the degree of BH bias in his grip. Those looking to emulate it will have to give that some consideration as it will have a significant effect on the FH. |
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FireHorse
Silver Member Joined: 09/05/2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 567 |
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I think for us all who are into table tennis will at some point think about the grip and find out that our grip is not optimal. I used to grip my paddle in a forehand grip and had hard time blocking or counter driving in the backhand, so I watched several clips to find out how pros hold their paddle and noticed that Timo Boll switch his grip in rallies, Kreanga uses backhand grip and most of the Chinese players hold the paddle in neutral grip and then seeing Ma Long, Wang Liqin with the thumb presses on the rubber. After that, I decided that I cannot change my grip as fast as Timo Boll, I'm not going to be a backhand dominant player like Kreanga so I decide to change my grip to be neutral with the thumb presses on the rubber all the time.
Not sure if that helps me but it took me a while to get used to this grip and I do have decent forehand and backhand but I do realize that even with that neutral grip, since I'm more of a forehand player, I do slip into forehand grip more than neutral in some fast rallies.
FireHorse
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Current Setup:
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Baal
Forum Moderator Joined: 01/21/2010 Location: unknown Status: Offline Points: 14336 |
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VGripper proposes that "thumb position correlates with paddle rotation in the grip. i.e FH, BH, or neutral biased grip."
I think this is sometimes true when you look at top players, but watching some videos closely, I think there are exceptions. A good example of what he talking about is Kong Linghui, whose basic grip tends towards the BH side; his thumb rides up a bit, same with Zhang Jike, even when they hit forehands. Actually, I think most people who play like that tend to have thumb higher. But there are guys who use a more forehand oriented grip on FH and they usually change their grip a lot when they hit backhands (e.g. pretty much every top German player, especially Boll) and the thumb position isn't always the same with this group. For example, Timo Boll' thumb definitely does not ride up so far, but Kreanga is a really opposite extreme when he hits BH. Another thing is how far up or down the handle people generally grip, which can also vary a lot among really good players. Some guys really tend to grip pretty far down the handle (Wang Liqin, Timo Boll, Cheng Yinghua), and some guys grip somewhat higher (Kreanga, ZJK). If you grip low, your thumb will stay low. It's best not to think about grip too much when you are playing, it's got to be comfortable but automatic. |
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