Japanese Penhold Grip is for Offensive Ping Pong Players

The Japanese or Korean penhold grip is similar to another traditional grip known as the Chinese penhold. The exception is that the fingers are not curled up against the back of the paddle, but are extended straight out.

There are two common deviations in the Japanese penhold grip; the difference lies in the placement of the 4th and 5th fingers. In the first variation, the fingers are kept next to the 3rd finger. In the second case, the fingers are spread apart against the paddle’s back.

Advantages of the Japanese penhold grip

By spreading the fingers against the back of the ping pong paddle, extra power can be added to your forehand shots. This makes the Japanese penhold grip a good one to use for forehand strokes. Also, this grip allows for freedom of movement of the wrist from the left to right edge of the paddle which helps to generate a good spin on the forehand shots and serves.

Disadvantages of the Japanese penhold grip

The Japanese penhold grip has several disadvantages. The extended fingers along the back of the paddle restrict the blade movement from handle to top of the bat. Therefore it is more difficult to adjust the angle on the backhand side. In addition to that, it is difficult to be consistent with the backhand topspin when utilizing the Japanese penhold although there are some professional ping pong players who have mastered this skill. The reach restriction on the backhand side caused by this grip makes it so that players must cover a larger area of the table with the forehand side so they have to have fast footwork which requires a lot of stamina.

There are several disadvantages to using the Japanese penhold grip, But it also has important advantages as well and is best suited for offensive players. In fact, if you look through the statistics of the top ping pong players over the last few decades, you will rarely find a defender who used the Japanese penhold grip.  Instead, this grip is preferred by players who favor attacking with the forehand. They usually play farther back from the table and utilize fast topspin loops with the forehand and fishes and blocks with the backhand. These aggressive players are usually pretty speedy on their feet which affords them the opportunity to use their powerful forehand as much as possible.