The Shakehand Grip is Favored Among Ping Pong Players

The shakehand grip is so named because the grip is performed by an action which resembles shaking hands with the ping pong racket. Your index finger extends along the racket bottom and your thumb relaxes on the blade instead of the rubber. Your remaining fingers are used for gripping the handle.

This grip is advantageous because of its looseness which allows you to easily adjust the angle of the racket. The shakehand grip allows you to use your wrist more and gives your shot extra power and increased spin on the ping pong ball. This grip is effective on short balls which would normally bounce twice.  The skakehand grip also allows for easy execution of all backhand and forehand strokes so it is useful for players wishing to attack from either side of the body.

Disadvantages of the shakehand grip.

The main disadvantage to using the shakehand grip is that it creates a small window of indecision which is referred to as the crossover point. This is the point in time when the ping pong ball cannot be easily hit with the backhand or the forehand side so a decision has to be made in a split second.

You can see that the shakehand grip is versatile and has many advantages. In truth, it is best suited to topspin and drive style players. It is important to maintain proper hand position. For example, by curling the index finger around the handle instead of along the blade, you will have a grip called the hammer grip and it is not at all recommended because it affords very poor control of the ping pong racket.