OOAK Table Tennis Forum

After playing table tennis for 25 years, this old dog has learned a new grip and a little bit of change of style. Tried the Seemiller grip for the first time with a moderate amount of success, the grip and style eliminated a few of my recurring errors, flying elbow, open faced blade on my backhand. I need to change my footwork, but I'm willing to make to put the work in to get it right.
Anyone have experience with this grip? Pros and cons? As I've stated before, my backhand was the weakest part of my game over the years.

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I often 'half-twiddle' to Seemiller grip for blocking and flat-hitting and frequently serve with it. There's much already written about this topic here on OOAK. Try the Search function on the term 'seemiller grip' and if you still have questions after all that reading post them here.

A.S.Max, I am a life-long Seemiller-style player (40+ years). I can hit a "normal" shakehand style backhand, but not very well. So I can make a few comments on this style of grip. Understand that there are various "modifications" to the Seemiller grip. As nathanso mentioned, you will find examples of those various grips in another thread. I happen to hold my bat with my index finger straight up the back of the bat, pointing in a 1 o'clock position. And each of those will have strengths and weaknesses. So, my remarks will be general in nature.

First, the advantages of this grip...

1) It serves a forehand blocking style game very well, allowing, I feel, great flexibility in touch and direction.
2) The backhand shots are quick and wristy, enabling you to not telegraph where you are aiming your shot until the last second.
3) The backhand shot enables you to quickly and subtly vary the topspin counterdrive with varying degrees of sidespin. In fact, you can swing that backhand stroke (for a right-hander) so far from left to right (picture the bat going around a clock from 9 to 4 o'clock) that you can actually hit a backspin block of a topspun ball. This also can be used to slow a rally down, and put spins on the ball that the opposition is just not used to seeing from "ordinary" players.
4) Because the backhand shot is often executed right in front of your body, you get a direct "line of sight" look at where you are driving the ball, resulting in some very exact placement of those shots.
5) Depending on how you hold it, you can instantly modify your grip and hit a "conventional" backhand. I have Long Pips on my other side, and with the way I hold my bat, I can at any moment hit either a Seemiler backhand with my inverted or a LP drive with a "normal" backhand stroke. This versatility, if you have an "off" rubber on one side, can be very disconcerting to the opponent in mid-rally. This does mean learning a whole new set of strokes, and it takes time, but the payoff is big.
6) Now, here's a potential advantage, but it takes a lot of work...If you have anti or long pips on your other side, you can twiddle your bat and now hit a completely different set of strokes Seemiller style. If you can twiddle mid-rally and do this, it can be VERY effective. I admit, I am still working on this, as it means learning a whole 'nother set of strokes. But I like the results when I get it right.

Now, the disadvantages of the Seemiller style...

1) Lack of flexibility on the forehand. Again, this will vary depending upon your exact grip. The way Dan Seemiller does it, he has NO problem with power or flexibility. And, I feel I don't lack in that area with my grip, either. But some do have this issue.
2) Perhaps the biggest drawback--lack of power on the backhand. Just look at the technique involved, and you will easily see why this is so. I cannot power a backhand past anyone. I can place it exactly and out of someone's reach, but never overpower anyone with it. The way Dan Seemiller holds his bat, with the power of two fingers on each side of the bat instead of only one behind it, he can generate more power than I can (besides the fact that he is light years ahead of me in ability).
3) Lack of flexibility/power to hit balls sent to your extreme backhand. If the opponent angles balls severely to your backhand, that is the Seemiller player's Achilles' heel. You really have to have good footwork to keep that from happening, and when you shift way over to your left to keep that from happening, you expose yourself to a passing shot down your forehand line. Fast, severe-angle serves to your backhand side can be a real issue.

OK, those are the pros and cons that I can think of off the top of my head. There are other Seemiller players on this forum. One I know, and who can give you good advice is a guy named Hookshot.

If I can answer any other questions, A.S. Max, let me know. Good luck in trying out your new style!

Jimweiland

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Blade - Rendler Smart FH - Hurricane 8 hard black BH - Grass DTechs OX red
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My grip is thumb on one edge of the blade, first finger on the other edge of the blade, three fingers around the handle. Looks like when you hold a slingshot.
I have very good loops forhand and backhand. The backhand is a wristy shot with a Very short backswing giving very little warning about power or direction on the shot.
I have anti on the backside of the blade. Without changing grip, just rolling the forarm over, I can push, block or hit with the backside. Further from the table, I can chop with the backside same way.
Normal game is attack from both sides with the primary rubber. Use the anti to return backhand serves. I can also banana flip on the backhand side with the primary rubber.
It is the BEST grip for blocking with no crossover. For loops aimed right at you, the bat will be vertical and you can angle the bat to hit anyplace on the table.
I use the anti to disrupt loopers. Counter one or two loops, then block a loop with the anti. Draw them in and out. All but very hard loops can be double bounced with a soft hand or pull back block.
I play shake also but Seemiller grip is my favorite and I do best with that.
I have been to China 3 times, once for 11 months. I got coaching from a provincial champ 2 or 3 times a week. I stuck with shake untill a few weeks before I left. Then I started using my Seemiller grip. The coach was amazed. He told me, use that grip. You have as much power and are much harder to beat. More options with the anti. In the last few weeks, I beat many people that usually had me for lunch. I played every day at indoor clubs and outdoor sites in the parks and apartments.
Alot of the coaching applied directly to either grip, footwork, pushing, looping, etc. However, when I go back, I will be using Seemiller grip in my lessons and play.
One day in another club in a park, my coaches coach was teaching two 10 year olds, so I grabed his bat and blocked for the student while he stood next to the student to correct things. These kids were probably about 1500 USATT. I was surprized his bat was much slower than mine. I used Seemiller grip as I could block all day long that way. After his lessons were over, he had me show him how I used that grip. He had never seen it. Got to play him several times after that before I left China. He always wanted me to use Seemiller grip.
In all my trips to China, I never saw another Seemiller player.

Well, the old masters have spoken, so now I'll say hello too!

I didn't know Hookshot had changed back actually. (I"d love to see some vid of you playing now Hookshot- not everyone get's to spend time training in China!)

I'm currently having a TT break, but was playing normal 2x grippy Shake for the last 6m's of last year. It certainly is different- something old is new again!

I was craving more attack power (my bat is designed to stop hard loops with a super nasty b/h pips block, so obviously it lacks true attack power). Even when you're winning, if your personality isn't a good match with your game style, it will eventually start to bore you. I loved combining pips with Seemiller b/h attacks, but want to rip the ball harder for awhile.

When I start again, I'll experiment using an OFF+ bat with anti on the back, like Hookshot is doing.

The "best" way IMHO is tons of training and standard shake. But because everyone is using this TT system, you gain a lot of points by being able to disrupt people's games and standard tactics, with a non-conventional grip and rubbers.

My advice- be careful what you're using Seemiller to avoid fixing. To me Seemiller is about trading away some of your b/h attacking power, and f/h spin generation ability (your f/h loops will have less spin due to locked wrist), in order to be still able to attack on both sides, but also use pips/anti for serious disruption to 3rd ball attacks and opponent rally rhythm.

PS These days Dan Seemiller largely recommends Shake (due to reduced f/h spin). But, there's a lot of fun to be had if you're willing to make some trades, or can change grip on the fly.

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