OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hello to all one-sided penhold players!
So a problem I have encountered while playing this style (with a Jpen) is that while playing against a chopper/chop-blocker I have a tendency to fall into the same pattern of losing points. They always try to get me to play an attack against backspin from my forehand corner (left corner- I am lefthanded). This will, in turn, be a weaker attack which they easily chop back to my backhand.
From this position I have three options:
1.in the spirit of Jpen, run at the backhand corner and loop against the backspin
2.push with my backhand
3.loop with my backhand

Now in these situations, I have a few problems
1.usually the ball comes too fast to do this. I am thinking need I reset my position closer to the center of the table after the attack from the forehand side
2.this is not a good option since it is almost impossible to push short and I basically give them a free attack which is hard to counter since I am already out of position
3.when it succeeds it is almost always a winner, but it is really tough to TPB loop against backspin.

I know most of my issues could be solved with more training, especially topspin against heavy backspin, which I am still not really comfortable doing continuously and also my footwork.
I just thought asking for your guy's opinion wouldn't be a bad idea since you all have really good tips on the matter of penhold.

you could try push it long to get the chopper to attack to then counter hit or loop back or just put it short until the ball gets high enough to play a strong attacking shot

Option 1. Against choppers, you should have enough timewith to play everything forehand.

If mobility is a concern, then option 3. TPB counterloop is very very hard, but loop/drive against backspin is pretty effective.

Try to put in some time for multi-balls, make sure you have a willing/reciprocating partner.

Do you have any tips on how to attack heavy backspin easier?

Consistently attacking backspin is one of the milestones in your skill's development.

What worked for me was trying to hit as forward as possible with just enough upwards motion to get the ball over the net. Focus on speed and placement, not trying to work up as much spin as some people tend to try.

But I play single sided short pips, not sure if the same idea applies for inverted players.

I am also experimenting with short pips on one side and inverted on another with a yinhe 989. Short pips are a lot of fun . I will switch over only after I completely master the normal Jpen playstyle, since the setup I have now with a Darker speed25pi (I don't want to switch over my playstyle before I get good mechanics in my strokes). I will definitely try what you said. Softer backspin like pushes rarely go in the net for me. What really gets to me at the moment is seeing chop returns go in the net and losing the point that way. I am fully aware, though, that this is how it feels to play against a defender( most of the unforced errors feel like are all yours). In my normal games of this type I try to push some of the balls so I get a return with not as much backspin as a chop and attack that.

Penhold is quite effective against choppers. Look at some videos on He Zhiwen (SP), Rye Sheung-min, and Ma Lin.
If your opponent plays LP, here is a good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYDP8SiL6_g
Jiaqi Zheng is a penholder with SP FH and inverted BH, but you can see her tactics against a chopper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXIbf4NgKcM

Well, played like 11 sets with the player I was talking about. I was winning the first few sets and the pattern I was talking about was no problem and could be easily countered with footwork. Now after that I lost almost every set. Another aspect about this strategy he uses against me, which I didn't realize at the start, is just how much it tires me out. After I was tired he started continuously serving long to my backhand, couldn't pivot, returned it passively with tpb, and the alternative chopping to the two corners started. After a while I couldn't even attack any of the backspins as they all went into the net. I really have to find a way to stop him from making me dance around while he just almost stands in place.
At least I am working on my stamina . More training is all I see in the near future.

Rather than loop, you'll have to develop a backhand topspin drive. Or I suppose you could call it a flick if it's against backspin. The blade will be either vertical or even slightly open if against backspin (whereas to block/drive against topspin the blade has to be closed). The traditional penhold backhand is somewhat cramped and involves contortions, but to be a good penhold player it's a necessary skill. Also investigate changes of grip - you have to be able to manipulate the racket with your fingers and thumb to adjust the blade angle all the way from open to closed, something that would normally be done with the wrist on the forehand side. There are quite a few videos on the subject on YouTube.

Also, perhaps you should also learn to push aggressively. Don't just push short, mix it in with long, spinny pushes to the corners or to the elbow, and mix in sidespin. Again, it's a learned skill, if you're flubbing pushes or popping them high then you need practice pushing.

If you actually want to loop on the backhand you'll need RPB, that's what it's for, mainly.

Iskandar

From what I can tell, tpb loop/drive is a shot with lower success percentage in penhold. To me, it feels mostly like a last resort if my footwork fails or a ball is forced into my wide backhand (when you are ripped out of your strategy as a penholder). An alternative is a slightly softer but safer tbh topspin to set up a forehand attack (I use this more). What I really need to practice is the control with my attacks when I use pivot footwork. I still have to consciously adjust myself to do a crosscourt forehand shot from the backhand corner ( line shots from that position are slightly easier, maybe I am not turning enough?). Anyway, the point is that if you play jpen or any onesided penhold style you have to be a master of forehand attacks with pivot and crossover footwork. I am by far not one since I am by all means a beginner.

Hi Dragon,

I remember you asked about grip a while back, maybe you are still having some problems there?

A proper tpb loop is very difficult, but a drive should be a high percentage shot...

Lifting the thumb should help a lot with angle control. With Jpen, lifting and pressing the thumb on the flat portion helps even more.

About footwork, cross-step towards the forehand side is great, but I've never tried or seen anyone try to cross over towards the backhand side. How's that working for you?

Yes, I did.
I didn't intend to say that the crossover is used to get to the backhand corner, oops . If I am in a huge rush to get there I might do something similar by instinct, but not on purpose. It might be something I can look into a little. If I think about it, coaches don't teach footwork to move from the forehand corner to the wide backhand to use a forehand since shakehanders almost always use their BH in this situation. Maybe crossover footwork to the bh corner is not such a far-fetched idea? I might look into it.

I almost always lift my thumb when I do punch blocking with the tpb (something new I acquired over time is slightly extending the index finger on the rubber), but when I do a drive or backhand smash, I use mostly the grip I have with my forehand, except the fingers on the back are stacked, like when doing tpb. By being a low percentage shot I don't mean that I miss more than I put on the table I would say that my stats are like
9.5/10 with a tpb block or push
8/10 shots with a drive (softer topspin)
8.5/10 shots land with a backhand smash on a high and short ball( otherwise I just have time for a forehand )
6/10 shots with a loop against backspin (many of them go into the net or fr long)
These are just some approximations and I might be overestimating here. My point is that I am, by far, more comfortable with the blocks and pushes.

I didn't have problems with my grip since I asked about it here. It did change slightly and if it isn't clear from my description I can show some pictures.

here is a small list for you
side-topspin shot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYPqahvfWpM&
and here is a list of backhand tricks loops and flicks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7afDqSrfAA&
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbWQ9kgxups&
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT2M6LgtTaQ&
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYj1vjy-m0I&l
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLBUATjrAbA&
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNpWkR67aN8&