OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I have been playing about 30 years with what many say is an incorrect grip. Thumb on the back of the paddle, other 4fingers wrapped around the handle. I’m about 1100. If I changed to a j-pen grip, how long would it take me to get to 150 usatt? Also, how long would it take me to adapt to the penhold style?i only play with one die of the bat as it is. Thanks

Nobody can tell you how long. Some people take up TT and become state / national reps after 1 or 2 years. Some people play for 30 years and don't get out of div 2.

Changing to a completely different grip is great if you have a lot of bad habits. It's much easier to eliminate / fix those habits when it feels and plays so differently. Also with JPEN you will be training footwork a lot, which will get you better a lot quicker.

ps: you can get double sided jpens, eg: andro KAII, which is an all-round blade. So you can put your sheet on anti or whatever on that if you like and still have lots of options. Or just double inverted if you want to go that path.

Thank you for replying, and your advice. I am definitely feeling that I am not going to get much better at this point. With no coaching to be had, this is also an issue. I don’t know much about Jpen; just started to research it. I have been doing the windshield wiper grip, forever and a day. When I tried to modify to a Seemiller Grip, I didn’t improve much either, maybe got worse. Maybe a fresh start with Jpen is exactly what I need.

You will get worse before you become better. That's always the way when you are changing muscle memory. You need to find some good coaching videos on YouTube. Also record yourself training so you can see what you look like and compare it to the videos. You may need a cheap robot.

How are you going Sardius? Have you tried Jpen?

For physical reason, I think it will be hard to transfer from your current grip to Jpen grip. A normal shakehand grip will require a player twist their forearm and wrist to some extent for backhand drive, but your grip is an extreme banckhand grip, you don't need to twist forearm at all for backhand drive. Jpen grip, on the other hand, requires players twisting forearm to a larger extent for backhand push, it requires twisting forearm for forehand drive as well.

Many members here are able to tell you, a player without coach is far easier to go wrong with penhold grip than shakehand grip.

There is a different blade online than shakehand and penhold. It is called pistol racket. I never try it and I don't know if this will suit you. I am not making a suggestion to you, but I think there is a little chance that you may feel comfortable with it. Sanwei is the biggest manufacturer developing it. Sanwei is a decent table tennis equipment manufacturer, it develops popular Fextra 7 blade, so I think there must be some reasons that it is developing pistol rackets.