Wony wrote:
I am new. Sorry if discussed already many times LOL
Considr this a revisit down the memory lane.
So why all these different head shapes round (cPen) , rectangular (jPen) , square & the new cyber ?
I am also including shakehand as well
Pros & Cons ?
And why do (or historically did) Chinese prefer round & Japanese & Koreans prefer rectangular
If you look at old historical photographs you'll see more shapes that were popular back in the 1930s-1960s that have gone out of style. Tibor Klampar, for instance, played with a trapezoidal blade (which was actually pretty common), and that famous series of photos of Dell Sweeris executing a slow brush loop shows him using a rectangular (shakehands) bat. Again, fairly common back in the day. More recently, there's the violin shaped blade used by Damien Eloi.
As for Japanese penhold blades - see if you can find a copy of the Armstrong catalog - they make and sell a HUGE variety of Japanese penhold blades - round ones, rectangular ones, ones with undercut handles (no idea what they're for), double sided ones made for twiddling... From what I understand, the rectangular blades are for behind-the-table play (which would be most topspin-oriented players) while the smaller, rounded blades are for over-the-table play - maybe short pips players.
As to why Chinese penhold blades (and most blades today) are oval.. I suppose there's that very strong influence - as Reb Tevye sings- TRADITION!
Iskandar