OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I play with a deep shake hand grip. While serving i hold the blade head with my thumb and index. after that I find difficulty in coming back to my normal grip.. That is I need a bit of time to shuffle the paddle in my hand and place it in a comfortable grip. But the problem is that most of the time the ball comes back much before I can do that. Hence I am forced to do a half shot. Even the ball is hittable, I cant hit it just cause i am still not comfortable with the grip. I nedd 2 rallies to get to my normal grip and then only i can attack again. Can anyone help please? What should I do?

_________________
Tibhar Marcos Freitas
FH: Adidas P5
BH: Donnic Coppa JO Gold

maybe your normal shakehand grip is too deep, hence the reason why its hard for you to find it again after serving. You should start practicing the grip change until it becomes second nature to you.

_________________
Xiom Zetro Quad
FH: Tibhar 1Q XD
BH: Yasaka MarkV XS

I wonder if your service grip is the problem. The service grip that is most popular is only a slight variation of a typical shakehand grip where you simply tuck your fingers into your palm. Have a look at this from McAfee's, Table Tennis: Steps to Success.

_________________

Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

My practical advice for you is to simply loosen up a bit from your normal playing grip to serve. "Serve then return to ready position" should be as seamless as possible. It's far easier to change your service grip than your playing grip, so start with it first.

I occasionally don't switch fast enough myself. I then proceed to lose th point.

I think just practicng the motion by itself could be good to do. Also, if you practice serves by themselves (apparently this a REALLY good thing to do), ALWAYS go into ready position after each serve.

_________________
Happy Holidays 'round the world!

Practice is everything ... well, almost. I agree with The Gamer that when practising it's important to be disciplined about it - at least some of the time. Service practice can be one of the most lonely and boring things to do, but a little here and there will give results.

_________________

Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

Thanks.. I will try that. Ya lot of people are asking me to use a shallower grip. But the thing is that, with a shallow grip, I feel uncomfortable and feel that i dont have total control on the racquet. I will try to loosen up bit by bit..

_________________
Tibhar Marcos Freitas
FH: Adidas P5
BH: Donnic Coppa JO Gold

There is a fine line between being too loose and clutching too hard. Once I was too loose with my grip and my bat flew away. Funny thing is when your bat flies away like that you soon learn what is a better grip.

_________________

Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

Practice often and it will be second nature to you.

I used to be too conscious about my service grip but become accustomed to it after more practice. Hold it very relax..

_________________
Enjoy the game. It is a never ending learning experience once you play and keep the ball on that 45 sq ft of space or should I say half of that space.

There now appears to be three main approaches when serving shakehand:

1) The bat is held between the thumb and index finger, allowing a wide range of motion. The remaining three fingers are kept off the handle throughout the service.

2) The bat is still held between the thumb and index finger at the beginning of the service, but the remaining three fingers are used to increase the spin by tightening on the handle during the service motion, increasing the speed of the snap.

3) The bat is held normally, with no grip change at all. The wrist is used to provide spin variation. I have seen this more often of late, perhaps it is making a comeback?

This is the grip that I am going to use the next weeks!!!!