more on ping pong

[jdl22]

So I played ping pong last night for the first time since high school. I went to a fairly small high school in rural Oregon and was one of the players that wasn't terrible but not good either (basically that means I would crush the bad players by simply repeatedly hitting the ball anywhere on their side and awaiting a mistake, good players killed me). I was playing against a few Chinese students from my department. Oddly enough I think I was actually playing better last night than I did in high school, kinda weird. I still got pretty much crushed by the good players but I was actaully forcing a few mistakes. The good news is that I had a lot of fun and will now probably play fairly regularly with an attractive Chinese friend of mine.

I've got some questions for the experts here (Astro et al):
1. We want to buy paddles. We're not looking to spend more than $50. She uses the butterfly grip and I currently use the handshake. What do you guys reccomend? How much different are $50 paddles than $30 or $70 for a total noob like me? I want something decent as we'll probably play 3 or 4 days a week for an hour or more.

2. What are the advantages of the two grips? Right now I use the handshake but I haven't played much so it wouldn't be too terribly costly to learn the other one if it's better.

3. Any beginner strategy tips would be helpful. I quickly figured out that her backhand didn't really exist so I had her basically pinned to one side of the table, but I wasn't sure how to proceed at that point. I tended to play as far off the table as possible (there wasn't much room behind unfortunately) and often played the ball from below the plane of the table.

[masse75]

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She uses the butterfly grip and I currently use the handshake.


[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure this is ping pong?

[marsvolta619]

Sorry, ping pong tables should be used for nothing other than beirut games. That is all.

[jdl22]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
She uses the butterfly grip and I currently use the handshake.


[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure this is ping pong?

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah I [censored] up. I realised just now that I was calling it the "butterfly" because that's what somebody (apparently incorrectly) was calling it in another thread. We were actually calling it the Chinese grip which probably isn't right either but it makes sense since pretty much all of them use it. Basically it's holding the handle as you would hold a pen, so the handle is basically going the opposite way it is in the other grip. In Chinese it's apparently called the vertical grip whereas the other one is horizontal.

[Duke]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
She uses the butterfly grip and I currently use the handshake.


[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure this is ping pong?

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah I [censored] up. I realised just now that I was calling it the "butterfly" because that's what somebody (apparently incorrectly) was calling it in another thread. We were actually calling it the Chinese grip which probably isn't right either but it makes sense since pretty much all of them use it. Basically it's holding the handle as you would hold a pen, so the handle is basically going the opposite way it is in the other grip. In Chinese it's apparently called the vertical grip whereas the other one is horizontal.

[/ QUOTE ]

That that was nothing more than a "manual stimulation" joke. Did you duck, or did that just fly over your head of it's own accord?

~D

[masse75]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
She uses the butterfly grip and I currently use the handshake.


[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure this is ping pong?

[/ QUOTE ]



yeah I [censored] up. I realised just now that I was calling it the "butterfly" because that's what somebody (apparently incorrectly) was calling it in another thread. We were actually calling it the Chinese grip which probably isn't right either but it makes sense since pretty much all of them use it. Basically it's holding the handle as you would hold a pen, so the handle is basically going the opposite way it is in the other grip. In Chinese it's apparently called the vertical grip whereas the other one is horizontal.

[/ QUOTE ]

That that was nothing more than a "manual stimulation" joke. Did you duck, or did that just fly over your head of it's own accord?

~D

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks, Duke...at least someone is paying attention.

[Bukem_]

You don't really need a great paddle to be decent. You can go to any regular sports store and get their best model(which won't be anything special) and be fine.

Try to hit every shot with topspin. YOu can hit the ball alot harder and keep it on the table if you have good topspin. Then try to learn other types of spin. Try cutting he paddle into your body when hitting on your forehand side sometimes.

[jdl22]

[ QUOTE ]
That that was nothing more than a "manual stimulation" joke. Did you duck, or did that just fly over your head of it's own accord?

[/ QUOTE ]

Some of each. I realised at lunch that I had used the wrong terminology and was focused on that.

[htc1278]

I used to play every day for a few years using the handshake grip (or whatever it's called). I broke a finger and it forced me to use the other grip (a modified version). I found that it allowed me better control and deception. As Bukem said, topsin is very important for keeping the ball on the table. Sidespin will help you control your shots. In addition to working your opponent to their weaker side, changing the depth on your shots can be helpful (also dangerous because if you hit a short shot without having pushed your opponent away from the table you'll get hit in the face with balls). As far as paddles go, I prefer paddles without much cushioning while my brother preferred the opposite. Try a few paddles if you have access to the them. See what fits your style. It's like golf, pool, and all those other sports--different strokes for different folks.

I hope I've included enough innuendos to keep everyone happy. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[astroglide]

there are 3 major grips. shakehands is like you're shaking somebody's hand, balanced grip with easy access to forehand and backhand shots. penholder is like you're holding a pen, good forehand and spin but awkward backhand and not as good for total slamming. seemiller grip is where you hold your hand like you're making a gun with your fingers, only the forehand is used for particular strength but the corner play can be weaker.

most people who play with penholder grips that i've seen seem to believe that it's how asian people play, and that asian people play better so it's better.

if you're going to play often don't feel bad about spending a little over 50 on it. i would suggest getting a prebuilt paddle instead of putting it together yourself or having to pick out the individual components and having the reseller put it together for you. i use a prebuilt yasaka gaiten mark v. it would be a tougher paddle for a novice to use, high speed and low control.

if you're using the shakehands grip i'd stay with it. i use the seemiller grip but that's just how i started so i keep using it. i can handle corners fine against the people i play.

for strategy against a penholder just play constantly to their backhand, then start varying it where it comes into a guessing game of whether or not you're going to attack their backhand yet again. this is a decent strategy against anybody with a weakness, but penholder always has a backhand weakness so it's a default.