The History of Ping-Pong

All About Table Tennis

Like most other sports, table tennis had humble beginnings as a “parlor game,” open to anyone
with access to a table, paddle, and ball. The game began in the 1880s, when lawn tennis players
adapted their game to play indoors during the winter.

Ping-Pong is a trademark name for table tennis and associated equipment. The name “Ping-
Pong” was invented by the English firm J. Jaques and Son at the end of the 1800s and later
trademarked in the United States by Parker Brothers, the board game company.

The game quickly caught on, and as early as 1901, tournaments were being conducted with over
300 participants. The Ping-Pong Association was formed but was renamed The Table Tennis
Association in 1922.

In 1902 a visiting Japanese university professor took the game back to Japan, where he
introduced it to university students. Shortly after, a British salesman, Edward Shires,
introduced it to the people of Vienna and Budapest, and the seeds were sown for a sport that
now enjoys popularity all over the world. In Britain, table tennis had also begun to spread
outside the distinctly middle-class confines of London, and leagues sprang up in provincial
towns as far apart as Sunderland and Plymouth. In 1922, an All England Club was formed,
which boasted such luminaries as Jack Hobbs the cricketer and other famous names of the time
from the world of sport. The Daily Mirror organized and sponsored a nationwide tournament
in which there were 40,000 competitors.

Table tennis was firmly on the map, and on April 24, 1927, the English Table Tennis Association
was born, under the chairmanship and direction of Ivor Montague, son of Lord Ewatthling. He
was not only to become the architect of modern-day table tennis, but he also achieved critical
acclaim as both a director and film producer. At the time, The ETTA had a membership of 19
leagues but now has over 300, with around 75,000 registered players.

The first world championships were held in 1927 and were won by a Hungarian, Dr. Jacobi.
Apart from the famous Fred Perry redressing the balance for England in 1929, this was to be the
start of an unprecedented run of success for the Hungarians, who completely dominated the
game throughout the thirties. Their team was led by the legendary Victor Barna, whose
inspiration and skill did so much to elevate the game to sports status.

The 1950s saw the game turned upside down by the invention of the sponge or sandwich
rubber, this new material for bats, which, up until now, had been a relatively simple affair with
a universal thin covering of pimpled rubber.

Until this time, spin had played only a minor part in a game that had been dominated by the
defensive style of play. But these new bats or paddles, introduced by the Japanese, had the
capacity to move the ball around in an almost magical way. The ITTF, the game’s governing
body, was quick to legislate in a bid to control this new development, seen in some quarters as
equipping players with an unfair advantage. The thickness of the sponge and rubber sandwich
was controlled and remains so to this day. But the nature of the game had been changed,
establishing the fast attacking speed and spin style of the modern game.

Today, the sport both in England and abroad is very well established and is growing each year.
The culmination of this has been its recognition as an Olympic Games sport, being featured for
the first time in the 1988 games in Seoul. Television coverage of the men’s singles final attracted
an incredible worldwide audience of 2 billion. In China, the game is played by literally millions
at work, in school, and in community parks. Chinese top players are regarded as national
heroes with pop star statuses.

Different Types of Table Tennis Grips

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Do you know there are various table tennis paddle grips that you can use while playing?
Do you want to master table tennis grips?
Here we go…

In table tennis, the success of any player depends on how well a player executes the various
stokes. And to have a better hold of the various shots one requires many years of practice.

However, before you can actually start working on perfecting the strokes, it is always wise to
experiment with the various types of table tennis grips and finding your favorite grip.
You can choose the grip that allows you more freedom and dexterity in perfectly executing the
various types of strokes.
Different Type of Table Tennis Grips
Table of Contents (Types of TT Grips) :
1.
1. The Shakehand Grip Technique
2. The Table Tennis Penhold Grip
3. The Table Tennis V-Grip
4. The Table Tennis Seemiller Grip
1) The Shakehand Grip Technique
The Shakehand Grip has actually evolved out of Western players and gradually got popular
among the European and Asian players too.
The technique got its name for the way one would normally do a handshake with another as
this grip-technique comprises holding the racket pretty much similar to a handshake.
This grip technique can be further divided into two sub-categories:

 The Shakehand deep grip

 The Shakehand shallow grip
The two TT grip techniques differ a little from one another and will certainly need you to
observe the differences closely to fully comprehend the differences.

The two styles basically differ in terms of thumb placement:

In the case of the deep grip, a player would relax one’s thumb over the rubber,
and in the case of shallow grip, a player would relax one’s thumb over the blade.
Hence, in both styles, thumb placement plays a very important role.

a) Table Tennis Deep Shakehand Grip

In this style, a player usually positions one’s thumb on the racket’s rubber. The technique
is mostly used by players who don’t need much of wrist flexibility and who are only looking
for a tight hold of the racket.
The grip style is best for players who prefer more of an accurate attack than an attack with
plenty of force. Also, there are times when a player if not actually in a position to attack and the
most one can do in such a situation is accurately get the ball to the table edges.
However, the grip style is ideal for both forehand and backhand. Also, one can easily switch
from side to side using this technique.
Also, a lot of aggressive players find this technique a lot effective in hitting the ball really
hard as this style hardly has to do anything with the wrist flexibility.
Pros
 Offers a tight hold of the racket
 Helps with an accurate attack
 Helps in accurately getting the ball to the table edges
 Ideal for both forehand and backhand
 Helps in hitting the ball really hard
Cons
 Crossover point
b) Table Tennis Shallow Shakehand Grip

The Shallow Shakehand grip is a common grip style among the beginners for the reason that it
offers amazing flexibility of wrist which eventually improves your ability to spin the ball while
executing the serves or loops.
Also, it helps you return the ball to your opponent more conveniently and efficiently.

Most importantly, the grip allows you exert more force on the ball and this is the reason that it
can be perfectly used for both forehand and backhand strokes. This, in turn, makes a lot of
room for a player to attack the ball with the same strength from any position.
Pros
 Offers flexibility of wrist
 Improves your ability to spin the ball
 Helps you return the ball efficiently
 Helps you exert more force on the ball
 Perfect for both forehand and backhand strokes
 Helps in attacking the ball with the same strength from any position
Cons
 Crossover point

Important: Make sure to avoid these embarrassing table tennis mistakes

2) The Table Tennis Penhold Grip

Another hugely popular way of holding the racket is the Penhold Grip and it has 3 variations
such as the Japanese/Korean grip, the reverse backhand grip, and the Chinese grip.

The reason the grip technique is called the Penhold Grip is that it is similar to the way one
would actually hold a pen while writing with the index finger and the thumb at the front of
the handle and the rest folded behind the head of the racket.
a) Chinese Penhold Grip

Asian table tennis players use the Chinese Penhold grip a lot wherein one would hold one’s
racket in a way so as to get the blade faced towards the ground. Also, it is pretty suitable for
players who like to stay really close to the table.
The Chinese Penhold grip offers more flexibility than the Shakehand grips do and this will
eventually allow you to spin the ball brilliantly in the attacking strokes. Also, it is largely
effective in the serves.
Also, it helps a player easily block and push the ball on the backhand side as it offers brilliant
freedom of bending one’s wrist for forehand strokes as well as backhand strokes. Also, it largely
helps a player from ever being locked away by crossover point.
Pros
 Ideal for players who stay really close to the table
 Helps to spin the ball brilliantly in the attacking strokes
 Largely effective in the serves
 Helps in easily blocking and pushing the ball on the backhand side
 Offers brilliant freedom of bending one’s wrist
 Reduces the possibility of a Crossover point
Cons
 Not ideal for backhand topspin on a constant basis
b) Japanese/Korean Penhold Grip

Unlike the Chinese grip, the fingers on the back of the racket are instead placed straight in the
Korean grip. This technique of holding the racket allows you to execute the forehand strokes
with more power and also, it helps a player to conveniently attack a ball even from a spot far
from the table.
However, the fact that one has to keep the fingers on the back of the racket straight tends to
limit the blade movement and it gets a bit challenging to position the racket in various angles
in order to reach the ball.
The technique can be a little difficult for beginners to master.
Pros
  Helps to execute the forehand strokes with more power
 Helps to conveniently attack a ball even from a spot far from the table
Cons
 Limited blade movement
 Positioning the racket in various angles is challenging
c) Reverse Backhand Grip
Unlike the normal Penhold grip which uses the same paddle side for both forehand and
backhand strokes, the Reverse Backhand Grip even uses the paddle’s backside.

This helps a player break out of the difficulty in using the backhand topspin on a constant basis
as in the Chinese grip. This makes it pretty ideal for attacking short balls.
A lot of players prefer using a blend of the Chinese Penhold grip and the Reverse Backhand grip for better
flexibility.
Pros
 Ideal for attacking short balls
 Offers better flexibility
Cons
 Crossover point
3) The Table Tennis V-Grip

In the V-grip technique, a player would hold the blade between one’s index finger and middle
finger almost making a V shape.
The two fingers are curled down the blade to grip it properly and the thumb can be placed
anywhere where one feels comfortable.

It offers more power and spin in attacking. Also, it is pretty much ideal for wide-angle
shots with excellent control.
Pros
 Offers more power and spin in attacking
 Excellent control
Cons
 Balls shot towards the player’s elbow are difficult to return
 Hard to find a coach for this grip
4) The Table Tennis Seemiller Grip

The Seemiller Grip is actually a variation of the Shakehand grip. However, in this grip
technique, the forefinger-tip is positioned close to the edge of the paddle or sometimes even
around the edge of the paddle. Both the thumb and index fingers hold either side at a 90-degree
turn.
Most players that use this technique usually use a dotted rubber on the back for twiddling the
blade with combination rubbers to confuse the opponents. Players using this technique have the
advantages of moving their wrist freely.

Also, they can use strong snaps for forehand topspins using this technique. In addition to this,
it helps players block efficiently on forehand or backhand sides.
Most importantly, one hardly has even the slightest possibility of ever experiencing any
crossover point with this technique.

Pros
 Allows strong snaps for forehand topspins
 Effective for good blocking
Cons
 Poor backhand wrist movement
 Average spins and returns