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Table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
is unique among racket sports in that it supports a large variety of different styles of players. As players' levels increase, the diversity of styles decreases slightly, because technically weak styles are quickly eliminated; but, even at the very top of international table tennis, there are many dramatically different styles to be found. , attacking styles dominate most of the top places in the world. However, this may be due to the relative popularity of attack over defense, as defensive players are still able to reach the highest levels of international competition. This article describes some of the most common table tennis styles seen in international competition. These are stereotypes, and almost all players possess some combination of these styles, with a few added "special" shots of their own.


Racket grips

Competitive table tennis players grip their rackets in a variety of ways. The manner in which competitive players grip their rackets can be classified into two major families of styles; one is described as penhold and the other shakehand. Numerous variations on gripping styles exist. The
International Table Tennis Federation The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the p ...
's (ITTF) Laws of Table Tennis do not prescribe the manner in which one must grip the racket.


Penhold grip

The Penhold grip is named as such because of the similarity to the way that pens are held. Penhold grip styles have suffered in recent years due to their inherent weakness on the backhand side. This weakness makes it much harder for penhold beginners to perform well against their shakehand counterparts. However, this has not stopped top penhold players from winning the
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
, the
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
and the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
regularly, as the backhand weakness can be covered adequately with excellent footwork, or supplemented with the recent reverse penhold backhand loop innovation.


Shakehand grip

Possibly the oldest surviving grip since the table tennis racket took its current shape. This is similar to a tennis grip with the index finger extended over the racket head perpendicular to the handle. This grip allows nearly even power distribution over forehand and backhand shots, but has a wider crossover point in between. This crossover point between the forehand and backhand is an area of weakness. Virtually all European players and roughly two thirds of Asian players use this grip.


Unusual grips

Although the vast majority of table tennis players grip the racket in one of the two styles above, there are some curious grips that have not proven their effectiveness at a high level of play yet, and are very rare. :; V-grip: An experimental style being developed in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, it is held by forming a "V for victory" sign and gripping the blade between the forefinger and middle finger while having the other fingers rest under and on top of the handle; it requires a modified blade to grip successfully. This grip produces a noticeable spin benefit due to the longer lever and mechanics utilized in the forehand and backhand (much like those found in the Western grip in tennis). :; Seemiller grip:A grip that was developed and popularized by Dan Seemiller, an American table tennis champion. In the Seemiller grip, the tip of the forefinger is placed so it reaches near the edge of the bat (or, in the case of another American champion, Eric Boggan, actually wraps around the edge of the bat). This enables Seemiller grip players to get tremendous wrist snap, adding spin to their forehand strokes. However, it also makes it awkward to hit shots using a traditional backhand, using the opposite side of the racket. So, instead, Seemiller grip players hit their backhands with the same side of the racket as they hit their forehands, turning their wrists over the way a baseball player would to make a backhand catch, and typically blocking or counter-hitting the ball. Since they would otherwise use only one side of their racket to hit all their shots, Seemiller grip players often put a
rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
with very different playing characteristics on the other side of their bat, commonly a low-friction "anti-spin" rubber that they use to return spinny serves or to abruptly change the pace of the ball during a rally. Seemiller, in fact, is credited with virtually inventing the combo bat, a racket with different types of rubber on each side. This grip also has the nickname "windshield wiper" due to the motion of the backhand and forehand.


Penhold styles


Looper

Penhold loopers utilize the forehand topspin loop as their primary shot. This type of player usually exhibits excellent footwork, trying to use the forehand to cover most of or the entire table. Compared with shakehand loopers, penhold loopers have a shorter reach and try to stay close to the table even during powerful loop exchanges. ''Notable penhold loopers'' include 1981-83 World Champion Guo Yuehua, 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist Yoo Nam-kyu, 1992 Olympics Men's Doubles Gold Medalist Lü Lin, 1992 Olympics Bronze medalist
Kim Taek-soo Kim Taek-Soo (Hangul: 김택수, Hanja: 金擇洙) (born May 25, 1970) is a former table tennis player from South Korea. He used a one-sided penhold style, compared to the newer style of reverse-backhand looping that has become the Chinese penh ...
, 2001-03 World Men's Doubles Champion
Yan Sen Yan Sen (阎森; born August 16, 1975) is a Chinese table tennis player. Major performances *1996 ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals - 1st doubles *1997 Yugoslavian Open - 1st doubles *1997 World Championships in Manchester - bronze singles *1998 Asian ...
, 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist
Ryu Seung-min Ryu Seung-min (; born August 5, 1982 in Seoul, South Korea) is a Korean table tennis player who won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the men's singles competition. His opponent was Wang Hao, a top-seeded player from the Chinese ...
, 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Ma Lin, 2009 World Champion Wang Hao, and 2015 Men's and Mixed Doubles Champion Xu Xin.


Counter driver

The penhold advantage of a small crossover is fully utilized in this style. Staying close to the table, counter drivers block and drive the opponent's topspins back across the table at speed, trying to force them out of position or look for the opportunistic forehand kill. Counter drivers usually have a safe forehand loop as well, in case the opponent is a chopper and doesn't give topspins or easy kills readily. ''Notable penhold counter drivers'' include 2000 Asian Champion
Chiang Peng-lung Chiang Peng-lung (; born 24 July 1976, in Penghu) is a Taiwanese male professional table tennis player. Career highlights Singles (as of August 15, 2010) * Olympics: round of 16 (2000, 04). * World Championships: SF (2001). * World Cup appeara ...
and South Korean player Moon Hyun-jung


Short pips hitter

This traditional penhold style utilizes a short pips out rubber on one or both sides of the racket. Short pips hitters play over the table, hitting the ball as soon as it bounces off the table with the pips negating the majority of the opponent's spin. This aggressive attacking can win points easily during the first few returns, but the lack of a topspin
Magnus effect The Magnus effect is an observable phenomenon commonly associated with a spinning object moving through a fluid. The path of the spinning object is deflected in a manner not present when the object is not spinning. The deflection can be expl ...
means that the attacks are less effective when the opponent is forced back. ''Notable penhold short pips hitters'' include 1996 Olympic Champion
Liu Guoliang Liu Guoliang (; born January 10, 1976) is a retired Chinese table tennis player who has won all titles at major world tournaments including World Championships, World Cup and Olympic Games. He is the second man to achieve a career grand slam of ...
, 1985 and 1987 World Champion
Jiang Jialiang Jiang Jialiang (; born March 3, 1964) is a male former international table tennis player from China. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Table tennis career From 1982 to 1989 he won many medals in singles, doubles, and team events in the A ...
, three-time Olympian
Toshio Tasaki Toshio Tasaki is a male former international table tennis player from Japan. He won a bronze medal at the 2000 World Team Table Tennis Championships in the Swaythling Cup (men's team event) with Seiko Iseki, Kōji Matsushita, Hiroshi Shibutan ...
, Yang Ying,
Kwak Bang-bang Kwak Bang-bang (, born February 6, 1980, in Xuzhou) is a retired Chinese-Hong Kong-South Korean table tennis player. Born as Guo Fangfang in China, she played on the Hong Kong national team as Kwok Fong Fong from 2000 to 2005, and on the South Ko ...
,
Seok Eun-mi Seok Eun-Mi (born December 25, 1976) is a female South Korean table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and for ...
,
He Zhi Wen He Zhiwen (; born January 31, 1962), or Zhiwen He in Western name order, is a Chinese-born Spanish male table tennis player. In 2006 he was ranked #41 in the ITTF world ranking. Due to the difficulty of pronouncing his name in Spanish he has b ...
, Lee Eun-hee,
Wang Zeng Yi Wang Zengyi (born 24 June 1983 in Tianjin, China) is a Chinese-Polish table tennis player. He competed for Poland at the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 201 ...
and Rory Cargill.


Shakehand styles


Looper

Shakehand loopers apply pressure and win points primarily with fast and spinny loops from the forehand. After the opening exchanges, when the first attack has been made, loopers will attack with a variety of topspin shots varying in speed and spin, maneuvering their opponents around the table and looking for outright winners. The power and reach of a shakehand looper means that they can counterloop even when forced back from the table, which can be quite a spectacle when a lobbing looper forced back by smashes suddenly attacks in an attempt to regain initiative. ''Notable loopers'' include
Vladimir Samsonov Vladimir Samsonov or Uładzimir Samsonaŭ ( be, Уладзімір Віктаравіч Самсонаў, russian: Владимир Викторович Самсонов, born 17 April 1976) is a Belarusian former professional table tennis player ...
,
Jean-Michel Saive Jean-Michel Saive (born 17 November 1969) is a Belgian former professional table tennis. Saive competed at seven consecutive Olympics between 1988 and 2012, and he was also a winner in singles at European Championship 1994. Personal life Born ...
,
Werner Schlager Werner Schlager (born September 28, 1972 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria) is a table tennis player and former world champion from Austria. Career Schlager began playing table tennis when he was six years old, learning from his father, Rudolph Schl ...
,
Wang Liqin Wang Liqin (; born June 18, 1978, Shanghai) is a retired Mainland Chinese table tennis player. As of January 2014, he is ranked 12th in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). He began playing at the age of 6 and was picked for the Ch ...
,
Ma Long Ma Long (; born 20 October 1988) is a Chinese table tennis player and the reigning Olympic singles champion. Widely regarded as the greatest table tennis player of all time, he is the first and only male player to complete a career Double Grand ...
,
Fan Zhendong Fan Zhendong (; born 22 January 1997) is a Chinese professional table tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 1 for men's singles by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). After joining the Chinese National Table Tennis Team i ...
,
Zhang Jike Zhang Jike (; born 16 February 1988) is a retired Chinese table tennis player. Zhang became the fourth male player in the history of table tennis to achieve a career Grand Slam when he won gold in men's singles at the Olympic games in London 20 ...
,
Ding Ning Ding Ning (; born 20 June 1990) is a former Chinese table tennis player. She was the winner of women's singles in the 2011 World Table Tennis Championships. At the 2015 World Table Tennis Championships, Ding won her second world title in ...
.


All-round attacker

Like a looper, the all-round attacker uses the loop as a primary weapon. In addition, an equally effective backhand increases the chances of having the first attack, and the number of angles that could be attacked. While this potentially means that the player could get confused whether to attack using the forehand or backhand, most players tend to use the more powerful forehand, making all-round attackers not that different from loopers.


Counter driver

The shakehand counter driver blocks and drives various attacks back at the opponent, forcing errors through changing angles and rhythm. A series of quick drives and blocks between counter drivers can look quite impressive, with balls seeming to fly everywhere. This style is popular among female players, since the relatively weaker attacks are easier to block compared to the men's game. Notable players include multiple-time Olympic champion
Zhang Yining Zhang Yining (; born 5 October 1981) is a Chinese table tennis player who retired in 2009. She is considered one of the greatest female players in the sport's history. In terms of achievements, she is one of the most successful female table tenn ...
, Fukuhara Ai, Tie Yana and He Zhuojia.


Attacking chopper

The single most distinctive style in table tennis is the attacking chopper. While other styles look to attack and gain initiative, the chopper gives up the initiative, using the chop to return an attack with backspin, and making it necessary for the opponent to start the attack all over again. The defensive chopper returns repeated attacks with slow, floating backspin chops executed as late as possible, taking as much time as necessary to tire out and frustrate the opponent. Chops can vary in the amount of backspin (from no spin to floating), sidespin (curving into the table or away from the opponent), or position, making it hard to continuously attack. If the opponent refuses to tire out or starts to play defensively, the attacking chopper can suddenly mix in a loop or smash attack, in order to catch the opponent off guard. Inverted rubber is usually employed in the forehand, but the backhand is usually reserved for long or short pips rubber, which is much easier to control. Some players reverse their racket in order to use the pips rubber on the forehand. Notable choppers include Koji Matsushita, Svetlana Ganina, Irina Kotikhina and
Viktoria Pavlovich Viktoria Pavlovich ( be, Вікторыя Уладзіміраўна Паўловіч; Łacinka: Viktoryja Uładzimiraŭna Paŭłovič; born 8 May 1978) is a Belarusian table tennis player who plays for Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahçe SK. She wo ...
, but some refuse to do that to keep their style simple, including
Chen Weixing Chen Weixing (Simplified Chinese: 陈卫星 Hanyu Pinyin: Chén Wèixīng, born April 27, 1972, Inner Mongolia, China) is an Austrian table tennis player of Chinese origin. He has played for SVS Lower Austria for several years. Chen found i ...
(Chen does use the inverted rubber on his backhand to attack, occasionally),
Joo Sae-Hyuk Joo Sae-hyuk (, ; born 20 January 1980) is a South Korean table tennis player. As a singles player, he was a silver medalist at the 2003 World Table Tennis Championships, a bronze medalist at the 2011 Table Tennis World Cup, and a bronze medali ...
,
Ding Song Ding Song (; born 1971) is a former male Chinese people, Chinese table tennis player, he is famous due to his eccentric "modern defensive" style. He is best known for having defeated Peter Karlsson (table tennis), Peter Karlsson in the men's team ...
, Kim Kyung-ah,
Park Mi-young Park Mi-Young ( or ; born November 17, 1981 in Daegu, Republic of Korea) is a South Korean table tennis player. She was part of the table tennis team that won a bronze medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics. Park currently plays for the Samsung Li ...
and
Tan Paey Fern Tan Paey Fern () is a Singaporean table tennis Player. Tan was talent-scouted by ex-National Table Tennis Coach, Mr. Foo Soo Peng, when she was playing table tennis casually with her brother and some friends at the age of 9. Tan was a very de ...
. Very few players choose to defend with inverted rubber on both sides, a notable example of which is Wang Tingting. Points between a chopper and an attacker are usually the easiest for non-players to appreciate, because of the slowness of the ball and the spectacular chopping style.


References

{{Reflist styles Sports techniques