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[729 fx]

If a 6-year old boy wanted to start playing table tennis, what grip is suitable for him (shake-hand or penhold) and why?

[rokphish]

i'd say give him both... and see which one he likes better...

another thing is... is there a penholder trainer who could train him? if not then don't give him the penholder blade...

[varghese]

Great points!

At a club yesterday, I was watching a friend of mine's son playing penhold. His other child uses the shakehand. I was surprised to see a child doing penhold at that age.

As Rokphish has said, it is important to find someone to train them - it matters even if he chooses shakehand. The kids has excellent reflex, and what they learn at the young age will live with them forever. That's one reason, the Chinese are successful in table tennis worldwide.

When it comes to the technical thing, I would recommend shakehand before he is moving to penhold. The most important thing before the grip selection is learning the spin. After he becomes stronger on backhand and forehand, it is time to migrate.

I have another recommendation to a 6-year old. There are so many people who make custom blades. Make a custom blade that suits his palm rather than using one from the market. Some manufactures have Junior blades, but I still recommend a custom blade having a lot of touch.

[rokphish]

custom blade i think is not the best bang for the buck...

kids grow so fast and soon the blade doesn't fit anymore... also they might hold the interest for long... considering the cost of custom blade is pretty high... i wouldn't recommend it...

also about migrating from shakehand to penhold i'd say better to consider the coach availability... if coach is available and the kid likes penhold... go straight for it... no need to first learn with shakehand then migrate... if the kid likes penhold forcing him to learn with shakehand might put him/her off... and vice versa...

my 2 pennies..

[varghese]

Yes, the customer blades are expensive. Also it is important to find the right person who makes it. There are manufactures having Junior blades. I have seen one in the JOOLA range.

[ejunkie]

It's actually easier to start out with penhold in my opinion. The first few years the kid should be working on his fh and the foot work required for penhold is goin to help no matter what grip he is eventually going to stick with.

[729 fx]

Thanks for the suggestion, guys.

At least we know the availability of the coach is one of the main factor in determining the kids' grip.