Shenzhen Ping Pong: SuperCPen S

This is the final installment of my series on experimenting with the SuperCPen concept.

Due to some morphological and possibly stroke-related issues with the SuperCPen handle width (56mm), I recently had a Butterfly Innerforce ZLC penhold blade re-converted into SuperCPen size S (44mm wide). The blade weighs 78g (without rubber).

I can report that the SuperCPen size S seems to fit my hand much better than the regular SuperCPen handle. Unlike the full width version, I can hold it comfortably for an extended amount of time. This could be because my hand is smaller than what the regular SuperCPen was designed for.

For relevant prior discussion, see previous blog post here

Anyhow, let's go to the video!

Link: here
(Thanks to Jeff Duan, practice partner.)

Compare the strokes above to the video clip in the prior post using the thumbgrip-modified SuperCPen (see link here. Can you detect a difference in the strokes?

Observations

Generally, I seem to cope better with the SuperCPen S than the full SuperCPen. However, I have noticed two tendencies which doesn't seem to forebode well:

1. I get index finger creep, i.e. my index finger seems to want to move up the handle as I play. This puts undue pressure on the first joint of the finger and causes some pain.
2. When I cock my wrist back for the reverse backhand, my wrist feels strained and occasionally it hurts when I execute the wrist flick.

None of these symptoms occur with the thumbgrip-modified SuperCPen that I have been using. It could be simply that I'm fighting the blade in the sense I want to adjust how I hold the handle rather than adjusting my stroke to suit how I hold the handle. I may need to go slow on the SuperCPen S if I am to avoid an overuse injury.

Shenzhen Ping Pong: Modified SuperCPen

It's always interesting to try innovative ideas. Recently, I have been experimenting with a SuperCPen handle for the penhold grip. As the picture shows, the handle is extremely wide (60mm).

Unfortunately, for various reasons I've been unable to get to "grips" - so to speak - with the SuperCPen grip (at least so far).

(See blog entry here for the details.)

With respect to the SuperCPen experiment, I had two paddles, a Butterfly Amultart and an Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, converted to the original 60mm wide grip. (I sent the Innerforce back a second time to be converted into SuperCPen S(small).)

I decide to reshape one of these, the Butterfly Amultart SuperCPen, back to a regular Chinese penhold handle but with a built-in or integral thumbgrip. As shown in the picture on the right, I accomplished this by removing part of the wide SuperCPen handle to accommodate the thumb. As the scale indicates, one welcome side effect is that the reshaped paddle is actually much lighter than the original handle because, despite appearances, the modified SuperCPen handle is actually lighter than the stock penhold handle.

I had initially tinkered with the idea of adding a thumbgrip for Chinese penhold by simply using a piece of wood epoxied to the stock handle.

The idea behind the thumbgrip is that it provides additional grip surface area and stability for executing reverse backhand strokes. In my opinion, it is an improvement on the standard Chinese penhold handle for those who want to use a non-traditional backhand stroke.

(See blog post here for the details.)

Here is how I hold the modified SuperCPen blade:

I use Tenergy 05 black on the forehand and Tenergy 05 FX red on the backhand.

How does it feel and play?

Well, it certainly feels pretty good in my opinion. The handle is extremely comfortable: the back of the SuperCPen is wide and flat and has a cork backing. My index finger can comfortably wrap around the front part of the handle. And the thumb has great support. The wrist can turn quite freely (nearly as freely as with a regular Chinese penhold handle). No morphological issues at all.

As to how it plays, well here is a video clip:

Link: here
Thanks to Moy Yu (practice partner on the far side of the table).

Shenzhen Ping Pong: SuperCPen

Recently I've been tinkering with a traditional Chinese-style penhold blade to better support the reverse backhand I've been learning and practicing with. (See here and linked posts therein.)

Attempting to improve my reverse backhand further, basically, I took a regular Chinese penhold blade and epoxied a thumb grip for stability and power for the backhand loop and over-the-table backhand wrist open. (You can see the epoxied support in the picture to the right.)

Details of that experiment can be seen here. Initial indications were very encouraging.

SuperCPen is Dai Feng's idea. (See his website here.) He offers a more much professional-looking solution. And to my eyes, it's a considerably more labor-intensive and adventurous modification than my humble experiment.

He had mentioned to me that he had tried something like a thumb grip before, so I was very curious to see how far Dai Feng had taken the concept.

I was also intrigued about what his modification has to offer someone like me who has been training for the reverse backhand, but also occasionally use the traditional backhand. Moreover, although I don't have any grip problems with the forehand, an improvement there would always be welcome. So I ordered and sent him a brand-new Butterfly Amultart to modify.

[The traditional backhand still offers an advantage for certain common situations in game play. If the ball is looped to your forehand/backhand crossover point, if the incoming ball is a surprise, it's possible to react faster with a traditional block because there is no crossover point.]

I've never seen a paddle quite like it. (See the picture on the right.) Its sheer width and large surface area permits support for the thumb, and also allows maximum surface area contact with the index finger and the fleshy part of the hand between the thumb and index finger.

It also cut a 10g off the blade weight; doesn't sound significant but percentage-wise, that's quite a change: 86g down to 76g.

The thumb achieves its support by rotating the blade in the hand until the thumb contacts the middle or centerline of the new handle. This re-angling of the blade makes the SuperCPen concept unique.

[To get an idea of how different: compare the placement of the thumb here with that of the first picture above.]

By comparing the SuperCPen picture above to the initial pictures below, you can see I've shaved away some material from the beveled top to provide a large, flat angled area for the thumb. (I've also removed a bit of material from the index finger side since I got a blister first time I played with the SuperCPen.)

In contrast to the beveled top, the reverse side is completely flat with a cork sheet glued for good grip.

Initial impressions? Well, I don't have any problems with the traditional Chinese grip. And my thumb modification already improved on that for the backhand, so I didn't expect that much more from the SuperCPen. But what about the forehand?

I've only had the SuperCPen for a weekend. I did some ball drills with it. And I played a few matches, switching back and forth between the SuperCPen and a traditional blade nearly every game. My impressions? It's early days yet but here you go:

Pluses:

• It's definitely good for the reverse backhand stroke.
  Stability is assured. Removing some of the beveled top surface seems to provide a flat thumb area seemed to improve it further. Compared to my thumb modification, the SuperCPen is as good (or better).

• You gain leverage for power on both sides. Your wrist ends up further away from the blade. A bit like the effect of a longer handle.

Minuses:

• Over the table backhand topspin/sidespin flick, the traditional block, and the reverse side small counterloop are definitely not as good.
  The simple reason is that I cannot achieve the same rotation as easily with the wrist.
  It could be a lack of wrist flexibility with the SuperCPen or the fact that the wrist rotation point is further away from the ball contact point: the "long lever" effect. You can easily test your wrist flexibility by closing the distance between your index finger and thumb to zero and then cocking the wrist back. And then check that against having the thumb and index finger further apart. There is a significant difference in my opinion.
  Mitigating against this: let me point out there is a rudimentary video on Dai's website for the "wrist turn" backhand, and also documentation for a "control" grip.

• As for the forehand loop, I found the SuperCPen a bit awkward. Grip was solid, but as I mentioned earlier, I don't have any grip problems with the regular Chinese-style blades. No net improvement felt.

• Push. I found I had less control with the push due to the long-lever effect. I didn't experiment with switching to the control grip just for this shot.

• Serve. Inferior experience due to less wrist flexibility with the SuperCPen.

I'd like to emphasize that some of these problems may go away with more playing time as I adjust to the angling imposed by blade. (Also, my wrist became fatigued after about an hour.)

[Clearly there is some adaptation involved. Initially, I was losing games against the (same) opponent with the SuperCPen that I was winning with a regular Chinese-style blade. Towards the end, I was able to win with it too but not to the same comfort level.]

For comparison, here is the SuperCPen and my modified blade side by side:

[Ignore the short pips rubber illustrated above. I don't use short pips. I loop with Tenergy 05.]

And my modified blade superimposed on to of the SuperCPen.

Update

I felt the grip was rather uncomfortable and I never got really used to it. So I converted the Amultart SuperCPen into a paddle equivalent to the thumbgrip Amultart shown earlier in this blog entry. Meanwhile, I sent Dai another new paddle, a Butterfly Innerforce ZLC to be modified into a SuperCPen.

After a week or two playing with the Innerforce ZLC SuperCPen exclusively, I managed to hurt my index finger (bruise near tip and first joint pain). It eventually became too painful to stroke freely and overcompensation gave my wrist a bit of an overuse injury too. I stopped and went back to the thumbgrip-modified Amultart SuperCPen. Before stopping, I shaved the SuperCPen down to 50mm width to see if that helped. Unfortunately, I still had problems executing my strokes without pain. There could be morphological reasons for this.

For posterity, here is my last video with the SuperCPen executing the reverse backhand (in some pain):

The positioning of the fingers on the SuperCPen:

When I went back to my thumbgrip paddle, the index finger pain went away almost immediately, and the wrist felt under less strain.

At the time of writing, I am playing with the thumbgrip paddle (which plays conventionally but with better grip) and have sent the Innerforce ZLC SuperCPen to be modified into a SuperCPen (size S) - which was not available at the beginning of this experiment. When my injury is healed, I will try the Innerforce ZLC SuperCPen S. Meanwhile, I will try to re-discover and re-balance my strokes with the thumbgrip paddle.

Shenzhen Ping Pong: reverse penhold paddle

In this blog entry, I'd like to return to consider the topic of the penhold grip, first introduced here.

There are two basic styles of penhold blades: Chinese (round head, flared handle) and Japanese (rectangular head, built-up cork handle with a hook for the index finger). The Japanese blade favors a powerful forehand loop and the Chinese blade perhaps provides for a more flexible wrist in over the table play. Recently, there also has been some interest in developing blades that favor the reverse penhold backhand stroke. The picture on the right shows a penhold blade that I've modified for this very purpose.

Some background first. I've been blogging about the reverse penhold stroke for a while now: for example, see entries in December 2010, Feb 2010 and October 2009. The videos show that my reverse backhand stroke has evolved over the course of this time period (and is still evolving). Learning a brand-new backhand isn't easy, especially if you want the new reverse backhand to dominate and supercede the traditional backhand, a stroke developed over many years.

There are claims that new grip designs can make the reverse backhand stroke stronger and more consistent. For example, one can convert an existing blade, as in the SuperCPen design here), or build a blade from the ground up, as in the Gushi penhold blade (古氏直拍) (here).

Interested in improving my reverse backhand, I purchased a Gushi blade to see what the fuss was about.

It has an ingenious cut-out in the handle and an extension to the head to allow the thumb to rest comfortably horizontal with good support. Unfortunately, the Japanese-style blade weigh 106g (vs. about 86g for my current blade), and the blade itself is much slower than my preferred Butterfly Amultart. The extreme weight (for a penhold-style blade) meant I could only hit for about 10 minutes before fatigue set in. In short, I believe the Gushi cannot hold a candle to my Amultart blade; nevertheless I determined that its idea of supporting the length of the thumb had definite merit for grip stability, and consequently the power and reliability of the reverse backhand stroke. If only I could try an Amultart Gushi...

Someone suggested the possibility of epoxying a thumb grip (weighing 8g) to a regular penhold blade. Before modifying the rather expensive Amultart, I tried adding a rough thumb grip (sourced from wood scraps from a guitar maker) to an old Sword blade. However, the epoxy attachment wasn't secure, and thumb lever force made it fall off after about 10 mins of reverse backhand play. But the concept seemed sound.

I then took a Dremel tool to the thumb grip and reshaped it to custom contour it to the Amultart blade and the length of my thumb. And employed an excess of epoxy to fill in any gaps to make sure it could withstand thumb lever force. Result is shown below:

Front and back:

In the hand:

For me, the extra thumb grip is a definite enhancement to my Butterfly Amultart blade. It's early days yet with the modification, but I can feel my reverse backhand is considerably more stable, powerful and reliable.

Acknowledgements: Many thanks to Jiwu Duan and his guitar-maker friend for making this project possible!