Site Products
Don’t Make Changes For Sake of Change

Using Your Fingers Effectively

One of the more subtle skills that some players master yet other players never practice is using fingers to apply pressure on the racket during certain strokes for both control and power. This is a more advanced technique that requires practice to achieve the right feeling, but mastering it can help greatly increase the consistency of certain strokes. For these tips, I will focus on the use of fingers for shakehand grip players.

    1. When hitting forehands, both drives and loops, most of the pressure is applied using the index finger and the back of the hand on the back side of the racket. The index finger especially is used to press on the back of the racket in order to feel the ball contact on the racket and make adjustments, as well as to provide pressure to contact the ball more solidly. The rest of the fingers, especially the thumb, are relatively more relaxed during this process. Here, we see Ma Long speaking about his grip and how he uses his index finger on his forehand. The link should go to the point in the video where he is talking about this particular aspect and goes for a little over 30 seconds. Although Ma Long speaks in Chinese, there are English subtitles.

       

    2. When hitting backhands, the thumb is used more actively to apply pressure to the racket rather than the index finger or the rest of the hand. From this point, we can see that it is the opposite of the forehand in terms of which side of the racket we want to apply pressure to when hitting a drive or loop. This makes sense logically; applying pressure to the back side of the racket when contacting the ball will apply additional force to the ball. Also, we can feel the contact of the ball more acutely in order to gain consistency and control. Again, we will listen to (and read) Ma Long explain this technique for the backhand side.

       

    3. The same techniques apply to forehand and backhand service returns. Using the appropriate fingers for each side give us much better control and allow us to utilize smaller strokes when returning serve. This is especially true when returning serve with the forehand, where using the index finger to feel ball contact gives much better feeling overall.
    4. One last technique to practice is the use of the middle through pinky fingers, the fingers that are wrapped around the handle of the blade. Applying pressure during contact with these three fingers can have the effect of absorbing the pace of the ball. This is especially useful when trying to slow the ball down, such as when blocking a powerful attack or attempting a drop shot. The tricky aspect of this technique is applying pressure with fingers but still performing a stroke and following through, especially when blocking. However, it can be very effective in maintaining control during these shots and taking a lot of pace off the ball.

 

I mentioned that these are techniques for shakehand players. For penhold players, there are similar techniques in terms of how the fingers should be used, especially subtleties in the use of the thumb and index finger that are wrapped around the handle of the blade. I would strongly suggest that penhold players who are serious about improving their game but have not learned these techniques seek the advice of advanced coaches who understand penhold technique to learn how to use the fingers appropriately.

These techniques take a lot of practice, but can really benefit you in making your strokes more consistent as well as improving spin and/or power. It can be very difficult to integrate them into your strokes and still maintain good mechanics, but with training it is an advanced technique that will give you a small edge over many opponents.

Latest News

Product Validation – Timo Boll Post Career Set up

July 26, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Product Validation, Brian Pace shows you what Timo Boll’s Set-up is after… Read More

Laurent Jutras-Vigneault and Natalie Chan Win Canadian Junior Titles

July 26, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo TTCanada) The Canadian Nationals are split into two events with the senior event first… Read More

Edward Ly and Mo Zhang Biggest Winners at Canadian Senior Championships

July 25, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins) Richmond’s Olympic Oval in British Columbia was host to the 2025 Canadian Senior Table Tennis… Read More

Incorporating the Wait Function

July 25, 2025
WAIT FUNCTION: 1 short side spin serve, robot will play 5 random top spin balls anywhere on the… Read More

Play 60% of Your Maximum Power

July 23, 2025
Robot will play RANDOM top spin balls anywhere on the table, either Forehand topspin or Backhand topspin to… Read More

Don’t Hang Out

July 21, 2025
Robot will play RANDOM top spin balls to 2/3 of the table (Forehand), only Forehand topspin to Backhand… Read More

#4 Heavy Pushes that don’t let the opponent take the initiative (final episode)

July 21, 2025
Feature] [Special feature] America’s star! Jha’s strong points #4 Short Pushes that don’t let the opponent take the… Read More

Three Things You Want To Do In The First Game

July 21, 2025
(By Larry Hodges) Establish your game. For example, if you have a strong third-ball attack, such as short… Read More
View All News

Get the latest from Butterfly

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.