The grip style is the way that you hold your racket. The handle style is the shape of the racket’s handle.
Grip Style
There are two grip styles: shakehand and penhold. In the shakehand grip, you hold the handle as if you are shaking hands with it. In the penhold grip, you hold the handle as if you were using it as a pen.
Shakehand rackets have rubber on both sides. Some penhold rackets have rubber on both sides and some have rubber only on one side.
The rules state that one side of the racket must be bright red and the other side black. If you are a penholder who uses only one sheet of rubber on your racket, we sell a red or black penhold backside color sheet that you can affix to the back of your blade.
Handle Style
Blades and rackets come in various handle styles. For most blades, you can select the handle style that you prefer. Handle style is solely a matter of personal preference: choose whichever feels best to you.
Handle styles can be categorized by the grip style that they are designed for. Anatomic, flared, straight, conic, right-handed, and left-handed handles are designed for players who use a shakehand grip. Chinese penhold and Japanese penhold handles are designed for players who use a penhold grip. Japanese penhold handles have a ledge that you hook your finger around.
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| Anatomic (AN) | Flared (FL) | Straight (ST) | Conic (CO) |
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| Chinese (PHC) | Japanese (PHJ) |
STIGA Flared Handle Styles
Most STIGA blades come in two flared styles: Legend (wide) and Master (narrow).
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| Wide Flared: “Legend” (FL-L) | Narrow Flared: “Master” (FL-M) |
DONIC Dotec
DONIC Dotec blades have a handle that is covered in cork and is shaped to fit your hand. Each blade comes in right-handed and left-handed versions.
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| Right Handed (RH) |
Left Handed (LH) |