There are generally two types of bat grips. The shakehand and the penhold . In my opinion, 'fork-hold' and 'chopsticks-hold' are probably more accurate. The Europeans hold the bat exactly the same as they use a fork,with the first finger for a supportive role. Think about it,do you shake someone's hand with your first finger sticking out? (Well, you may do to someone you've fallen for.) Amazingly, it's the Oriental people who use chopsticks the same way they hold the bat! They are just used to it from the first day of table tennis. Huh! Does my theory explain why they are doing so well with their 'chopsticks-hold' bat grip that the Europeans wouldn't even think about? Cannot think of a better reason.
Ok, let's get down to a comparison of the two grips.

1. From an anatomical point of view, shakehand is the most natural and convenient grip. This is better explanatory when it comes to backhand techniques. Penhold as we all know has the natural awkwardness with backhand movement. This means shakehand has a much better coverage of the table at both offensive and defensive. Backhand loop is virtually impossible for penhold while it's almost as easy as forehand for a shakehand player. One classical example is that an European looper would pressurise an Oriental penholder's backhand forcing him to produce a low profile push which often is an end to the rally.

2. Again from the anatomical point of view, when close to the table, a penholder needs the minimal efforts to readjust his bat to produce a sharp in-table direction change. And the same happens with a sudden right angle on-coming ball that the shakehand finds very difficult to deal with, called 'body-chasing ball' in the Chinese table tennis terminology. Also a penholder's wrist can be better incorporated into his techniques to offer subtle effects.

3. Power-wise, there has been no obvious comparison as far as forehand is concerned. Kim Taek Soo's forehand loop is the most devastating in the world today and he's a penholder. Both grips could be equally powerful.

4. On the research side, penhold is in my opinion more looked into thanks to the Chinese sports institutes.They've been using the penhold and they have the most sophisticated research facilities around while in some European countries there aren't even dedicated training centres for their national teams. As a result, a penhold player in China is more likely to benefit from the researches in how to combat European shakehands and it's proven very so. Many people may have noticed that Liu Guo Liang has a rubber sheet on his bat back which is a clear evidence of their recent research result and it does work in some way.

5. More into penhold, there are two major divisions-the Chinese penhold and the Japanese. The latter's three fingers are rigidly sticking out on the back of bat, a huge disadvantage when playing backhand. In fact, the Japanese have been trapped by this grip and haven't found a solution. But it does help produce powerful loop drives. The Chinese type is a lot more flexible with three fingers freely curved on the back, which allow easier backhand movement and in-table techniques.

I would like to say the game is not in favour of any specific grips. Waldner, my hero, the most sophisticated player today, has lost in five matches in a straight row to Liu Guo Liang who in the meanwhile loses to other shakehands fairly often now and then. It is how you practice and how to utilise your advantages that matter most.