Félix Lebrun no longer needs to be introduced, but do you really know his secret and his playing technique?
Since the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and their team bronze medal, the Lebrun brothers have been making headlines. But for those who have followed table tennis for several years, Alexis and Félix are not unknown. This is evidenced by their latest resounding performances in competition with, for the first time in his career, a triumph for Félix at the WTT Champions in Montpellier where he comes from. A historic success because it is the first victory in a major tournament for a French player.
He owes his success to his talent obviously, to an equally historic victory against his own brother, whom he had never beaten, but probably also to his original and quite unique racquet grip in Europe. Félix Lebrun plays in effect as a “pen holder”. This technique, often used by Asians, is particular and even his brother Alexis uses a slightly more usual grip.
In detail, this technique consists of gripping the racket between the thumb and index finger, leaving the other three fingers on the other side. For the site Olympics.comFélix explained the reasons for this rather original choice, which dates back to his young age and which was inspired by a training partner.
It was with the Montpellier club that in his early years he observed a certain Chen Jian, a Chinese player who trained in the Hérault capital. “I was four years old, I saw him play and it made me want to be like him. I told myself that if he can do it, there’s no reason why I can’t do it with this take too. He plays differently, but he is as strong as those who play with the orthodox grip so I wanted to be like him“, he explained.
This technique could, however, disappear over time because there was a turning point in 2000, when the International Table Tennis Federation decided to expand the size of its balls, going from 38 to 40 mm in diameter. If this increase in ball size slowed down the game to allow spectators to follow the matches more easily, it also penalized players who opted for the pen holder. The latter have in fact lost the speed gain that this technique offers, in favor of more powerful players.