In order to improve the damping performance of the impact damper, the particle impact damper with elastic support is presented. This new kind of impact damper combines the momentum exchange in elastic impact and energy dissipation in plastic impact together. Experimental studies on the damping performance are carried out on a cantilever beam in the following 5 cases : no damper, impact damper, particle damper, impact damper with elastic support and particle impact damper with elastic support. The experimental results show that (1) in all test dampers, the particle impact damper with elastic support not only possesses the highest attenuation ratio, but also exhibits stability for different frequencies; (2) it is the combination of spring and the plastic deformation of particles that makes the particle impact damper with elastic support exhibit better performance which cannot be achieved by traditional impact dampers; (3) there exists an optimal stiffness of support for the particle impact damper with elastic support.