The Hook Grip
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URL: http://www.nasgaweb.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6142
Printed Date: 3/26/26 at 5:17pm
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Topic: The Hook Grip
Posted By: Mr. Natural
Subject: The Hook Grip
Date Posted: 1/07/08 at 8:34am
Good stuff from Wayne Hill. Joined: 8/29/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 1482
Anyway, here's my taping technique: - If it's hot out, spray a thin coat of baseball tacky (or equivalent) to the thumb all around. Allow to dry before taping. This helps avoid the "tape flying with the weight" syndrome. - Lay one strip of tape from the base of your thumb, along the top of your thumb, wrapping over tip of thumb, and back toward the palm. It doesn't need or want to go beyond the thumb. It helps a lot if you bend your thumb tip 30 degrees or so as you do this, so the tape won't be stretched when your thumb is in the right position. - Lay a second strip along the inside of the thumb (between thumb and forefinger), over the tip and along the other side. - Squish the loose flaps together over your thumb. - Take a third strip and wrap it around the base of your thumb a couple of times, reasonably tightly. This will hold the other two strips in place. In fact, all of the tape so far has been intended to form a stable base that won't come flying off (especially important when your hand sweats). - Here's the part that does the work. Lay on 2-3 layers of tape, each about 6-8" long, thusly: starting on the nail/first joint, with the free end angled about 45 degrees away from the thumb and out away from your wrist, wrap it around the first joint and back over the knuckle (uh, does anybody follow that?). It's helpful to bend the thumb as you apply this to avoid stretching the tape. - Apply a small amount of Brock's Magic Tacky <TM> to the thumbnail area of the tape, and you're good to go. Let me know if this isn't clear. -Wayne Wayne Hill Postaholic  Joined: 8/29/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 1482
First of all, I place my thumb-tip along the handle opposite from my palm, not reaching my thumb to the "top" of the handle (where my fingers will lie). If you reach your thumb around the handle, you won't even believe the stress on your thumb during a big pull. Dave Barron's picture above also shows the thumb placed this way. This shot shows the thumb taped, which I'll describe more below.  This shot shows the grip closed (without the thumb tape). The middle and ring fingers are lapped easily over the thumb. I could have reached my fingers further over the thumb (and this is a temptation when you really, really want to hang on), but again this is a big mistake. There's a just-right spot that your fingers will find with a bit of practice.  This shot shows the thumb tape. This helps prevent bruising of your thumb, which is very likely to happen otherwise. This consists of two 6-8" strips of athletic tape (1-1/2" wide, torn in half), wound from the thumb nail upward. For lefties (like me), wrap counter-clockwise (looking from the end). For righties, wrap clockwise. Just wrap it so it lies smoothly on your skin: NOT tight.  If you use tacky, put just a tiny dab on the tips of your middle and/or ring fingers, or on the tape by your nail. As was mentioned above, if you get tacky on the handle, you're likely to hear about it from someone who really, really hates that. -Wayne |
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Replies:
Posted By: Rob Schultz
Date Posted: 1/09/08 at 3:39am
Thank you for the info. ------------- Captain Rob Schultz Charter Boat Adventures http://www.makoadventures.com" rel="nofollow - http://www.makoadventures.com |
Posted By: BenEdwards
Date Posted: 8/20/10 at 10:32pm
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This is a really interesting topic to me. The grip on the handle was something that I was asking a few guys about at my first (and only) Highland Games in mid-July. Most people just said to grab it however felt "solid." I have an unusually strong grip and felt like I had a harder time letting go than I should have. One throw on the 56lb HWFD I actually wasn't able to let go and I lost my balance and did a spectacular face-plant with the weight still anchored firmly to my hand. Good for a few laughs from the crowd, but not good for my body or pride, lol. What I was curious about was whether to let the handle rest near the tips of my fingers or get it as close to my palm as possible in a position of strength. Speaking of grip, I had a hard time letting go of the Light Hammer too and I'm sure that's just part of the learning curve but I've already stopped 90% of my grip training (until earlier this year I've been a self-professed grip guy since 2000) in hopes that it'll make releasing the implements easier. I'm aware that a good number of HG athletes have phenomenal grips so I'm sure my grip strength won't regress to pre-training levels either. ------------- http://goalorientedtraining.wordpress.com/ |
Posted By: jsully
Date Posted: 2/14/12 at 3:54am
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bump..
how many of you guys hook this way, with your thumb alongside the handle, rather than wrapped?
I feel way more stable with my thumb wrapped around, but it hurts like a sonofabitch. Still trying to find the perfect wrap job so that it doesn't hurt as much because after 6-9 throws with the heavy my thumb is disgusted with myself.
I've tried hooking with my thumb alongside the handle and it rips my callouses on my palm apart and really just feels like I'm holding it in my fingers so I still get right side blow-outs..
thoughts? am I doing it wrong?
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Posted By: JamesBullock
Date Posted: 2/14/12 at 5:09am
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I personally don't like hooking along the handle. Full wrap does hurt but you get used to it the more you use it. I use a thin glove and tape my thumb the same way that is described above on the outside of the glove. I do this for both the HWFD and the LWFD. I do not use a glove for WOB but still use hook grip. It always hurts the most on HWFD for me. I first saw Andy Vincent using a glove and hook gripping. It got rid of much of the pain once I started doing that as well. |
Posted By: C. Smith
Date Posted: 2/14/12 at 6:42am
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I hook with a glove, and wrap the thumb.
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Posted By: jsully
Date Posted: 2/14/12 at 6:59am
I think I have little dwarf thumbs. How the hell do you get a good wrap around the handle with the thumb in a glove?
also, how do you keep the glove from moving around/away from your thumb? Do you tape the thumb on the outside of the glove as well?
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C. Smith wrote:Posted By: C. Smith
Date Posted: 2/14/12 at 7:06am
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No, I put a layer of tape on my thumb, put the glove on, then tape the wrist. Then I tacky the glove and wrap my thumb as deep as it will go and hook. If you're talking about thick D handles, well, now you know why I hate them so. ------------- |
Posted By: AlDargie
Date Posted: 2/14/12 at 8:05am
I adopted this a year ago and and pretty comfortable to throw with.  ------------- Dyin' ain't much of a living, boy. - Outlaw Josey Wales |
Posted By: C. Smith
Date Posted: 2/14/12 at 8:11am
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I've got your nose!
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Posted By: feefiefofeather
Date Posted: 2/14/12 at 9:18am
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I'm glad there is a thread for this, because I've been struggling with this for awhile!
I learned how to throw the weights on a D handle, and the first time I tried to hold a ring handle the same way I do the D, the weight went one way and I went the other. Violently.
I have tried, as someone else mentioned, taping + a glove + loads of tack, which definitely helped, but I still threw some pretty sub-par numbers. Have also tried different variations on the grip, (although not the AlDargie trick...that looks cooky!) as well as adding in more gripwork at the gym. To no avail - I simply struggle to hold on to the ring in heavy weight (light weight is not a problem).
Is there a benefit to learning on the ring handles? Does throwing a D with a hook grip have the same benefit? ------------- Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond all reason the opinions of others. |
Posted By: jsully
Date Posted: 2/14/12 at 10:12am
lmao, I think I peed a little
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Posted By: jsully
Date Posted: 2/14/12 at 10:14am
I see.. so you're making your thumb fatter so it doesn't slide in the glove at all.. makes sense.
What do you do when you do have to throw a D handle?
I like ring handles because I can get a sweet deep hook in it and it ain't going anywhere. I like the D handle, but I can't get a deep hook with the glove on. I guess I'll just have to try harder. Your way makes more sense, I'll give that a shot on friday. Thanks!!
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Posted By: jsully
Date Posted: 2/14/12 at 10:19am
you didn't mention a hook grip in any of that. are you hooking?
I get such a deep hook with my thumb that the ring literally only sits on my thumb, pinky and ring finger. Throw a little on your thumb for your index and 2nd finger to stick to and it's not going anywhere. It'll hurt, but it's not going anywhere.
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Posted By: Andy Vincent
Date Posted: 2/15/12 at 1:03am
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Jake, I use a thin glove and tape the thumb of the glove. This is more for glove longevity than it is for comfort. I did the same thing with the thicker leather work gloves I used, but I cut the tips off the pointer and middle finger, then taped the glove to keep the seams from coming apart. I did this because the biggest gloves I could find at Lowe's were too tight to get a good, deep hook in, and removing the fingertips fixed the problem. I also tape the glove to my wrist. For WOB & D handles, I just tape my thumb the same way I would for Oly lifting, and use spray tacky on my thumb. Gotta make sure the callouses are filed down when I know I'm throwing a D handle! ------------- |
Posted By: C. Smith
Date Posted: 2/15/12 at 1:17am
I usually just whine about how much D handles suck, and then I don't throw it very far which proves my point. ------------- |