How Do Train Myself To Stop Using "death Grip" When Using A Fountain Pen?

[The Blue Knight]

For a very long time I've been gripping my writing instruments with my index finger pointing down along the pen and my thumb sticking out.and the pen resting between the gap between my thumb and index finger and middle finger and my index finger in such a way that the pen is at a 70 degree angle to the paper.

 

I would like to adopt the tripod grip as I think I would get a better experience out of many of my fountain pens I've been trying to do so for a few days and found my writing is no worse however I find it very uncomfortable to do so as I'm finding I write a lot slower and lack the control the dreaded grip offers

 

Any suggestions of ways to train myself to use the tripod grip?

Edited August 1, 2013 by top pen

[apkayle]

One slightly expensive solution is to use a Lamy Safari or Al-Star.

[wallylynn]

That doesn't sound like a death grip to me, merely unusual.

 

I still use a death grip writing my normal way: gripping very tightly denting the flesh of my middle, and my index knuckle bent "backwards". It's similar to a tripod (maybe it is) but very tight. I can hold a Safari just fine.

 

The only time I can avoid it is when I practice my spencerian and write completely differently. I can't write my normal way using a light grip.

[Mickey]

The problem you're having with your new grip is your body has forgotten how to move the end of the pen. The point is no longer where it's supposed to be. Persist with your new grip and eventually body and pen point will come back into sync.

 

On a broader note, the tripod is most effective when the fingers are reasonably quiet and writing is accomplished largely by moving the hand, i.e., some variety of whole arm writing. As long as you've changed your grip, you might as well tune up your technique more generally.

 

Don't be scared off by the term whole-arm. Yes the whole arm moves, but it's not as if you're trying to steer the pen with your arm. Mostly you should concentrate on holding the pen gently, leaving your fingers more or less immobile, and moving the point wherever you normally would. Allow your arm to move. Your nervous system will do most of the hard work without you having to think about it. (Sitting up straighter and not leaning on your arm will help.)

[thang1thang2]

The problem you're having with your new grip is your body has forgotten how to move the end of the pen. The point is no longer where it's supposed to be. Persist with your new grip and eventually body and pen point will come back into sync.

 

On a broader note, the tripod is most effective when the fingers are reasonably quiet and writing is accomplished largely by moving the hand, i.e., some variety of whole arm writing. As long as you've changed your grip, you might as well tune up your technique more generally.

 

Don't be scared off by the term whole-arm. Yes the whole arm moves, but it's not as if you're trying to steer the pen with your arm. Mostly you should concentrate on holding the pen gently, leaving your fingers more or less immobile, and moving the point wherever you normally would. Allow your arm to move. Your nervous system will do most of the hard work without you having to think about it. (Sitting up straighter and not leaning on your arm will help.)

 

I find that even if I "totally disregard" whole arm movement and use my fingers for everything, if I hold the pen very lightly, I end up in a muscular forearm movement, with the fingers barely moving anyway. It takes surprisingly little effort to write and hold a pen once you figure out how to do it correctly.

[pmhudepo]

Don't write.

 

Doodle, draw, sketch, cross hatch, fiddle, play, close your eyes, make a mess, have fun.

 

Your old habit of death grip is coupled to writing. Writing implies death grip. Use your pen for something else, that isn't liked to this old habit. Slowly move towards writing.

[Nanny]

I like Collectors Item suggestion.

 

This is another way to hold the pen. It's not too different from the tripod hold but it is often the way to relax the death grip. Place the penbetween the index and third fingers. The pen is still driven by the index finger with the thumb and third finger acting as a support.

 

I wish I had included it in this video!

How to Fix Your Handwriting:

 

[Mickey]

I like Collectors Item suggestion.

 

This is another way to hold the pen. It's not too different from the tripod hold but it is often the way to relax the death grip. Place the penbetween the index and third fingers. The pen is still driven by the index finger with the thumb and third finger acting as a support.

 

I wish I had included it in this video!

How to Fix Your Handwriting:

 

alternate pen hold.jpg

I don't much care for all the wrist movement in the video... Seems like a good recipe for inducing RSI. The bit with the ball of twine, however, is an excellent tip, one used by the writing masters of the late 19th and early 20th century. It not only helps keep the fingers relaxed, it also encourages proper placement of the last two fingers. There are ads for several old devices of similar function at http://www.zanerian.com/Gadgets.html I've been tempted to make my own 'Penman's Ring,' just to see how well it works.

 

BTW, excellent idea pmhudepo.

Edited August 1, 2013 by Mickey

[LameJane]

Use a light pen (<15g).

[WaskiSquirrel]

You have a habit to break. The thing to do is to hold the pen properly. It will take a conscious effort, and you will forget at times. However, the more you hold it correctly, the easier it will be to remember how to hold it. At some point it will become habit.

[HDRoot]

Two suggestions: 1, try a wet, smooth nib where you don't have to worry so much about just laying down the ink; and 2, try out a Pelikano Junior or similar with a triangular grip area that almost forces you to use a correct grip. Decent pens, actually, and available on the web or at your local pen store for about $15.

[Columba Livia]

I don't much care for all the wrist movement in the video... Seems like a good recipe for inducing RPI. The bit with the ball of twine, however, is an excellent tip, one used by the writing masters of the late 19th and early 20th century. It not only helps keep the fingers relaxed, it also encourages proper placement of the last two fingers.

 

Yeah, here it is, the New Spencerian Compendium, published in 1879, refers to it as the "zephyr ball":

 

http://i.imgur.com/7GtuzEl.jpg

 

Referring again to the picture of the hand-and-pen at the beginning of this lesson you may observe a ball represented in the palm of the hand. It is THE ZEPHYR BALL, about one and three-fourths inches in diameter, light, soft and flexible.

The ball is a very good reminder of the proper position of the third and fourth fingers. It does not interfere with the action of the hand. It may be profitably used by any one who is endeavouring to secure the correct position.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING THE ZEPHYR BALL - Wind a half-ounce of soft woollen yarn on a piece of stiff cardboard, one and one-half inches in width ; then draw the cardboard out and tie the roll of yarn exactly in its middle, and firmly, with a strong cord ; cut the closed ends of the yarn, and you have a fluffy ball the proper size for use in practising writing.

^

http://www.iampeth.com/books/spencerian_compendium/compendium_page33.html

 

It looks like italic handwriting promoters are slowly rediscovering the tremendous advances made in handwriting in the early modern period, especially in the 19th and early 20th century.

 

You might note a cardboard button in the illustration, that is there to stop the hand from turning over too far to either side i.e it falls off if your hand rolls over. Here is another illustration from the New Spencerian compendium of ball, button and hand:

 

http://i.imgur.com/InQ8QbF.jpg

Edited August 1, 2013 by Columba Livia

[The Blue Knight]

Thanks for all the help there are some good suggestion that I will be trying over the next few weeks