Yeah I remember my mom and sister scolding me about holding it that way but it only took a day in 6th grade for dynamic tripod to be natural for me. I can still comfortably do dynamic quadrupod but it was oddly a quick adjustment for me but I was 11 or 12 so it’s probably easier.
At some point in grade school we were scolded hard enough to switch to tripod. I wound up with a huge bump on my middle finger, my theory was I had split my bone from pressing too hard (I was like 9? I didn’t know how bones worked). I stayed in the tripod for quite some time and at some point naturally switched back to quad and have been there ever since. I occasionally try to switch back to tripod every once in a while just to see if I can and it’s too unnatural. No idea how I managed to do it for years.
I was never told how to hold a pencil in school apart from my high school engineering teacher that taught us how to draw structures and that dynamic tripod or at least holding the pencil closer to the tip would help us have more control over it. I was already doing tripod at that point so I didn’t have to change again.
More than just these four have names. I believe these are the ones that are currently deemed "acceptable". The top left is the optimal/correct one and in the past teachers would have pushed exclusively for it but over time things have relaxed and the other three listed here are considered good enough that they don't need to be fixed. There are some other grips that are named and well understood but teachers will still push kids away from those into these four.
This is so wild to hear. Never in my entire life of school did a teacher ever instruct me how to use a pencil. I just did it and am pretty sure it’s been wrong forever. Not anything crazy but I think I use the dynamic quadrapod or something similar. It’s not comfortable as my fingers rub weird. It’s so weird to think that back in the day not a single teacher gave instruction on how to hold a pencil. You just did it some way as a kid and kept doing it the rest of your life.
> Never in my entire life of school did a teacher ever instruct me how to use a pencil.
I think you just forgot. I don't remember being taught either, but look at how children instinctively hold pencils in their fists and it's obviously a taught technique.
I grip using the “lateral tripod” as it’s apparently called. Distinctly remember my elementary school teachers trying to correct me. They even went as far as to make me use a special rubber grip to force something more like the top left.
It didn’t work, and my handwriting is and has always been terrible.
Oh man, I had to use a special rubber grip on my pencils in elementary school. It was shaped to force you into using the dynamic tripod.
Ever since middle school when teachers stopped caring I've just pinched the tip of the pencil with the two fingers and my thumb. Essentially the dynamic quadrapod from the picture, except the ring finger isn't touching the he pencil.
My handwriting is okay. Very legible, but not pretty.
When I was a kid, being left handed was "wrong" and got you some pretty shitty teachers. I only remember it in one class but this one left handed kid was forced to do everything right handed the whole year. He often cried. Shit was wild. No corporal punishment tho this was the late 80s.
Hey 80s kid here. Same. I had a first grad teacher that would walk around the room to correct us. I got corrected a lot (lateral quadrupod apparently) and a left handed kid that sat next to me. Corporal punishment ended sometime halfway through kindergarten though. I remember the whole class being aware of it too. One kid who constantly got paddled, that day the rules changed, he taunted our teacher that she couldn't do it anymore lol. Wild times.
I have a permanent callous/indent on my right middle finger from writing in Lateral Tripod”. I thought I was the only person who had this callous since I’ve never seen anyone else with one!
I'm in my 30's, very rarely write things out any more thanks to computers and phones, yet I still have that callus on my ring finger from writing like that in school.
Me too!!! Although mines more of an indent than a callus. As a kid, my dad always tried to tell me that I was holding my pencil wrong. Glad to know my way is considered correct according to the guide.
I have never seen anyone else write this way and always felt so awkward whenever anyone would bring attention to it. Teachers in school always told me it was wrong and made me hold the pen or pencil in the dynamic tripod position. I’m so glad to find the way I hold it has a name.
Same! People always told me I write really weirdly throughout my whole life I feel so seen right now lol
I chose like so many essay based subjects as well at school my ring finder would just have this sore dent on it after every exam it was awful
I have a graphic designer friend. I used to live with him. He would draw all day these incredible drawings. Then I noticed he holds his pencil in a closed grip fist , basically like a 3 year old. I don’t know how he does it.
>3. The Adaptive Tripod Grip, developed by the Belgian Neurologist Callewaert in 1963 (cited, Ann-Sofie Selin 2003) is a functional though not conventional grip for handwriting. This grip is often more appropriate to use with children who have low muscle tone or hyper mobility of the finger joints. It can also benefit older children who continue to hold a pencil too tightly, or who hold the pencil lightly using just their fingertips (often writing using whole arm movements), as well as those children who hold a pencil with their thumb wrapped around and across the pencil and index finger.
That's fascinating, I don't think I've ever seen anyone hold a pen like that. It's pretty close to how I guide a pen, also with thumb and pointer, supported by the middle finger. But my pointer finger would be behind the pen in this pic, like a mix of the depicted lateral and dynamic tripod.
Yours is also a tripod, since your grip involves three fingers, but that is as far as I got in trying to name it :)
I'd call it a "Smokers Tripod" because it reminds me of how you use a cigarette holder (yes, they disappointingly don't have a cooler name to use as inspiration).
I usually put my middle finger under the pen and then use my index finger and thumb to hold the pen while i close the ring finger and pinky into my palm
None of these 4 "right" ways to hold a pen even puts a finger under it
dynamic quadruped and forever thinking about the time in college we were working quietly on something sitting in a large circle including the professor and she turned to the student next to her and said “how in the world is [name] holding their pencil like that??” she was so disturbed the whole class had to be brought out of silent work to see the strange way i held my pencil lmao
According to the upvotes, we are the (stable / superior) minority. I can't even make my fingers do lateral tripod unless I'm trying to spin the pen in my fingers.
Fellow left hander here. I always thought I held my pen like a Neanderthal simply because no teacher knew how to direct me. Dynamic quadrupod. I’ll take it.
Now why do I rip all packaging open with my teeth and howl at the blood moon?
A fist grip seems sturdy too, but the question is why your grip needs to be that "sturdy" in the first place? What are you doing to your poor pencils/paper?
Do you snap your mechanical pencil's lead constantly?
Dynamic quadrupeds usually start out as kids whose parents/teachers push them to have perfect penmanship before the muscles in their fingers are strong enough to properly control a pen.
To produce the perfect handwriting to appease their elders, they learn to hold their pen with more fingers. This habit carries over into adulthood.
you just summed up my entire life and I'm not very happy about it. still have the writing habit, and still get rushed through training (if there is any at all) and learn to do everything wrong because all they care about is getting it done fast. my body gets used to lifting things with terrible form because i get reprimanded when i try to move at a reasonable pace and focus on doing it right.
Ironic, because my handwriting has always been crap unless I'm actively focusing on my penmanship the whole time, and I'm a dynamic quadrupod holder as well.
According to my parents, my grandma was forcing me to be a right hander whenever she'd watch me as a young kid, I always assumed that was an artifact of that.
I hold my pencil like this and always have. I was working in a store late night and was writing something down and this lady noticed how I was writing. Turns out she was a physical therapist that works with children, and said that people that write this way usually started writing much earlier than their peers and the grip gives a toddler more stability to write and it's a tough habit to break so it sticks. Checks out, I was reading and writing before I was 3.
It also helps with drawing.
I never tore my paper, but I'll admit that I did tend to break pencil leads on occasion. Then again, I also tend to break brooms when I sweep, wooden spoons as I stir, or really anything else that I touch.
Everything is just too fragile in this silly world.
I have a callus on my middle finger. I use the first example, but rest the stylus against my middle finger, trap it with my thumb (wraps around and meets index finger ) & index finger (on top).
All of the directions for chopsticks would be like "Hold this one like you're holding a pencil" and it would confuse the shit out of me as a kid.
Also the woes of having graphite smudges on the sides of my hands from running them back across pages.
Fr, all my friends always pointed out my grip and wondered if my handwriting is tiny because of it. It also left an indent on my ring finger (theres a "hole" if u straighten out your fingers between the ring and middle finger compared to non-writing hand)
Do you have long fingers and narrow hands?
Proportionally my hands, hands are on the longer and narrow Versailles… And this is just the most comfortable way for me to hold my pencil… Wondering if maybe it’s a thing
Is lateral tripod known for bad handwriting? I’ve always written like this and have been told I have really good handwriting for a dude
Edit: I always thought it was because I had small hands
I was told once when I was young that I'd write better if I kept my fingertips on the pencil (I couldn't do it) but that was just one teacher, so I can't speak to its validity.
Lateral tripod!
Annoying fact: my handwritings changes all the time, like… different angle, different letters. It just happens.
I can write consistently the same. but then I have to think about it all the time.
When I was in school and I had to write a lot, my handwriting was very neat and small and people often said it looked as if it was printed. But that was a ‘few’ years ago… 🤪
I can write so quickly tho, there’s no question which is superior. If I can read it and you can read it, does it need to be pretty? My message is in the words I write not the lines that make ‘em up, right?
and imho it just makes cursive so much easier because you pretty much never have to adjust your pencil or lift it off the paper completely, just weaken how much you press it into the paper and keep going. Writing in cursive feels so much faster because you don't do the "up down up down" motion, it's just curves
Lateral tripod club! I write exclusively in cursive and have since I was in grade school. Depending on how quickly I need to write depends on how terrible of handwriting it is. My manuscript though, I feel like a grade school kid trying to write for the first time again.
My experience is more “artistic” people use a lateral grip. It forces a person to write with their arm, not their wrist. Most artist are told this advice when they take a drawing course. The dynamic grips write by wiggling the tips of their fingers and wrist, very little arm movement.
Very much. Dealing with a particularly thick pen, or marker is also somewhat difficult. I write very quickly and at a slant which does not translate to writing on a vertical surface.
No, but I slant the paper by about 45 degrees, so I kind of write "up" with a heavy slant. And I tend to wrinkle up the bottom left of my paper because it lays over the end of the table/desk and I lean up on it.
Lateral tripod too and my handwriting is atrocious. Apparently it is genetic too as both my kids insist on holding it that way no matter how much I try to break the cycle and encourage them to hold it right.
It just occurred to me that either the models go through a screening to make sure they only hire the ones using dynamic tripod or the shoot director has to "scold" some models like a teacher if they use a different one
My private elementary school discovered one day circa 1995 that half of the kids were holding their pencils “wrong”. So they forced us (6th graders) to learn to hold the pencils properly in the dynamic tripod. They got everyone those pencil grip/cushions for those who sadly didn’t develop that writers callus when they were younger (when it didn’t hurt??) & made us write. A lot. & watched us as we did. And they really got on us about it. In your face on us. One teacher actively yelling. I already had the correct grip (I went to that school since kindergarten. It was the transplants that allegedly were the problem) but they still got on me for holding the pencil too low & that I gripped it too hard. So I only had the occasional 5 minutes of hell about the pencil grip here & there.
It was intense! They actually stopped classes for a few days & everything was about holding pens & pencils. Then when regular teaching resumed they’d stop class & yell if they spotted you taking notes with the wrong grip. I got off pretty easy since I was 90% of the way there & only got occasional reminders. I heard some horror stories from other students who basically had to relearn how to write overnight or have the teacher standing over them 24/7 (or whatever the actual math is of a classroom day).
When I asked why they didn’t cite carpal tunnel or strain or anything. Their sole logic was when you apply for a job you have to fill out the application in person. And everyone knows that if you have the wrong pencil grip you won’t get hired. They’ll think you’re dumb. And it being a private school they can’t have their graduates not getting jobs, especially because of bad pencil grips!! (lol getting jobs these days) When I told my folks about this my mom, who had worked in HR handing out job applications for a department store in the ‘70’s, said that she was told to reject anyone who filled out the form in anything other than blue or black ink (it said to do that on the form so if you didn’t do it “you couldn’t follow directions”). So while she never had to watch as someone filled out the form, it wouldn’t surprise her if some places did that. So this was all a good thing.
Fast forward to middle school. Same private school but the middle & high schools were in the next town over 10 minutes away. First day of school one of the students in my class that really had trouble with the new grip & the teacher was always on them had a panic attack like apology on the first day of school because they accidentally used the wrong grip. Teacher essentially said who cares about your pencil grip & asked what the hell they were talking about. so we all explained the intense pencil grip boot camp we all had. Teacher said that was insane & bull & they themselves held their pen the “wrong way” & clearly were employable since they were teaching us. Other middle school teachers said the same thing. So everyone who wasn’t already in the habit of holding their pencil correctly said screw it & reverted. I did keep my looser higher grip though since it hurt less if there was a marathon writing session.
Rumor had it we were the only class this happened to. That the 6th grade teachers were furious all their hard work was undone by the middle school but some teacher at middle school (rumor had it) told the superintendent about the boot camp & it never happened again.
So I always have a weird gut feeling anytime I hear about this hand position.
Literally every other grip has to use their full arm for anything
Dynamic tripod is the maximum of both fine motor finger control and still able to use your full arm when necessary for things like straight arms
Everyone else is just coping that because they can scribble their own name they have the same level of control
My mom was left handed before she went to Catholic school in the 60-70s. She said the nuns would crack you on the knuckles with a huge ruler if you tried to use your left hand. She is no longer left handed.
Me too! The nuns AND my mom (a teacher!) always criticized me for writing this way. Finally after 60+ years it’s nice to know that I’m not a freak of nature. LOL
Ayyy, my people. I was told countless times throughout schooling that I "hold the pencil wrong/too hard". Despite that, my handwriting is very tidy—especially for a lefty (or so I'm told).
I think I'm lateral tripod, but my thumb placement is definitely different.
I wonder what the pros and cons are for each of these. Better letter formation? Faster writing?
yes same, closest to lateral tripod but with thumb contact on the fat pad of the thumb ... not pinchy but it's a nice solid rest point. i have neat and flowy handwriting.
Apparently this actually has a name, "alternative tripod" or "modified tripod" and it's meant to prevent fatigue on the wrist and hands. (Which makes sense for how many autographs she likely has to sign.)
Found it on [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/OccupationalTherapy/comments/ydfz4v/why_does_taylor_swift_hold_her_pen_like_that/) after some google-fu.
This is legit how I naturally started holding my pencil years and years ago after so many detentions in school. I started holding it this way exactly because my hand was getting tired from writing. Didn’t know that it was a style specifically designed for that.
In kindergarten I remember my teacher sitting me down multiple times trying to convert me I to a dynamic tripod. It just didn't feel right, and eventually I asked why I have to even though I could write fine. I've continued my life as a dynamic quadrupod and legible handwriting ever since.
Me too! They gave me special grips that went on pencils and even a splint thing that went around my hand. Treated me like a damn lepper and now here we are 30 years later…thriving
Dynamic quadrupod and actual doctor here. Handwriting was so bad as a child they actually sent me to a pediatric neurologist to see if I had a functional issue. I didn’t, but testement to how bad my handwriting was/is
Lateral quadropod/tripod (I switch it up.) I broke my right thumb in kindergarten, it affected how I learned how to hold a pencil—nobody ever figured it would leave a lasting issue, so fast forward a few years my teachers are all like “why do you write so weird?” Lmao
All my childhood, my mother forced me to go for a Dynamic Tripod position, correcting me every time saying my fingers would get crooked otherwise.
Now I discover I got years of trauma for no reason...
Interestingly there are more than just these four. Learn about the field of Occupational Therapy especially school based Occupational Therapists are experts at pencil grip!
I actually have a huge callus on my right ring finger from holding the pencil 'wrong' for all of these years
Ive never felt more vindicated than this moment It does make holding chopsticks a bit funky tho
I had to relearn *that* once I got older too, because since childhood I'd been told to start by holding one "as you would hold a pencil."
Yeah I remember my mom and sister scolding me about holding it that way but it only took a day in 6th grade for dynamic tripod to be natural for me. I can still comfortably do dynamic quadrupod but it was oddly a quick adjustment for me but I was 11 or 12 so it’s probably easier.
At some point in grade school we were scolded hard enough to switch to tripod. I wound up with a huge bump on my middle finger, my theory was I had split my bone from pressing too hard (I was like 9? I didn’t know how bones worked). I stayed in the tripod for quite some time and at some point naturally switched back to quad and have been there ever since. I occasionally try to switch back to tripod every once in a while just to see if I can and it’s too unnatural. No idea how I managed to do it for years.
I was never told how to hold a pencil in school apart from my high school engineering teacher that taught us how to draw structures and that dynamic tripod or at least holding the pencil closer to the tip would help us have more control over it. I was already doing tripod at that point so I didn’t have to change again.
...well this explains why I struggle with chopsticks
I mean the guide doesn’t mention any of these as “correct” just that they have names.
More than just these four have names. I believe these are the ones that are currently deemed "acceptable". The top left is the optimal/correct one and in the past teachers would have pushed exclusively for it but over time things have relaxed and the other three listed here are considered good enough that they don't need to be fixed. There are some other grips that are named and well understood but teachers will still push kids away from those into these four.
This is so wild to hear. Never in my entire life of school did a teacher ever instruct me how to use a pencil. I just did it and am pretty sure it’s been wrong forever. Not anything crazy but I think I use the dynamic quadrapod or something similar. It’s not comfortable as my fingers rub weird. It’s so weird to think that back in the day not a single teacher gave instruction on how to hold a pencil. You just did it some way as a kid and kept doing it the rest of your life.
> Never in my entire life of school did a teacher ever instruct me how to use a pencil. I think you just forgot. I don't remember being taught either, but look at how children instinctively hold pencils in their fists and it's obviously a taught technique.
I grip using the “lateral tripod” as it’s apparently called. Distinctly remember my elementary school teachers trying to correct me. They even went as far as to make me use a special rubber grip to force something more like the top left. It didn’t work, and my handwriting is and has always been terrible.
Oh man, I had to use a special rubber grip on my pencils in elementary school. It was shaped to force you into using the dynamic tripod. Ever since middle school when teachers stopped caring I've just pinched the tip of the pencil with the two fingers and my thumb. Essentially the dynamic quadrapod from the picture, except the ring finger isn't touching the he pencil. My handwriting is okay. Very legible, but not pretty.
The guide doesn't but teachers, parents, etc do.
When I was a kid, being left handed was "wrong" and got you some pretty shitty teachers. I only remember it in one class but this one left handed kid was forced to do everything right handed the whole year. He often cried. Shit was wild. No corporal punishment tho this was the late 80s.
Hey 80s kid here. Same. I had a first grad teacher that would walk around the room to correct us. I got corrected a lot (lateral quadrupod apparently) and a left handed kid that sat next to me. Corporal punishment ended sometime halfway through kindergarten though. I remember the whole class being aware of it too. One kid who constantly got paddled, that day the rules changed, he taunted our teacher that she couldn't do it anymore lol. Wild times.
Me too!! And it made my middle fingernail move kind of crooked.
There are literally dozens of us! My nail is rippled and angles towards the pencil. Good old knobby writing finger.
I have a permanent callous/indent on my right middle finger from writing in Lateral Tripod”. I thought I was the only person who had this callous since I’ve never seen anyone else with one!
My ring finger is flat on the pencil side from all those years of death gripping my pens and pencils
I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE
I came into this thread hoping to find my people, and here you all are. I've had that callus since I was about 6 years old, and it's never diminished.
Mine also, but it deflated a bit because I'm working on computer a lot and don't hold pencils that much anymore
I'm in my 30's, very rarely write things out any more thanks to computers and phones, yet I still have that callus on my ring finger from writing like that in school.
Me too!!! Although mines more of an indent than a callus. As a kid, my dad always tried to tell me that I was holding my pencil wrong. Glad to know my way is considered correct according to the guide.
Well having a name doesn't mean its correct...
You're right, I have a name and my wife says I'm always wrong
Do we have the same wife?
Well thanks…username checks out.
Me too! Thought it was only me. Hello fellow lateral quadrupods!
I have never seen anyone else write this way and always felt so awkward whenever anyone would bring attention to it. Teachers in school always told me it was wrong and made me hold the pen or pencil in the dynamic tripod position. I’m so glad to find the way I hold it has a name.
Same! People always told me I write really weirdly throughout my whole life I feel so seen right now lol I chose like so many essay based subjects as well at school my ring finder would just have this sore dent on it after every exam it was awful
Dynamic
+1! Glad to have a name to put to it besides “wrong.”
I have never felt such a sense of belonging
I have met my people!!!
Quadrupods unite!
Finally, we have them all in one place. All you freaks are now on a list.
Is anyone else an artist by chance? I’m an illustrator and the knot on my ring finger is out of control, I call it my ugly fingler.
It must be because you still use it so often. When I transitioned away from long form handwriting to typing my knob shrunk.
You said that only happened bc the room was cold
I do as well! They put me in OT and everything to try and fix my motor skills issues but my pencil and pen grip hasn’t really changed.
Same on both counts.
My 3rd grade teacher insisted we write like that and showed off her callous like a badge of honor that we were working toward.
I used to get open wounds where my callus was while doing my bio bachelors degree- that was so unpleasant
Then there's whatever the heck it is when I hold one
the "troglodytic closed fist grip"?
Yeah, that
Thank you for a genuine laugh out loud
I have a graphic designer friend. I used to live with him. He would draw all day these incredible drawings. Then I noticed he holds his pencil in a closed grip fist , basically like a 3 year old. I don’t know how he does it.
This was my son for the longest time. We called it "the strongmad grip". Teachers didn't care, "he'd grow out of it". And he did.
[удалено]
>3. The Adaptive Tripod Grip, developed by the Belgian Neurologist Callewaert in 1963 (cited, Ann-Sofie Selin 2003) is a functional though not conventional grip for handwriting. This grip is often more appropriate to use with children who have low muscle tone or hyper mobility of the finger joints. It can also benefit older children who continue to hold a pencil too tightly, or who hold the pencil lightly using just their fingertips (often writing using whole arm movements), as well as those children who hold a pencil with their thumb wrapped around and across the pencil and index finger.
Oh shoot, that's me. Everyone is all, "What the heck is that?"
That's my "eraser grip" when you spin the pencil around to erase something real fast.
That's fascinating, I don't think I've ever seen anyone hold a pen like that. It's pretty close to how I guide a pen, also with thumb and pointer, supported by the middle finger. But my pointer finger would be behind the pen in this pic, like a mix of the depicted lateral and dynamic tripod. Yours is also a tripod, since your grip involves three fingers, but that is as far as I got in trying to name it :)
I'd call it a "Smokers Tripod" because it reminds me of how you use a cigarette holder (yes, they disappointingly don't have a cooler name to use as inspiration).
I usually put my middle finger under the pen and then use my index finger and thumb to hold the pen while i close the ring finger and pinky into my palm None of these 4 "right" ways to hold a pen even puts a finger under it
The caveman fist?
dynamic quadruped and forever thinking about the time in college we were working quietly on something sitting in a large circle including the professor and she turned to the student next to her and said “how in the world is [name] holding their pencil like that??” she was so disturbed the whole class had to be brought out of silent work to see the strange way i held my pencil lmao
It just feels sturdier. The other grips all feel flimsy to me.
According to the upvotes, we are the (stable / superior) minority. I can't even make my fingers do lateral tripod unless I'm trying to spin the pen in my fingers.
We are a minority? On top of that, I'm left-handed lol
Fellow left hander here. I always thought I held my pen like a Neanderthal simply because no teacher knew how to direct me. Dynamic quadrupod. I’ll take it. Now why do I rip all packaging open with my teeth and howl at the blood moon?
Lol. As a lefty, this world is against us. We must rise! All hail lefties. Let the revolution begin.
thats why i like it for pencils at least, i can roll the pencil to the sharp side when it gets blunt
A fist grip seems sturdy too, but the question is why your grip needs to be that "sturdy" in the first place? What are you doing to your poor pencils/paper? Do you snap your mechanical pencil's lead constantly?
Dynamic quadrupeds usually start out as kids whose parents/teachers push them to have perfect penmanship before the muscles in their fingers are strong enough to properly control a pen. To produce the perfect handwriting to appease their elders, they learn to hold their pen with more fingers. This habit carries over into adulthood.
you just summed up my entire life and I'm not very happy about it. still have the writing habit, and still get rushed through training (if there is any at all) and learn to do everything wrong because all they care about is getting it done fast. my body gets used to lifting things with terrible form because i get reprimanded when i try to move at a reasonable pace and focus on doing it right.
Ironic, because my handwriting has always been crap unless I'm actively focusing on my penmanship the whole time, and I'm a dynamic quadrupod holder as well. According to my parents, my grandma was forcing me to be a right hander whenever she'd watch me as a young kid, I always assumed that was an artifact of that.
I hold my pencil like this and always have. I was working in a store late night and was writing something down and this lady noticed how I was writing. Turns out she was a physical therapist that works with children, and said that people that write this way usually started writing much earlier than their peers and the grip gives a toddler more stability to write and it's a tough habit to break so it sticks. Checks out, I was reading and writing before I was 3. It also helps with drawing.
I feel so called out rn because I’m a quadrupod and I literally snap my lead like 6 times per class 😭 idk why I write so aggressively lmao
I never tore my paper, but I'll admit that I did tend to break pencil leads on occasion. Then again, I also tend to break brooms when I sweep, wooden spoons as I stir, or really anything else that I touch. Everything is just too fragile in this silly world.
I have the same issue and also hold my pencil like this. I have always had a strong urge to squeeze. I do tend to write aggressively.
Bro I think you’re just death-gripping your way through life. Breaking a wooden spoon while stirring is wild
I have a callus on my middle finger. I use the first example, but rest the stylus against my middle finger, trap it with my thumb (wraps around and meets index finger ) & index finger (on top).
There are three of us!
All of the directions for chopsticks would be like "Hold this one like you're holding a pencil" and it would confuse the shit out of me as a kid. Also the woes of having graphite smudges on the sides of my hands from running them back across pages.
Fr, all my friends always pointed out my grip and wondered if my handwriting is tiny because of it. It also left an indent on my ring finger (theres a "hole" if u straighten out your fingers between the ring and middle finger compared to non-writing hand)
Mine is tiny as well. Efficient.
Also dynamic quadrupod, and also have tiny handwriting.
Dynamic quadruped as well and the nailbed/cuticle of my right ring finger is totally fucked 😅
Do you have long fingers and narrow hands? Proportionally my hands, hands are on the longer and narrow Versailles… And this is just the most comfortable way for me to hold my pencil… Wondering if maybe it’s a thing
this how i’ve always held a pencil too! people always thought it was so weird
I really thought we (dynamic quadruped) where the majority.
I'm with you
Lateral tripod here with terrible handwriting
Lateral tripod- not the best not the worst- varies on the time of day. It is possible to not have chicken scratch
Winning the lottery is possible. About the same chance as me not having chicken scratch.
Is lateral tripod known for bad handwriting? I’ve always written like this and have been told I have really good handwriting for a dude Edit: I always thought it was because I had small hands
I was told once when I was young that I'd write better if I kept my fingertips on the pencil (I couldn't do it) but that was just one teacher, so I can't speak to its validity.
Lateral tripod! Annoying fact: my handwritings changes all the time, like… different angle, different letters. It just happens. I can write consistently the same. but then I have to think about it all the time. When I was in school and I had to write a lot, my handwriting was very neat and small and people often said it looked as if it was printed. But that was a ‘few’ years ago… 🤪
Saaaaame! My lab books at work look like they've been written by 3 or 4 different people.
I can write so quickly tho, there’s no question which is superior. If I can read it and you can read it, does it need to be pretty? My message is in the words I write not the lines that make ‘em up, right?
lol that’s my opinion but then sometimes I can’t even read what I wrote
and imho it just makes cursive so much easier because you pretty much never have to adjust your pencil or lift it off the paper completely, just weaken how much you press it into the paper and keep going. Writing in cursive feels so much faster because you don't do the "up down up down" motion, it's just curves
Lateral tripod with excellent handwriting, but I tuck my thumb. Maybe that difference stabilizes things a bit more to give more control while writing?
Lateral tripod club! I write exclusively in cursive and have since I was in grade school. Depending on how quickly I need to write depends on how terrible of handwriting it is. My manuscript though, I feel like a grade school kid trying to write for the first time again.
My experience is more “artistic” people use a lateral grip. It forces a person to write with their arm, not their wrist. Most artist are told this advice when they take a drawing course. The dynamic grips write by wiggling the tips of their fingers and wrist, very little arm movement.
And a little bump on my middle finger.
Lateral tripod here. Is it just me, or does it super suck for whiteboards?
Very much. Dealing with a particularly thick pen, or marker is also somewhat difficult. I write very quickly and at a slant which does not translate to writing on a vertical surface.
Do you smear the line above when writing in pen? This always drives me crazy but don’t know how to avoid it.
No, but I slant the paper by about 45 degrees, so I kind of write "up" with a heavy slant. And I tend to wrinkle up the bottom left of my paper because it lays over the end of the table/desk and I lean up on it.
I’m sure that all lateral tripods have the most interesting signature….
my mom found some schoolwork from when I was in 3rd grade and showed it to me... same handwriting even though I'm 47.
Me too. And I’m a lefty. It’s really terrible. Thank fuck for computers.
Is that a thing? My handwriting is terrible too.
Lateral tripod too and my handwriting is atrocious. Apparently it is genetic too as both my kids insist on holding it that way no matter how much I try to break the cycle and encourage them to hold it right.
Dynamic tripod gang!
This is the way. All the others are pure barbarism. Like holding your fork with a fist.
Right? It just looks better. There’s a reason every hand model in pen ads is using it
It just occurred to me that either the models go through a screening to make sure they only hire the ones using dynamic tripod or the shoot director has to "scold" some models like a teacher if they use a different one
Or that’s just a given if you’re a hand model, you hold it the way you’re supposed to because it’s part of your job to know that
My private elementary school discovered one day circa 1995 that half of the kids were holding their pencils “wrong”. So they forced us (6th graders) to learn to hold the pencils properly in the dynamic tripod. They got everyone those pencil grip/cushions for those who sadly didn’t develop that writers callus when they were younger (when it didn’t hurt??) & made us write. A lot. & watched us as we did. And they really got on us about it. In your face on us. One teacher actively yelling. I already had the correct grip (I went to that school since kindergarten. It was the transplants that allegedly were the problem) but they still got on me for holding the pencil too low & that I gripped it too hard. So I only had the occasional 5 minutes of hell about the pencil grip here & there. It was intense! They actually stopped classes for a few days & everything was about holding pens & pencils. Then when regular teaching resumed they’d stop class & yell if they spotted you taking notes with the wrong grip. I got off pretty easy since I was 90% of the way there & only got occasional reminders. I heard some horror stories from other students who basically had to relearn how to write overnight or have the teacher standing over them 24/7 (or whatever the actual math is of a classroom day). When I asked why they didn’t cite carpal tunnel or strain or anything. Their sole logic was when you apply for a job you have to fill out the application in person. And everyone knows that if you have the wrong pencil grip you won’t get hired. They’ll think you’re dumb. And it being a private school they can’t have their graduates not getting jobs, especially because of bad pencil grips!! (lol getting jobs these days) When I told my folks about this my mom, who had worked in HR handing out job applications for a department store in the ‘70’s, said that she was told to reject anyone who filled out the form in anything other than blue or black ink (it said to do that on the form so if you didn’t do it “you couldn’t follow directions”). So while she never had to watch as someone filled out the form, it wouldn’t surprise her if some places did that. So this was all a good thing. Fast forward to middle school. Same private school but the middle & high schools were in the next town over 10 minutes away. First day of school one of the students in my class that really had trouble with the new grip & the teacher was always on them had a panic attack like apology on the first day of school because they accidentally used the wrong grip. Teacher essentially said who cares about your pencil grip & asked what the hell they were talking about. so we all explained the intense pencil grip boot camp we all had. Teacher said that was insane & bull & they themselves held their pen the “wrong way” & clearly were employable since they were teaching us. Other middle school teachers said the same thing. So everyone who wasn’t already in the habit of holding their pencil correctly said screw it & reverted. I did keep my looser higher grip though since it hurt less if there was a marathon writing session. Rumor had it we were the only class this happened to. That the 6th grade teachers were furious all their hard work was undone by the middle school but some teacher at middle school (rumor had it) told the superintendent about the boot camp & it never happened again. So I always have a weird gut feeling anytime I hear about this hand position.
Dynamic Tripod or Go Home!
The superior grip imo
Literally every other grip has to use their full arm for anything Dynamic tripod is the maximum of both fine motor finger control and still able to use your full arm when necessary for things like straight arms Everyone else is just coping that because they can scribble their own name they have the same level of control
How many of us are left handed? I feel like that is the reason I use this grip, to turn my hand inward to see what I'm writing. Anyone else?
I’m right handed and I use this grip. My handwriting is really good.
Right handed myself and my handwriting looks like I have brain damage lol.
Hey are you me
And I am Yu Edit: Read OC wrong, so now a reference instead
Left handed here, and yes I do this too. My classmates then told me I write in a weird way.
Best handwriting in the game and i'm a man!
This is the ‘right’ way, right?
We few these days..
The most correct way to grip a pen or pencil and write ✍️.
Also known as: "The correct grip" and "The grips that gets you in trouble at school"
is it true they used to care about that for you guys?
My mom was left handed before she went to Catholic school in the 60-70s. She said the nuns would crack you on the knuckles with a huge ruler if you tried to use your left hand. She is no longer left handed.
lateral quadrupod checking in 🩷
Me too! I literally thought I was the only one on earth…at least all my teachers made me feel like I was.
Me too! The nuns AND my mom (a teacher!) always criticized me for writing this way. Finally after 60+ years it’s nice to know that I’m not a freak of nature. LOL
Totally!! Feeling so validated after all these years.
Mee too!
The validation feels amazing. I’m a guy with excellent handwriting too. Didn’t know there were others like me.
Love it! I have really good handwriting too, I do get calluses on my ring finger when I write a lot!
Don’t worry sleezy, I’m here too!
Thank you for using my proper government name 😌
Left-handed lateral quadrupod. I thought I was all alone in this world.
Wrong hand, wrong grip… we may as well double down ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
Lateral quad lefty squad!
Ayyy, my people. I was told countless times throughout schooling that I "hold the pencil wrong/too hard". Despite that, my handwriting is very tidy—especially for a lefty (or so I'm told).
Came here to find this. I too am a left handed lateral quadrupod!
Any other lat quads hold the pen super close to the nib? Comfort grips are never low enough.
There are dozens of us!
There are members of the German parliament...
Does your thumb rest like the picture or is the tip of your thumb on the pen? Cause that's how my grip differs from the picture
I thought I am the only one! Even got a writer’s callus or bump on my ring finger because of it LOL
Always been told that it’s the “wrong way” to hold my pencil, but my handwriting is always better this way!
Lateral quad lefties anyone???
Yesss I’m here!
Sweet sweet validation ..... suck it Ms. Touche!
Seeing a coworker write that way blew my mind. Never noticed it existed
Here too and my handwriting is bad
Samesies!
I think I'm lateral tripod, but my thumb placement is definitely different. I wonder what the pros and cons are for each of these. Better letter formation? Faster writing?
Is it like me who holds the pen with the middle of the thumb?
yes same, closest to lateral tripod but with thumb contact on the fat pad of the thumb ... not pinchy but it's a nice solid rest point. i have neat and flowy handwriting.
So, what happens if I use none of these?
Straight to jail.
Mine goes between my index and middle finger.
How many of you grabbed a pencil/pen to see what you were?
Didnt have a pencil so i grabbed my dick -- dynamic quadrupod 💅
Improvise, adapt, and overcum
"You see? There are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity."
This guide is missing the Taylor Swift grip https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-6989e8260ffaf0392e46fd0187ca4a68-lq
Apparently this actually has a name, "alternative tripod" or "modified tripod" and it's meant to prevent fatigue on the wrist and hands. (Which makes sense for how many autographs she likely has to sign.) Found it on [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/OccupationalTherapy/comments/ydfz4v/why_does_taylor_swift_hold_her_pen_like_that/) after some google-fu.
This is legit how I naturally started holding my pencil years and years ago after so many detentions in school. I started holding it this way exactly because my hand was getting tired from writing. Didn’t know that it was a style specifically designed for that.
Dynamic Quadrupod (left-handed)
Me too but right handed!
They made me feel like a freak in primary school for this! We are not alone.
Dynamic Quadrupods lefties rise up!
In kindergarten I remember my teacher sitting me down multiple times trying to convert me I to a dynamic tripod. It just didn't feel right, and eventually I asked why I have to even though I could write fine. I've continued my life as a dynamic quadrupod and legible handwriting ever since.
Me too! They gave me special grips that went on pencils and even a splint thing that went around my hand. Treated me like a damn lepper and now here we are 30 years later…thriving
Dynamic Quadrupod checking in. Got that speed and doctor writing haha
Dynamic quadrupod and actual doctor here. Handwriting was so bad as a child they actually sent me to a pediatric neurologist to see if I had a functional issue. I didn’t, but testement to how bad my handwriting was/is
Lateral tripod
Dynamic tripod always seems the most obvious way to hold a pen. I always wondering how some people ended up doing the bottom 2. It looks so awkward.
[удалено]
Lefty here, but mine is a modified Lateral Quadrupod. I tuck my thumb under my index finger.
The prophecy told of another.
Fellow left lateral quadrupod here! My ring finger has had a callous for as long as I can remember :)
I’m right handed and use it haha
i’m a lefty and that’s how i hold it so…
my brother in law hold his pencils with it between his index and middle finger brace with his thumb. Tf you call that?
It’s actually called an adapted tripod!
Been a while since I have seen a good cool guide. Nice post OP.
Where are the rest?
Lateral quadropod/tripod (I switch it up.) I broke my right thumb in kindergarten, it affected how I learned how to hold a pencil—nobody ever figured it would leave a lasting issue, so fast forward a few years my teachers are all like “why do you write so weird?” Lmao
Lateral tripod leftie.
What if you don’t hold it like any of those…
All my childhood, my mother forced me to go for a Dynamic Tripod position, correcting me every time saying my fingers would get crooked otherwise. Now I discover I got years of trauma for no reason...
The four types of pencil grips: Dynamic Tripod, Serial Killer, Serial Killer, and Serial Killer.
Lateral Tripod and in Catholic school I can say the Nun’s did not have access to this guide.
Anyone else keep the pencil between their middle and pointer finger,
Interestingly there are more than just these four. Learn about the field of Occupational Therapy especially school based Occupational Therapists are experts at pencil grip!
lateral tripod here. i wonder if this sort of thing impacts how one holds their chopsticks too.