Hand position adaptation

[OREGON85]

About 20 years ago I broke my right wrist. The primary lasting problem is that supination (the ability to rotate palms up) in my right wrist is limited. I can only get within about 45 degrees of palm up with my right hand. My understanding is that the proper handle hold position is right hand up under the handle and left hand down over the handle, with the handle horizontal. My question is why is that the proper position? What if I reverse my hands, left up right down? Or hold the handle vertically?

 

I want to understand the theory before I develop a habit.

[RazorRoss3]

“Correct” handle hold is relative to foot forward. Right palm up for left foot forward, right palm down for right foot forward. This is the most ergonomic orientation for pulling and turning if you are trying to get through the course in a competitive sense. If you physically can’t hold the handle the correct way then I guess the options are hold it wrong and accept any unorthodox things that come with it or I suppose you could talk to a doctor of some kind ti ask about how to improve range of motion.

[Drago]

@OREGON85 Its not that big of a deal .

[Zman]

There are some accomplised skiers who hold the handle "wrong".

[liquid d]

The "big" difference imo is the offside turn is a little tougher to keep the handle and leading arm tight to the body. That being said, there's a bunch of "wrong" handed skiers that run super short lines, ski pros, and national champs.

[skihacker]

I'm definitely no pro but I've been doing it wrong all along, once upon a younger time I ran into 38 most every set, I've tried once or twice to switch and that's a no-go, if you have a physical limitation that says that grip or nothing then go ski and have fun,

[MDB1056]

Agree with the above. Plenty of amazing skiers with reverse grip. Do what works for you

[OREGON85]

Cool. Thank you for the advice. It is helpful to have the collective knowledge of this group as an aspiring beginner!

[JackQ]

I have always held the handle the “wrong way” as it is the same way I hold a bat. About 8 years ago, I switched as many recommended. I skied that way an entire season, didn’t help nor hurt. And the end of the year, I tried one pass, the old wrong way and kept ever since. I do not feel it has hurt my skiing one iota.

[swbca]

Kris Lapoint and Cindy Todd set world records with the wrong grip. Thats something to look forward to. I switched grip this year. Practiced in my basement quite a bit. It was very easy to change because of the on land preview.

[DP70]

Don't get hung up on those calling it 'wrong' - it's not. Call it reverse grip or switch grip & just grip it and rip it.

 

[Nater]

@swbca However, Kris did switch his grip after that at some point in his life. I believe in his mid 30’s or 40’s.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

One of the old rules of thumb is that the hand you have on top will give you a stronger lean when that hand is away from the boat. e.g. if your right hand is on top, you will be in a stronger bio-mechanical lean from 2 to 3 regardless of which foot forward.

 

The "correct" grip tends to balance out the onside and offside leans, while the "backwards" grip will make your onside lean stronger and offside weaker.

 

I have a chronic elbow problem that forces me to hold the handle backwards. There is no doubt in my mind I would ski more smoothly and consistently (not a higher max) if I could ski with the correct grip, but backwards beats not skiing!

[jjackkrash]

One of our club members uses both hands palms down because it is the only way he can avoid golfers elbow. He is a good skier and moving to palms down did not hurt his buoy count.