If you still have a callous on your middle finger from writing during exams, it doesn’t just mean you worked extra hard on your paper.
It also means you’re a tripod grip, and therefore put all the pressure of your pen on your middle finger above your nail, creating a callous over time.
As it turns out, the way you grip a pen actually has a name, and despite what you might of heard from your teachers growing up, there’s no ‘wrong’ way to do it.
The main four pen grips are classified as lateral tripod, dynamic tripod, lateral quadrupod, and dynamic quadrupod.
Tripod and quadrupod refer to whether you rest your pen on your middle or ring finger, and the lateral and dynamic refers to whether you put your thumb over your ring finger or not.
Take a look:
Dynamic tripod
Lateral tripod
Dynamic quadrupod
Lateral quadrupod
The differences are small, but if you grip a pen and look at each photo you should be able to see which group you belong to.
It’s worth noting that, if your grip isn’t here, don’t worry. There are plenty more, but these are considered the four ‘mature’ grips.
For example, many people who are younger or who have difficulties with grasping items tightly might hold a pen completely differently, and that’s totally fine.
These are just helpful to know, as many people were told in school that the way they hold their pen is incorrect.
After a post featuring the grips went viral on Reddit this week, swathes of people jumped in to comment that they’d been berated throughout childhood for not adopting a dynamic tripod grip.
In reality, although dynamic tripod is considered ‘best’ when it comes to steady handwriting, it’s now more widely accepted that it’s better to just do what’s best for you.
Many people find that dynamic quadrupod helps them draw better, and some people feel that gripping the pen with their fist is the easiest way.
If you’re worried about your child’s way of gripping the pen, perhaps have a word with their teacher, but as long as they’re not struggling with motor skills in general it shouldn’t be anything to worry about.
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