No Set Close

[opnsysme]

The reason I ask is I can pretty easliy close the #2, which by this board is nothing , but to normal humans this is pretty good. However I shook someone's hand the other day, and though we didn't try to crush each other , he had a very firm handshake. So I wondered if it was because closing a gripper is a unique grip position, where as a "no set " is more like a handshake.

[Sonny]

I think closing the #2 is pretty darn good. Most of the guys I work with can't even close the # 1, mind you our jobs work support gripping more. Still, I think closing the # 2 is better than the average joe can do!

[EricMilfeld]

Handshaking doesn't seem to prove much. A guy at work, who after about ten tries failed to close my #1, didn't seem all that impressed with the strongest handshake I could muster. Our hands are similar in size. I think handsize has a great deal to do with having an imposing handshake.

[wsm_fan_uk]

IMHO, like a lot of things in grip, a handshake is about technique, the only time I give someone an "impressive" handshake is by accident. If I happen to catch it right (wrong IMHO) and get my hand wrapped around the other person's in such a way that my thumb us directly above their fingers and my fingers wrap around theirs.

[RSW]

Handshaking doesn't seem to prove much. A guy at work, who after about ten tries failed to close my #1, didn't seem all that impressed with the strongest handshake I could muster. Our hands are similar in size. I think handsize has a great deal to do with having an imposing handshake.

Strong sweep= strong handshake. The grippers just don't train the start of the close, and the problem is even worse when you set.

[AP]

The best way to give a painful handshake is to:

1)fully take their hand.

2)look them in the eye

3)firmly kick them in the shin

At least this way you won't be giving 'grip' a bad name. Seriously, there is a lot involved like having a strong sweep, strong pinching ability, hand size and how you grab them. Also it depends on how relaxed/tense the person is. Bottom line, if you can close a #2, you should have the strength for a good, friendly handshake - there's no need to make it painful.

[opnsysme]

Actually I'm not trying to hurt anyone, like previous posts I believe that would be giving the sport of grip a bad name. I was just merely impressed that this guy had the same hand size as me yet when he started to squeze and I did the same it didn't "feel" as though I could crush his hand IF I wanted too, so that got me thinking of how grip or more precisely crushing grip is trained for "real world" use. Thanks for your input and keep it coming.

[The Mac]

It is mostly technique. Only someone with an incredibly strong grip and big hands could literally "overpower" another person with normal hand size and strength and hurt them. Quite why you would want to do this is another matter.

[Bearcat 74]

Hand size has a lot to do with the crushing aspect. Hand thickness too. If someone has a thick hand, and they tense up as they should in a hand shake, they will laugh at you. My Dad has very very thick hands, and even though he is 5'6" his hands are the same length. We were wresslin' one day and locked hands. I have never felt like such a puss in my life as when I squeezed his hand. If they are overly thick, it's like grabbing a fat bar.

[amaury]

it's like grabbing a fat bar.

Exactly ! I have not had the possibility to verify this theory yet but i think that Thick Bar training could be the key to a strong handshake. Should ask mobster...

[supersqueeze]

This has all been discussed before and from memory I believe that inverted gripper closes were touted as beneficial to a strong handshake (in addition to all the above regarding sweep). However, Heath's comments about hand size and thickness are definately the untrainable variables I believe to be most important.

Mike M.

[Rob Vigeant]

Rob w and oldguy and the likes with big hands (9") will have the most overwelming

hand shake. Even more than someone with a smaller hand that can close a harder gripper. Also most of the strength for a hand shake is from the index and middle

finger so no set inverted gripping will do the trick.

[Clay Edgin]

It seems to me that people with thicker hands who have good pinch grips give stronger handshakes. My uncle is a farrier and a blacksmith who worked construction for several years and he's got thick hands that always seem to crush mine whenever we shake hands. He doesn't do it to be mean - he's just got thick, strong hands. Most of the guys I've met who do a lot of gripper work don't have those thick hands but they give decent handshakes.

Just my thought.

[Rick Browne]

I had an oldtimer tell me one time that to quash a guy who likes to

crush your hand in a shake, extend the tip of your index finger onto his

wrist line with a little pressure and that will make him unable to crush.

I have never done this, so I do not know if it works...................

[supersqueeze]

Zcor - You can't crush with a bent wrist. If you apply enough pressure to bend the person's wrist then maybe the oldtimer's trick would work. I think this would require a heck of a strong finger though!!!

Mike M.

[Rick Browne]

Zcor - You can't crush with a bent wrist. If you apply enough pressure to bend the person's wrist then maybe the oldtimer's trick would work. I think this would require a heck of a strong finger though!!!

I was going to try this today with my partner at work but forgot. I do not

say to put so much pressure to the wrist to cause it to bend, but about the same

pressure as your return handshake. A little firm but nothing brutal.

The pressure from the index finger at the wrist line will cause a disruption of

the median nerve which tells the index finger, middle finger and 1/2 of the

ring finger what to do. The median nerve runs through the middle of the wrist

I will try to remember to do it tomorrow and see if there is anything to it.

Maybe it is like the trick where you put your finger under someone's nose

cross wise with good pressure and they can`t walk forward?

[SilentDude]

It's just that there hand instead of being perpindicular in the shake, it get's it more parallel. So all in all he can't grind your knuckles together becuase there at an angle. but the hand can still be crushed, it just takes a sufficient amount of pressure. I've had people try it to me and ask me to crush there hand. I have to give it my all but they give somtime.

[Meat Loaf]

I think to get a stronger sweep and a much firmer handshake, you have gotta get (like im gonna get) a freak gripper Like the Grand Galaxy from beefbuilder that is harder then the WC and do positives and negatives on the first 1/2" or 1" of the sweep.

MEAT

[nagual]

I think that clay is right on the money here. Unless you get a good leverage advantage which usually happens naturally by having a larger hand than the "shakee" , it's more a matter of pinch strength.

[Michael_B]

I had an oldtimer tell me one time that to quash a guy who likes to

crush your hand in a shake, extend the tip of your index finger onto his

wrist line with a little pressure and that will make him unable to crush.

I have never done this, so I do not know if it works...................

Yeah, my dad told me the same thing when I was younger. It seems to work well enough, but I've never tried it on anyone with a really monstrous grip or huge hands.

[Jedd Johnson]

Why would anyone want to squeeze another guy's hand during a hand shake? I hate that bull, especially if it is the first encounter with a guy, whether it's a gripboard member or not. Makes me think the dudes trying to challenge me or display something. Give me a break, man.

-Jedd-

[Meat Loaf]

I know, Jedd. I guess i just like knowing i have that power in case i have to use it. A lot of us are here on the gripboard because we enjoy being physically powerful! Yes, physical power is but a part of being a complete man, it definately is a part!

MEAT

[Rick Walker]

Makes me think the dudes trying to challenge me or display something.

I would agree Jedd.

There are 2 types of handshakes I hate. The first is the "squeeze with all your might" shake like they have to prove to me how bad they are. The second is the "limp fish" handshake that is like shaking hands with a corpse.

I like a good solid handshake. One like Heath, Wood, or Pat would give you. A handshake tells you a lot about someone. Word is Bond with fellas that shake like that.

However, my brother always attmepts to squeeze my hand when we shake. That is just something brothers do I guess. As long as I keep winning, he can keep trying.

Rick Walker

[Davekline]

Cruelty is a quality of the week, whether it is in a mental or physical sence. Civility is a quality displayed by the strong.

[Sybersnott]

There are 2 types of handshakes I hate.  The first is the "squeeze with all your might" shake like they have to prove to me how bad they are.  The second is the "limp fish" handshake that is like shaking hands with a corpse.

A handshake tells you a lot about someone.

What about a person who doesn't want to shake your hand?

I've had that happen to me. Years ago, I walked right out of an interview because the person conducting the interview told me that they didn't want to shake my hand. I told them that if that was the case I didn't want to work there - I got up and left.

Edited July 5, 2004 by Sybersnott