Holding the spring - how much does it help?

[EmilBB]

Basically what the title says, how much does holding the spring of a gripper with your off hand help?

[C8Myotome]

5 minutes ago, EmilBB said:

Basically what the title says, how much does holding the spring of a gripper with your off hand help?

I've never understood what purpose this serves or tried it. Don't want my fingers there if the spring breaks.

[Cannon]

What do the kids say? "Mess around and find out." (I know I made it PG.)

When you try this, how much do you feel it helps?

If you want an estimation that probably only relates to me personally, I think it takes about 5 lbs off the rating. 

[EmilBB]

2 minutes ago, C8Myotome said:

I've never understood what purpose this serves or tried it. Don't want my fingers there if the spring breaks.

Same here, I have just seen people saying it's far from being a "real" close when people do it. 

[EmilBB]

3 minutes ago, Cannon said:

What do the kids say? "Mess around and find out." (I know I made it PG.)

When you try this, how much do you feel it helps?

If you want an estimation that probably only relates to me personally, I think it takes about 5 lbs off the rating. 

Of course I should probably just try it myself but I'd rather just keep my hands off the spring, mostly because they're full of oil though

[Cannon]

Just put a glove on. Like any work glove. 

I don't think a spring break would hurt your bare hand but better safe than sorry. A spring break is such a slight chance that it's almost not worth worrying about. Your hand is probably more at risk of carpal tunnel or joint pain.  

I stick by my estimate though. I think holding the spring gives roughly -5 lbs off the rating. So it makes a slightly larger difference on lighter grippers percentage-wise. 

[Cannon]

1 hour ago, EmilBB said:

Same here, I have just seen people saying it's far from being a "real" close when people do it. 

There is no question it braces the close and introduces stability. You can perform better under those conditions. 

[EmilBB]

11 minutes ago, Cannon said:

Just put a glove on. Like any work glove. 

I don't think a spring break would hurt your bare hand but better safe than sorry. A spring break is such a slight chance that it's almost not worth worrying about. Your hand is probably more at risk of carpal tunnel or joint pain.  

I stick by my estimate though. I think holding the spring gives roughly -5 lbs off the rating. So it makes a slightly larger difference on lighter grippers percentage-wise. 

I thought it would be more than 5lbs, since people get real upset when they see someone doing it. 

I'll give it a go next time I train, if you say it's almost not worth worrying about then I trust it. 

[Fist of Fury]

It can give a lot. If you practice doing so. Also if you're stronger you it will probably have even more effect. There's definitely a difference in how well you're bracing it. So there's probably a difference if a 250 kg bench presser does it compared to the average person.

And for this reason I don't think you can put a number on it.

[insane.warrior]

Does anyone have a video? I have never seen how it's done 

[EmilBB]

49 minutes ago, insane.warrior said:

Does anyone have a video? I have never seen how it's done 

Do you mean a video of someone doing it or a video of showing how to do it? Just off the top of my mind, I remember this one.

 

[C8Myotome]

31 minutes ago, EmilBB said:

Do you mean a video of someone doing it or a video of showing how to do it? Just off the top of my mind, I remember this one.

 

@AdriaanRobert96 see this is why we asked for a video of your 3.5 close, specifically because of guys in the past like "jelly" ^ lol

[Blacksmith513]

Really there is no reason to do it, buy an adjustable gripper or some rated ones to bridge the gap.  No sense in forming improper habits

1 hour ago, C8Myotome said:

@AdriaanRobert96 see this is why we asked for a video of your 3.5 close, specifically because of guys in the past like "jelly" ^ lol

yeah that "jelly" dude was  a little "off pudding" to say the least

[C8Myotome]

5 minutes ago, Blacksmith513 said:

Really there is no reason to do it, buy an adjustable gripper or some rated ones to bridge the gap.  No sense in forming improper habits

yeah that "jelly" dude was  a little "off pudding" to say the least

It's no different than using your entire other hand to assist a close or push it into your leg to get a heavier/more rom eccentric (which supposedly has a place in training but I don't personally go for eccentrics that I wasn't able to get to concentrically), the spring seems the worst possible place leverage wise to do this though, this is the first time I've ever seen it done & only ever read about it in rules for certs; I guess people would choose to do this to try to convince you they're still doing a legit close (like the "i closed ___ after only ____ months of training!!!11oneone type person) that is basically just using grippers to try egolift and look cool, yet have to turn all the comments off on all their videos of that "performance". I don't think that jelly is fooling anyone, even people that know nothing about grippers. If you look at video of him attempting a coc4 after 2 months of training (lol) just look at his arm he looks like he has never lifted a grain of rice before #DYEL. Completely soft bodied with no muscle tone at all.

[dubyagrip]

He sent me that video on instagram, and I told him to not claim it as a close.  The sad thing is that I had other people message me on there that same day asking if I saw the guy who closed the 3.5 with little training...

There's a definite population inside the sport who can be fooled, I guess.

People outside of the sport think we look foolish enough with our cute little hand exercisers that no one needs to be grabbing the spring.

Edited February 16, 2023 by dubyagrip

[Blacksmith513]

18 minutes ago, dubyagrip said:

 

People outside of the sport think we look foolish enough with our cute little hand exercisers that no one needs to be grabbing the spring.

Yup it’s all fun and games until someone needs a jar opened. Really I hear so many jokes when I start taking about grip sport. 
 

but really everyone thinks it’s really cool when I start to describe it.

Edited February 16, 2023 by Blacksmith513

[slazbob]

Iron mind claimed back in the day, that John Brookfield fully closed a no.4 by steadying the gripper by putting a finger in the hole of the spring. 

he might of mentioned it in his grip video years ago, but I’m not sure.

[David_wigren]

18 hours ago, Fist of Fury said:

It can give a lot. If you practice doing so. Also if you're stronger you it will probably have even more effect. There's definitely a difference in how well you're bracing it. So there's probably a difference if a 250 kg bench presser does it compared to the average person.

And for this reason I don't think you can put a number on it.

Like Fury says, it depends on how much you brace it and how good you are at it. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could gain a full CoC level. Meaning that if you can close the 3 without holding the spring then you can close a 4 by holding the spring and you really went nuts bracing the spring. 

I see no point in it at all other than perhaps to use as a training thing. I personally wouldn’t do it since I’d rather just get good at closing grippers in the matter that is contested.

Closing the gripper while holding the spring does not count as closing it. Not even holding your wrist while closing the gripper counts as closing it.

[EmilBB]

1 hour ago, David_wigren said:

Like Fury says, it depends on how much you brace it and how good you are at it. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could gain a full CoC level. Meaning that if you can close the 3 without holding the spring then you can close a 4 by holding the spring and you really went nuts bracing the spring. 

I see no point in it at all other than perhaps to use as a training thing. I personally wouldn’t do it since I’d rather just get good at closing grippers in the matter that is contested.

Closing the gripper while holding the spring does not count as closing it. Not even holding your wrist while closing the gripper counts as closing it.

Just to clarify, I'm not really gonna practice it myself. I was just really curious how much it would add for someone who's efficient at it, which is a way higher number than I initially thought. I thought it might be half a CoC level for the masters of the technique but it sounds more like it would be possible to gain half a CoC level for most people. 

[Vinnie]

1 hour ago, EmilBB said:

Just to clarify, I'm not really gonna practice it myself. I was just really curious how much it would add for someone who's efficient at it, which is a way higher number than I initially thought. I thought it might be half a CoC level for the masters of the technique but it sounds more like it would be possible to gain half a CoC level for most people. 

I'm on an off day because I did some max attempts yesterday trying to close my light 3.5 (rated 159!), so I picked up my COC3 rated 142 sitting at my desk, no chalk or warm-up, and started a wide set close that I was going to miss.  Put left hand on spring and squeezed, got it closed.  So it definitely gave me at least a few pounds of help.  I had no idea that would happen -- it is counterintuitive, because that's the point of least mechanical advantage as compared to all the way down on the handle.  Not that it shouldn't help AT ALL, but it helps more than I expected.

Anyway, my take-away from this thread -- yet another reason why I love to browse and lurk and mingle here -- is that I have learned some more about grippers.  I think also I may add this technique to my repertoire not to suggest I legit closed a gripper I can't fully close like that guy in the vid with the 3.5, but to get the handles to touch on a near miss, and then let go of the spring and see if I can hold it for a second or two.

[jculpepper]

I always thought it help because it holds the gripper in the "sweet spot" and doesn't let it slip more than the additional force you get. But that is just a guess on my part. 

[AdriaanRobert96]

On 2/15/2023 at 10:15 PM, C8Myotome said:

@AdriaanRobert96 see this is why we asked for a video of your 3.5 close, specifically because of guys in the past like "jelly" ^ lol

Oh jeez, yup.. fair enoughMy question is, how would one live with themselves while fooling themselves like that?

[Blacksmith513]

10 minutes ago, AdriaanRobert96 said:

Oh jeez, yup.. fair enoughMy question is, how would one live with themselves while fooling themselves like that?

I've never understood lying or trying to fool others into thinking your something you are not. Only person they are fooling is theirself.

i guess it more than likely stems from from feeling inadequate in other ways.

The truth is the truth regardless might as well just say it like it is.

 

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Blacksmith513

[jculpepper]

I personally would give the guy a pass if he just didn't know any better but he has been told that he is miss leading people.

I think it's a shame that people are being introduced into our sport that don't know any better. So, they think this is acceptable. 

 

Do what you want. I really don't care but don't claim outlandish claims of closing a tough gripper in record time. 

[AdriaanRobert96]

On 2/17/2023 at 1:25 PM, Blacksmith513 said:

I've never understood lying or trying to fool others into thinking your something you are not. Only person they are fooling is theirself.

i guess it more than likely stems from from feeling inadequate in other ways.

The truth is the truth regardless might as well just say it like it is.

 

 

 

Amen to that brother!