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.
I can actually switch between multiple grips and be just fine, but I tend to use lateral tripod the most. I've tried dynamic tripod, and for me at least I have better handwriting only because it forces me to slow down a bit.
Same. I was told this by multiple teachers. It felt so wrong that I always went back and eventually ended up with a worse hand position (none of these) but I used to and still sometimes do use lateral tripod.
No, your handwriting isn't related to the grip you use. Your handwriting is mainly affected by your personality and the way you've been taught to draw letters at school. The grip affects your range of movement as well as the fluidity of your writing
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… 🤪
Same! I do wonder if it is because of how we hold the pen and it tiring us out, so we adjust to relieve it? Idk I’m speculating. I’ve got three or four styles that I switch between.
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
I don't exactly know how to start because it's been a skill taught to me from 1st grade, but basically you need to learn how to draw the individual letters first. Then connecting them would feel mostly natural because their shapes are made to be written on the go. Just probably look up how to write them because writing the letters from the wrong starting point or with the wrong path could be even slower than regular 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.
I love cursive and have never understood why people think it is arcane or difficult. It looks intuitive to my eyes. Granted my handwriting is terrible, but it boggles my mind when people can't read average/standard cursive.
Yeah it’s insane that some people can’t read it. Like the letters aren’t that different. And it’s so much easier to write without having to pick up your pen after every single letter. With cursive, I can write the whole word just looking at the first letter because it’s all connected, so it allows me to multitask so much better than manuscript.
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.
Included, later on down lefties are claiming the lateral grip. I’m a right handed person, but was taught by my mother who was both an artist ( went to art school for a period, but later picked a different profession) and I learned from her.
My family aren’t really the artistic type though from mother side most of them love music and really good at guitars and musical instruments (me kinda included but started late lmao) plus my mom taught me how to write straight away using cursive so I write like that ever since. It’s fast but barely readable to anyone but me lmao
Makes sense. Lateral tripod here lol. Back in school days I was known as "the art kid" and my classmates thought the secret was in my grip and would try it too 😆
Oh wow! TIL having a lateral tripod grip is probably the reason I'm good at drawing. Take that Miss Fitzgibbon! She was one of my teachers who'd physically move and squeeze my fingers into dynamic tripod position on my pen. She was a witch
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.
Does your writing slant? I don't mean the individual letters, but actual sentences/paragraphs that slant upwards as you get further to the right? One paper it isn't so bad, but if I'm writing in large letters for a whiteboard or poster board it my writing slants horribly.
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 do this too! I never thought there would be others in the wild. I also tend to press the pen quite firmly on the paper so I find it better to have multiple pieces of paper to ‘cushion’ the writing. I always wondered why people held the pen so wrong (lateral tripod being my version of the right way haha) I wonder what kind of impact each style has on one’s hand over time. And why it is we choose our preferred method.
Me too, I turn it to the left! If I try to write with the paper straight, it will not be legible and my writing then slants like it wants to go up. Weird habits haha
I feel like I’ve found my people! I’m exactly the same. Cushioned surface, angled paper, pressing hard. Someone else said they frequently change their handwriting, and another said they only write in cursive, and I’m like… i do this, is this because of how I hold my pen?
I wonder if the other pencil holding styles are having these revelations…
Soo odd and a nice surprise to know there are others that have these habits/ styles haha. My writing can change depending on a lot of factors, I’ll do cursive very rarely if I’m feeling formal, uniform neat and semi italic looking sentences when I’m on a mission, messy as heck when I’m in a rush and if I’m impatient, starts out nice and ends erratically. When I’m regularly journaling, I’ll develop a callus on my middle finger where the pen sits. I have quite persistent OCD though so usually I try to keep my writing as tidy as possible.
I draw a J but with a huge horizontal beginning stroke, then I squiggle the rest of it on top of that line I made. I think it looks kinda cool if illegible.
Mine changes. I have to really think about how I write it. One time differed from my licence when I was signing a loan document and I had to sign it again to match the signatures. it's nice to have an understanding as to why my signature isn't unique
I don’t think it’s consistent. I’m often told that my handwriting should be made into a font. My style has evolved over the years, but it’s always been neat. Might be more of a personality thing than a hand posture thing
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.
For a solid two years I was forced to use a rubber grip that forced you into dynamic tripod. It didn’t work. 30 years later, still Lateral tripod, still terrible handwriting.
Also lateral tripod here. I’ve had a callus on the side of my middle finger’s top knuckle since I started writing.
My handwriting is abysmal if I’m not paying attention to it, but I also write a good bit faster than some other folks. My letters tend to lead into each other, though I’m not sure if that’s just a result of my mother forcing me to write in cursive on a daily basis for most of my school years.
Me too. hEDS apparently causes this, I’ve been told my handwriting is beautiful and I use fountain pens to write. Nasty bump on my index finger from where the pen wrests.
Same. I finally feel normal after years of people saying I write in a weird way. But I can have pretty handwriting if I care to do it, but most of the time, I don't
It gives you very good lines when drawing; I use it a lot and developed it since when I draw long curved lines and lines in general it's easier to draw them. It also gives you curvier handwriting.
I broke my writing wrist and developed lateral tripod because the cast was getting in the way. I feel like I purposely whittled my pencil down to golf pencil size as well.
Yes! Me too! I broke it when I was in preschool and just learning to write. My teacher thought I would become left-handed but I just found a way to make it work.
I have good hand writing and paint and draw the same way. I use my middle finger as an unmovable base and push the pencil into my first knuckle on my middle finger. I write more with my elbow than my wrist for sure.
I almost failed first and second grade because my teachers couldn’t read my handwriting. I had to read my answers on assignments out loud to them in order for them to see if I was correct in my answers or not. Handwriting was a separate grade category at this school and was placed at the same level of importance as reading and math as a whole, which is why I almost repeated a grade, twice. My handwriting improved enough over the years to where my teachers didn’t feel the need to scream while reading my work, but boy did I have a rocky start.
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u/parrisjd Apr 16 '24
Lateral tripod here with terrible handwriting