Which hand on top

[BensonWdby]

Last year I toyed with the idea of correcting my grip. I am a right footed skier and have been using a right handed baseball grip, skiing one handed for about 30 years. Just last season I started noticing that the pro's seem to have their opposit hand on top, i.e., right foot, left hand and vice-versa. I think we have discussed this elsewhere on this board...

Well this weekend I gave it a shot. Water conditions were not great. It was kind of cold and windy so I thought, why not give it a try. It was not as big a deal as I thought it would be once I realized I can try thihng out without going balls-to-the-walls everytime. I think I am going to make the switch permanent. But it could set me back a bit. I actually let go with the wrong hand on my seek side once today. It really does feel kind of wierd.


I talked my son, a left footed skierr, into switching his grip and he really like the results. For some reason he had been using left hand on top. Talked another buddy into trying it as well. We all agreed that that this woudl probably be a permanent change. It definitely changes the way you approach the wake and I think I can make this work...

I have Mondays and Friday off this summer so hope to give it a thorough attempt.

Dave

[Inliner]

I ski RFF/LPU. I have tried RFF/RPU also. I prefer it the way I now do it. I have heard various people say it is best various ways. There are quite a few opinions in this area. My opinion is do what is most comfortable to you. I use a show grip getting out of the water and then once up on the water reverse my grip on the left hand to baseball grip. I found the show grip better for getting out of the water for me. I say try both, but do what feels most comfortable.

Another example is the folks who use the "push backwards" technique to determine foot forward and those who say a particular foot should be at the rear. I have tried both RFF and LFF forward (I am ambidextrous, but favor the right side). I found that I prefer RFF as I seem to have more control that way. I have a friend I ski with who is left handed (I am right handed) and he skis RFF. Yet another friend I ski with who is right handed who skis RFF. I found that if I ski LFF, the ski will walk and I can't control it on the pull-up. I prefer my stronger foot forward.

Same with wakeboarding. I prefer my RF as the lead foot and when the board runs, I like it to run to the right, so that is the way I tilt it on start-up. Yet when some folks were trying to teach a friend of mine how to wakeboard, they wanted his left as the lead leg (he's right handed) because of the push thing. He has yet to make it out of the water on the board. He was telling me about his problems and when he told me about the push thing I told him that would be the first thing we changed. He then said "well it was pros who showed me this" to which I said "you haven't made it out of the water yet either, have you?".

I have learned to let people experiment to an extent. Obviously technique is something that is not a good thing to be experimented with. But each person will discover which palm they prefer down and which foot is best forward by testing the waters. Once that is established, the rest is regimented.

[BensonWdby]

Update - I think I am liking this. I find I like the body position it encourages across the wake. I have also started skiing faster and shorter with more confidence. Not sure if it is just because I am skiing more or what but seems to be a good thing.

I think one thing that helps is that it is simply a change. Looking back, I had been skiing 15 off at 30 for a very long time, sometimes jumping up to 32 in good water. I now ski regularly at 34 and have started having some success at 28 off at 32. Making a small change like the grip kind of forced me to start thinking a bit instead of just doing. I think that helped...

[BensonWdby]

Resurrecting this one for the newbies as well. Not - 5 years later I am skiing consistently at 28 off at 34mph and spent a lot of last season at 38 off. This year dialed it back to focus on form....

[deerfield]

BensonWdby - For me: left foot forward, left hand top, palm up. Are you still skiing opposite hand/foot? - Deerfield

[BensonWdby]

The 'correct/standard' grip for a LFF would be a typical right handed baseball grip. That would be right palm up - on top. So by this I would say you are backwards.

As a RFF skier I made the switch permanently to left palm up at the initial time of this post. I still get out of the water with the 'wrong' grip and then switch hands when I am stable.

There truly is no 'correct' way. If you look at the pros you will see both. But I definitely noticed a difference by switching to 'correct' grip.

[deerfield]

"That would be right palm up - on top."

I'll give that a try next time out. Thanks.

[sled491]

So if I understand you correctely, when you reach out your hold hand is at the bottom of the handle? This should help with your shoulders correct?

[MrsZ]

Doesn't the hold hand depend on what side you are on?

[BensonWdby]

Certainly the hold hand depends on which side you are on.
Being RFF with my 'standard' grip my strong side turn, 2-4-6, has my right hand on the 'bottom', but in reality you really are not holding the handle vertically I don't think...And although the grip is called left palm up, when you reach you really have your hold/reach hand pointed up (actually somewhere around 30-60 degrees rotated up depending on where in the turn you are).

I think we all are talking the same language here. RFF uses a left handed baseball grip. LFF uses a right handed baseball grip.

I have found that the real difference is what happens to your shoulders before you let go with the outside hand. I am not sure I can really explain it, but it makes me feel like my body position in the pre-turn is better. And I feel stronger in my reach. It could be psych.

Bottom line - what ever works for you use it. If you think you need to make a change to help your mental game, this is a simple change that does not require a keen sense of the ski...