Claw grip (part 1): Intro, anatomy, risks, and mechanism of injury

[@Naded]

I’ve full clawed professionally in Halo for 12+ years, many many hours a day. Never had a single issue with my hands. Personally I feel the size of your hand and the size of your controller determines how comfortable claw will be for you.

[@EsportsHealthcare]

You've been fortunate! It seems the PS4 claw grip gamers suffer more than the Xbox gamers due to the small and flat controller. Hope you stay healthy and we see you on stage again for Infinite!

[@Naded]

Esports Healthcare yeah exactly, Controller size and hand size are the determining factors

[@feastwchopsticks]

So serious question atleast for me. I've been with claw grip for about 4 months and my aim still feels inconsistent and it still feels awkward does i take a while to really master claw?

[@AmbientShrub]

@@feastwchopsticks Yes, it takes awhile for most players to master it. Some people are more naturally claw inclined due to their hands being more suitable for it. The lesser accuracy is because your thumb sits on the analog in an abnormal way. The tip of your thumb should rest inside the concave surface (if your thumb isnt big enough to cover the whole stick). I played nothing but Claw since middle of Halo 2, all the way until recently, I switched to semi claw - which for me is shooting with stock grip and clawing for melee situations. Playing the most comfortably AND the most effectively is the combination you're looking for.

[@feastwchopsticks]

@@AmbientShrub thanks man. I needed up switching to mouse and keyboard. Just more comfortable and figured if its gonna take me a longbtimento master I might as well just master mnk which us superior anyway.

[@Venious]

How we improve claw speed? Moving your index so fast to Triangle to circle back and forth fast

[@EsportsHealthcare]

Finger speed can be improved with drills and practice. We have a brief performance video that may be beneficial to improving your speed: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKWri4OQgpqaqrc Give it a shot, and see what you think!

[@tiqsoo]

I’ve been playing claw for 2/3 years and no issues! I’m on a PS4 controller

[@nashlinnaidoo3601]

Gents, absolutely love this content and has helped me heaps! Can't thank you lads enough. I suffer from golfers and tennis elbow, along with wrist pains on the ulnar side and gamers/ texters thumb :( I'm an an avid gym goer. Weight training plus gaming is a no no for me and a combination of the two results in painful injuries. I'm a PS4 user (FIFA gamer) and find the PS4 controller to be super non-ergonomic. Are there any ergonomic controllers out there that you guys would recommend? Thanks again for the content!

[@EsportsHealthcare]

We haven't looked at or described ergonomics of specific controllers, but that's certainly a good topic for the future. For the rest, I'm glad you find our content useful!

[@masonburkhart4325]

Hey, great video, I found it very helpful as a claw gamer. Ik this was posted quite awhile ago but I have a few questions hopefully you could answer. 1. I’ve rested my elbows on my knees for years and it use to cause a mass amount of pain, it flares up very rarely, but is there any way to reverse it ? Or does it just go back to normal with time. I now rest my elbows on a pillow and get no pain, so I think it may be back to normal, but I was just curious if there could be any underlying effects? 2. Is there a video on this channel, or website you know of that have extra warmups specifically for claw users?

[@RIISK04]

Been clawing for 6 years. only recently have I felt stiffness and pain in my index finger after playing for hours.

[@EsportsHealthcare]

I wrote a similar comment on another video: It's difficult to understand what might be ailing you from this simple description. It's also unreasonable, unethical, and dangerous for me to diagnose and/or recommend treatment for something without doing a proper intake and evaluation. Officially, my response is that you should go see your doctor... However, as a general recommendation, I suggest: 1. Warming up your hands prior to gaming (esportshealthcare.com/gamer-warm-up/) 2. Stretching your hands after gaming (esportshealthcare.com/gamer-stretches/) 3. Check out some of our general tips on claw grip prevention/rehab (esportshealthcare.com/claw-grip-for-controller/)

[@RIISK04]

@@EsportsHealthcare I'm thinking it was because it was flexed for so long. 5 hours straight to be exact.

[@BlinkerTronwarrior2456]

Will claw grip alter your finger shape

[@Alex-qq6gh]

How we can improve our thumb speed and precision while playing claw? I feel like I can’t do fast and smooth movements

[@EsportsHealthcare]

Someone else asked a similar question. I think it might be time to do something bigger with this idea. Anyway, finger speed can be improved with drills and practice. We have a brief performance video that may be beneficial to improving your speed: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKWri4OQgpqaqrc Give it a shot, and see what you think!

[@somerandomdude4612]

Do you know the COD player ears? He said he messed up his hand because he played claw for a long time. Very nice video , i will definetly try not to play claw that often .

[@EsportsHealthcare]

I haven't heard of him, specifically, but I am aware of COD players suffering pain from using the claw grip on the small PS4 controllers -- stay tuned today for the prevention video!

[@feastwchopsticks]

So serious question atleast for me. I've been with claw grip for about 4 months and my aim still feels inconsistent and it still feels awkward does i take a while to really master claw?

[@EsportsHealthcare]

Sorry, this comment fell through and I didn't see it until today. Our perspective on the claw grip is specific to the mechanics and how it may lead to pain and dysfunction. I can't speak on how well you may adapt to the play style. I would assume just keep working on it--practice makes perfect? I'm sorry this response is late, and I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful for this question.

[@feastwchopsticks]

@@EsportsHealthcare no worries man, I decided to start using mouse and keyboard and saving for a PC. My hand started to go numb A LOT so that told me it was a no go lol

[@RIISK04]

How is your claw grip now? Is it natural to you? It really is just practice makes perfect.

[@feastwchopsticks]

@@RIISK04 I ended up switching to mouse and keyboard. My hand started to get numb after like 1 hour if play. I don't think it was because of claw since I was starting to have issues before the grip.

[@RIISK04]

@@feastwchopsticks yea I swapped to m&kB too, but every time I pick up a controller I use the claw grip. It's just natural.

[@KemonoPriestessHazuki]

Thank you!

[@EsportsHealthcare]

Glad to help!

[@el10eldiferente]

I’m quitting claw my arm is fucked right now

[@EsportsHealthcare]

I hope this video, or anything from our hand/wrist health page (esportshealthcare.com/hand-and-wrist-health/) is helpful for you

[@sebastianreyes7917]

Me

[@EsportsHealthcare]

Hope this video series helps! Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3. You can also read all the information we have about claw grip here: esportshealthcare.com/claw-grip-for-controller/