Why do so many top players use this grip?

Why do so many top players use this grip?
Research document: docs.google.com/document/d/17...
Note: I didn’t include Vaxei’s area for the average area calculations because he changes it so frequently
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Music by: Biscuit Chocolate - Lukrembo
Keionnu: • Video

[@KevinPan-tl6vn]

there is an explanation for this, since writing has become a common skill to be learned since childhood, some might start holding the pen with four fingers instead of the tripod grip for it to not fall due to the lack of force and practice, as education has become more lenient of the form as it focuses now more on the contents learned, many have kept the grip they used when younger, thus making it their standard, which obviously translates to using it when playing osu because it's easier to just use the grip of preference while writing

[@darknessoffido1195]

People hold their pen like this while writing?

[@colton..]

@@darknessoffido1195 yes.

[@blazewashere7479]

@@darknessoffido1195 Yea I grip like all of the pros just by accident. The way I grip my pen is similar to how I write. So I just grip like that because its easier.

[@danny-jo1rb]

@@darknessoffido1195 yep I have been since i was little

[@Rino9476]

My grip is exactly like a normal writing pen

[@mizzix1622]

This grip feels ultra wierd, interesting that a lot of top players use it

[@Mafkin77]

Thanks for showing on recommended page! I struggled a lot because of my old grip (my hand was hurting) and just after 2 days I can play as good as before without any pain.

[@kaijoon2483]

I also use this grip, it's just how I hold my pen normally and how I write. I use an area of 53.5mm by 30mm. This grip is good for like very precise aiming but bigger jumps can be a bit difficult at times.

[@aricin]

I changed my writing/drawing grip due to osu! I had really bad time with my previous writing grip

[@freakmaster269]

same grip and same area :)

[@Sad_Face]

you have 50mm and 30mm HOW ARE JUMPS DIFFICULT?

[@Xoriai]

hard to control takes muscle memory@@Sad_Face

[@parfein]

The grip thats the most comfortable for you is the one you'll perform best with in the long run.

[@shark20069]

I got used to this grip after experimenting with a lot of other grips. It's super comfortable but it's hard to copy a grip so you should try moving your fingers/thumb to what's most comfortable

[@quim8930]

Nice video bro, it came exatly in the time I was thinking of changing my grip.

[@Klyrrad]

I used this grip since young for writing notes etc and jumping into osu with a tablet I can tell that it is very comfortable once you are used to the feeling :D

[@kahojin]

With this video,i decided i had to change area(idk why), it fixed all my problems of hand pain and stuff i love u bro (im better it's been like not even an hour playing with this area)

[@Soko..]

This vid was great man i never even took the time to look at how most ppl grip their pens

[@atirta777]

Great video! Finger length definitely affects how this grip works. I believe most of these players have short fingers compared to their palms. This grip is what i would play with cuz it's the most stable one there is but I have very long fingers so they would wanna go too low on the pen and i would have to use a really small area cuz of that :D

[@XxMarkelOcendaxX]

I might be wrong but in vaxei's first handcams his fingers looked super long and thin to me, no idea about the rest but I'm pretty sure my fingers are way shorter than any of these players (including mrekk probably, who's like 7 years younger G_G)

[@qwuzzy]

I literally cannot hold the pen like this, no matter what i try it ends up way different

[@peanauz]

exactly how i hold my pencils when writing things as a left hander

[@Klisss]

This looks fun, I'll give it a try for experiments

[@soosoossos]

itd be sick if someone did a google form or somethin and top players could record their hand dimensions then send a pic of them gripping their pen, itd be pretty interesting to see the results, if there are any.

[@andemu_]

Nice video, make more like this i like the discussions and maybe it will help with my grip, tablet or aim mindblock because i tense the pen so much and aiming is uncomfortable overall , yeah thats problems after almost 8 years of playing this game

[@abaon]

i use a similar grip and my current area is 128x68, so it's definitely usable with larger areas since my pen doesn't slip as often and it's pretty easy to readjust without losing all control i've been top 200 for a while (10 months) and i can definitely say that it's very comfortable when it comes to all types of patterns regardless how complex or simple. definitely would recommend trying it out if you are having problems with grip

[@Antside]

Do you stream? Im wondering how tf you have such a big area with this grip

[@texture3738]

this is actually the first time ive seen someone else with the same grip as me, lets goooo

[@someone9934]

That’s how I use a real pencil

[@silenth1806]

I wish I could figure this grip out, it seems super simple, but it just feels super sluggish and constricted when I try it, good video either way.

[@pleasecontactme4274]

it takes like 3-4 days to learn, def worth it

[@kyuruga1]

i write with that grip since since im a child so its natural for me to do this grip since i first bought a tablet lol

[@pleasecontactme4274]

@@kyuruga1 bruh how slow do you write lmao, that's straight up the most inefficient grip for writing

[@kyuruga1]

@@pleasecontactme4274 my writing speed is average lmao

[@riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii]

@@pleasecontactme4274 you can get good with any grip if you use it for your whole life

[@oneshotfox]

This video is written like a high school statistics report

[@SuperSpeed52]

WOW nice one, i made my own comfy variation after trying it for the first 10 seconds, really grippy

[@ovassive5484]

This was my old grip too. Switched from ring finger as support to middle cause it kept on slipping. Didn't know back then that this was popular among top players.

[@samcheer_7711]

the slipping is so relatable. this is how i grip any kind of pen since children, and today i still using it for osu..

[@wcz2891]

meanwhile whitecats grip is absurd

[@francepilie9640]

I just changed to this grip, but just holding the pen a bit higher. Now my problem is more my wrist, but for everything else it's really comfy to use

[@kaitro7]

HUGO'S CLOUT DENIED

[@Aesending]

This is actually how I hold a pen while writing, so this style is really good for me.

[@flayhender7914]

i dont understand how you put ur index and middle finger in the vid i do the same thing as you but mine doesnt pose like yours (i think the problem is maybe the length of my finger) and because of that i dont feel any control i just dont understand how to do it even if its shown good in the video (sry for the bad english btw) (edit: i have a little area 67 but i dont understand how to move with your finger too)

[@sian2005]

I spent some what seven months decrypting mrekks snappyness through his grip and I have discovered some key parts in the feel of the grip, finger placement and how to get it comfortable, like for example not aiming with your pen but pointing with your fingers or not absolutely crushing your pen xD But jokes aside this was really a challenge and I still need to get some more insights on the ring and pinky pushing the pen forward, and maybe the paper towel trick'll work. Idk maybe make a vid about this someday

[@YSoAggressive]

Ever looked at the fact that he has a tiny area and drags? Most if not all drag players with a tiny area snap hard.

[@sian2005]

@@YSoAggressive that's true, I do too have some tiny area and that also really helped

[@i.am.so.blessed-ahhh]

omg i literally changed to that grip on my own, the real benefit is if u get comfortable ur gonna get 0 carpel tunnel, and the minimized hand movement u have lets u get really comfortable

[@meringue3288]

that's the grip I used to write ever since I was a child

[@brentthisis8279]

ah yes how to hold a pen

[@vagranttt]

u made me switch my grip...

[@ciru.]

pretty sure badeu hasn't used that area for a long time

[@wandering_bonzi4528]

I actually use this grip aswell, though I use full area hover and I'm not sure if I should use a lower area.

[@hrku1666]

I hold my pen on how i hold my ballpen for school

[@FxeZii]

i use the same grip as xooty currently, i tried mrekk's grip and what i found is it seems to be easier to have snappy aim I still use xooty's grip cuz more comfortable for me, my writing grip was tripod after playing osu its changed

[@sefeo0]

I use some kind of this grip which migrated from writing to osu: I put ring finger on top of the little and they are both under the pen, index and middle same as in the video, and thumb is directed to the index, almost touching it. That looks really weird, but feels incredibly good, allows high precision with hover while preserving the speed

[@welpyes]

Vaxei on his way to change his area every second.

[@Larfty]

I don’t write or draw with my ring finger, but for some reason it feels natural on osu to use this grip

[@kanekatsu_]

This is how I also grip my pen, same with how i grip my pen for writing

[@tentaqsm9232]

Im holding my pen like a regular pen or pencil

[@xChocq]

What a great video, lemme try to hold it like that with my mouse!

[@-Bagel-]

I basically hold mine in the same way I write, except I use the tips of my fingers

[@Daresn]

I can use the grip, it just hurts after long periods of usage, my normal grip that I use is a bit different where instead my thumb is on the pen instead of around it. I use the same area as mrekk (66.4 mm x 45.24 mm) and I place my hand at the top of my tablet. I use an XP-Pen Star G430S tablet. This is also the same grip that I use for writing.

[@droutikz]

i used this grip for 2 months and my hand would be in a lot of pain if i played for more than 1 1/2 hr so i switched

[@qwertyzyz]

i use the same grip, just with the tip of the thumb instead of the lower part or something

[@SpedRockt]

I have used this grip before, at first, I saw major improvement in speed but over time (about 1 month) my hand get fatigue, and feels like it's not very stable. I hold my pen very lightly with the help of grip tape but somehow it still slip. So I switched back and everything was great again. Guess this grip isn't for me lol

[@EKKO_godz]

Idk if it’s a bad thing or just me, but I use a similar grip myself, and once I power through the first time my hand cramps, it doesn’t happen again.

[@meow2841]

unrelated question but is the ctl4100 good for osu?

[@Kamusta]

I learned to write using this grip but I learned osu I used very big alteration which was to use the end of my thumb to press it all the way into my index. I did come to the realization that I should try using my everyday grip and eventually only used that.

[@zercy]

I use this grip because it’s just how I write normally. Do people use different grips from how they normally write or do I just write weird?

[@tannietf2]

I'm a mouse player but whenever I play with tablet, I use this grip because it is how i hold a pen to write. Though a friend of mine told me the correct way to hold a pen is to use my middle finger at the bottom instead of ring finger, but I don't think I can change or will change my grip because I'm just too used to it already.

[@71320osu]

probably cuz its comfortable

[@biscottino2734]

Emilia hits in the bottom of my heart, he was the one who got me into osu! since the first video I saw about the game was his

[@mango_c00kie67]

i find it really hard to hover with this grip even tho that's my playstyle and has been for like 2 years

[@Razorr.]

Is it weird thats its how i usually hold a pen and pencil when i write?

[@Rezeee]

The reason why I use this grip is because its the same as how I write, However i have my pen slanted to the left rather than upwards since I play on full area, it's easier to drag my hand across the tablet if i have it slanted rather than pointing downwards like mrekk. But I also noticed that the top students at my school also use a grip similar to this grip, literally I saw 2 grade A students next to each other using the same grip, it's just that their angling was different. I've also noticed teachers using this grip. There's just something beneficial about this grip, maybe grips aren't all preference and there is an objectively better grip? Do certain grips entail someone's academic ability?

[@grayishgoose9972]

Another reason this grip is so good for osu is that it helps to isolate wrist movement and finger movement. One of the biggest causes for inconcistency in osu for me at least was that I incorporated some finger movement into horizontal aim with my old grip. For greatest aim consistency, your fingers should only be used for vertical movement while your wrist should only be used for horizontal movement. Since wrist movement is the weakest it makes horizontal jumps difficult which is why most top players have a distorted area favoring higher sensitivity for horizontal movement and lower sensitivity for vertical movement.

[@antxnioo]

ayy, we got the same tablet

[@teazmosu]

ive been using this grip without even knowing it lol, its just my normal pen grip

[@user-sp9ng3zy9r]

Vaxie grip i was using my area is 130mm x 70mm. When i first use it my my thumb hurts alot like i stopped in a middle of a long map after a long run i use tape to make it comfortable a little and i gotten used to the pain. And im still trash at the game 😂

[@pleasecontactme4274]

not gonna watch the video (or maybe later lmao) but the answer to that is that you don't get pen slips by doing that pretty much every other grip is either awkward or has pen slips

[@mintzs5128]

I really think pen slips is also affected by your reading, if your reading a map inefficient you will try to catch up with the notes making your pen move faster and faster to compensate for your reading making you grip more awkward, and in a perfect world where there is no pen slip, u use the exact speed needed to aim every notes

[@pleasecontactme4274]

@@mintzs5128 true but even so the difference caused by the grip is far larger, even with perfect reading you will get pen slips if you attempt warriors +dt (rx) with the common grip

[@bmnpc7025]

Is this doable for full area ?

[@jank_memes]

Ive been wondering this too when I first started to use tablet I used this grip

[@Butter7638]

0:02 That's one helluva smooth way to call yourself goated

[@mamiveeuwu]

didn't realize i use flyingtuna grip

[@gyatan_0]

no one: me: I hold my pen with 3 of my bottom fingers tucked in, while my index and thumb do mostly all of the movement. someone: who asked..

[@Bruh-cj8pt]

unrelated but i have been trying to find that plugins on opentablerdriver where it automaticly give you an are with a ratio of 1.778 everytime you input a certain width number

[@parfein]

Right click on the area and select force aspect ratio

[@shock789]

Nice! That's my writing grip

[@Jnag]

I'm using this grip by complete accident lol, been using it since I was a 7 digit I just found it the most comfortable

[@flayhender7914]

does your hand rest on the tablet or is it kind of "floating" thats the only thing i dont understand with the grip

[@satariel8652]

1:44 "drag" is rest the hand, and "hover" its floating. the grip its a grip, you play dragging or hovering if you want.

[@hydraul1171]

what grip is it

[@minhhuynh5849]

when top players hold their pen like a normal person 😱😱😱!!!

[@Scrble1]

0:48 Then there’s me on 152 by 95 with this grip

[@Catag]

Something I had to mention: badeu has changed his area to a larger one, confirmed by him on a stream.

[@purifly7352]

Its simply because its how i write with my pen

[@geostol]

This is how I hold my pen and it’s just my natural writing grip. My area is 75.9 x 53.75 and it’s in the higher middle part of my tablet. I also drag for everything but hover to spin.

[@4rc-en-ciel]

It's my natural writing pen grip lol

[@your_average_cultured_dude]

in his last streams, vaxei used 120mm force aspect ratio, which is far larger than nick.

[@aztra9483]

Calling these all the “same grip” is a disservice. I’ve tried all of them and they all have completely different points of pressure alongside feel and strengths. They all use different muscles in your fingers and force your fingers to stretch certain ways, making them all feel vastly different. And then the comparison to tunas grip at the end killed me since it’s so different compared to anything in this video

[@aldensavon2247]

Is that the mofulity song at the end? Nanahira the goat. Also sick vid

[@parfein]

frfr stan the hira

[@neavako5541]

I use this grip with full area (215mm x 135mm) and I tend to hold the pen higher up than the players shown in this video

[@iskiiwizz536]

wtyg

[@donmeg1641]

Ahm isn't that just how you hold a regular pen when you're writing? I mean that's why I use this grip

[@wohnieosu]

I don't think that's the grip most people use when gripping regular pens, but there's no "right" or "wrong" way to hold a pen. Some people hold it like this, some people (me for example) use a typical "pen between middle and index, thumb on top of pen" grip. It's just up to preference and hand shape.

[@WhatShouldIPutHere22]

Lol, i use this grip and with this video I just realized that my area is very common.I use a 70mm x 47.72mm

[@arya623]

the largest area is around 130mm fixed (vaxei's latest area)

[@demapping]

i use a grip very similar to this, between my middle and index finger, with my thumb tucked in. it was the only grip comfortable but also didnt let the pen loose (if i move it around with my left hand while gripping with my right it wont budge). the hand cramping is real, my fingers get really sore after playing for a while. i use a 47mm x 29mm area i think? i cant remember exactly. those who are saying its a common writing pen grip, it wasnt for me i hold writing pens differently and my handwriting with my osu grip is terrible aha

[@owoflux6025]

Try using a 20 or so percent higher area and holding your pen higher up. I use a very similar area to yours but between middle and ring, and had the same problem, doing the aforementioned helped a lot though

[@Apple_Beshy]

I discovered this grip 2 days after switching to tablet, I use this grip because I hover and I need to hold my pen firmer

[@dootnoot6715]

Yooo thats also my grip Idk how to hit corners or crossmap without playing on 50mm area tho

[@peterkovacs9951]

Now explain to me how Whitecat aims with that spoon grip

[@R4NBOOKA]

I am using that grip 8.7k pp Feels really good and amazing for playing HR

[@fgfgfgfa7]

wait that's my grip like legit

[@kinniecas9004]

i always return back to vaxeis grip and it always is just the easiest to play with. my fingers are skeleton ahh and they are long af and it works

[@midoune2372]

Actually when i first got tablet i was looking egonomic grips for tablet pen and there was a video in which he recommended this grip lmao

[@user-mw6js6ed6x]

hey i have a similar grip, tho i have the pen rest on the middle segnent of my pointer finger. and shove pen into the nail of my ring.

[@unknownceres5714]

preference

[@markeb1312]

This grip gets used because you get way more control with you being able to grip the top part of your pen with two fingers. For those who feel weirded out by this grip when using it, in most cases it would just be you not being used to it since it would take around 2 weeks to a month to get used to it, getting good at it would be prolly be more, or actually genetics diff where a nerve could get pinched depending on how u are built, longer fingers, something with ur joints, flexibility diff, or you really are just uncomfortable with it. It is practically the same with tapping technique, except there are lesser elements to take note of when doing such.

[@szyszka6995]

i use normal pen grip, because i have more control from middle finger on bottom part of the pen, but everyone has their preference, genetics or something like that

[@flashybangy]

i use this grip too, its really good

[@jeffersonsuarezvalencia8011]

Whitecat's grip feel more confortable for me. I started using the grip from this video because it was how I wrote from childhood, but I started feeling really hurted on long maps, I tried putting tape on it but now the pen was too thicc. I decided to completely change the grip and I felt whitecat's comfy. I gotta say that I dont write with this grip, I still use the old one.

[@RiZen0]

55mm isnt the smallest i use 42.686 and 24 with 1366x768 as my res

[@Male_Parent]

I don't grip my pen like that. 😂