Cut hair for 5 years before realizing I was holding my shears wrong

Last month I was at a barber expo in Chicago and one of the older guys teaching a class stopped me mid-demo. He said 'your thumb is fighting the pivot, not guiding it.' I had been gripping my shears way too tight with my thumb locked in that top hole the whole time. Turns out you're supposed to let the ring finger do more of the work and keep your thumb loose. I tried his way on a mannequin and suddenly my cuts got way smoother, no more that jerky snip. All those years of wrist pain and uneven fades could have been avoided if someone just told me sooner. Has anyone else had a 'duh' moment like this with basic tools?

2 comments

2 Comments

elizabethhart18d ago

Gripping any tool too hard is usually a mistake. Your body will tell you something is wrong, but most of us just power through instead of stopping to figure it out. Pain is never just 'part of the job.'

foster.oscar18d ago

Wait... a whole five years? That's insane. I've only been cutting for two and I'm just now hearing that about the ring finger thing too... my wrist has been killing me after every shift but I just thought that was part of the job. Your thumb should be loose? I've been jamming mine in there like I'm trying to break the shear. That older guy probably saved you from years of carpal tunnel down the road... makes me wonder what other basic stuff I'm messing up without even knowing it.