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The BIG front hand grip DEBATE: under or over?
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dhmark



Joined: 04 Sep 2007
Posts: 376

PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 12:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hooking in-- over hand
jibing-- over hand
moving sail a lot, fighting gusts, schlogging-- over hand
relaxed cruising-- under hand
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kevinkan



Joined: 07 Jun 2001
Posts: 1660
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 12:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

some of this depends on your personal preference, style of sailing, body structure, boom bend ergonomics, etc... and a combo of all above.

most wave and freestyle sailors sail with an overhand grip. booms curves have been adapted to fit this style. I believe Streamlined was the first boom to have this odd, new-school boom bend where the boom arm continues straight through the grip zone of your front hand. using an overhand grip, it is easier to hold onto the straight section of the boom than it is on a tube that is curving away from you (forces a sideways bend in the wrist). you can check this by holding your boom and keep moving your hand more forward on the boom. the more the boom curves away toward the mast, the harder it is to keep your front arm straight. now try this with an underhand grip and feel the difference. I sail mostly overhand, so i prefer this extended straight new-school boom bend. North/Duotone Platinum wave booms have in my experience the longest extended front hand tube.

even slalom boom curves seem to have adapted. the front hand angles are much straighter than they used to be.

that said, I do sail with a mixture of overhand and underhand. my grip coming out of a jibe is sometimes underhand and sometimes overhand. I jump way better w/ an underhand grip, but all popping is done overhand, as is swell riding, jibing, carving tricks.

FWIW, I sail with relatively small sail, high boom, track back, long lines, powerful sail, and small board
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manuel



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What maneuvers can be done with underhand grip besides forwards/cheese rolls?

When I was powered on 9+ I would use underhand to get closer to the mast. Sometimes having my elbow bent tucked against my hip in survival mode.

Possibly we have more force with front hand below so it's something to do with larger sails?

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boardsurfr



Joined: 23 Aug 2001
Posts: 1266

PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 4:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

manuel wrote:
Even just cruising along, it hurts my arm to use an underhand grip. It causes an odd twist.


Depends on the boom and where your grip is, and probably other factors. On my gear, I use an undergrip on starboard but not on port - it just feels wrong on port. But tendonitis tends to be more an issue on the right side. I think it's partly because the under grip makes it easier to hold too hard. That's a bit similar to having the thumb opposing the fingers. The lightest grip is overhand, with the thumb above the boom. Probably therefore also best technically, but it does not always feel the best.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 6:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhmark wrote:
jibing-- over hand

Depends on jibing technique, as beaten to death a few times.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 6:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kevinkan wrote:
I believe Streamlined was the first boom to have this odd, new-school boom bend where the boom arm continues straight through the grip zone of your front hand. using an overhand grip, it is easier to hold onto the straight section of the boom than it is on a tube that is curving away from you


I have two rather old Streamlined booms, and their bend matches or exceeds this feature in Chinook's newest Carbon Pros. (The Streamlined is lighter and stiffer, too.)
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kevinkan



Joined: 07 Jun 2001
Posts: 1660
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 10:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

isobars wrote:
kevinkan wrote:
I believe Streamlined was the first boom to have this odd, new-school boom bend where the boom arm continues straight through the grip zone of your front hand. using an overhand grip, it is easier to hold onto the straight section of the boom than it is on a tube that is curving away from you


I have two rather old Streamlined booms, and their bend matches or exceeds this feature in Chinook's newest Carbon Pros. (The Streamlined is lighter and stiffer, too.)


speaking to wave booms... there are actually very few booms that have straight sections that continue through the front hand grip area. Streamlined was the original, and North/Duotone even extends the straight section a little farther forward. Most booms start curving back toward the mast just after the harness lines, although the amount of curve across all brands has been reduced over the last 10 or 15 years. Another newish trend is wider tails. This not only accommodates some of the newer sails with fewer battens that are generally set deeper with less outhaul, but also makes the boom arms a little more parallel.

Dave Dominy (founder of Streamlined), tried for awhile to get me to try his booms. I was quite happy with my Maui Sails Wave 140s at the time, but one session on the Streamlined, and I never really used the MS boom again. Lighter, stiffer, and the bend, while funny looking, instantly made sense to me as a freestyle/overhand grip guy. It's a noticeable difference but really emphasized when you switch back to a more traditional bend. For sailors who sail underhand, the bend benefits are probably a lot less noticeable.

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manuel



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah I never understood why any boom should come pre-bent ?
I love having a straight boom. Less stress on wrists too.
I guess some barbells are bent...


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kevinkan



Joined: 07 Jun 2001
Posts: 1660
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 2:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

if you hold out your hands and move them side to side, you map out an arc. that's why bike handlebars curve toward you, not away from you.
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manuel



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 8:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Exactly absolutely positively true. I believe booms are bent this (wrong) way for rigidity purposes. It's easier to have a stiff bent boom than a straight one.
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