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Hot take: The way some guys hold their clippers is just wrong. | Barbers - Rigidtalk

Hot take: The way some guys hold their clippers is just wrong.

I was watching a barber in a shop in Tempe last week, and he was holding his cordless clippers like a baseball bat, all tight and choked up on the grip. He was doing a skin fade and you could see the strain in his wrist. I asked him about it after, and he just shrugged and said, 'It's how I learned.' That grip forces you to use your whole arm, not your fingers, and it kills your speed. I switched to a looser, pencil-style grip about two years ago and my fades got smoother in half the time. Anyone else see this and have a tip to get them to change?

3 comments

3 Comments

fisher.reese6mo ago

Oh, that reminds me of my buddy's shop. He had a guy, great barber, but he held his clippers in a fist like he was ready for a street fight. My friend noticed the guy's trimmers were wearing out twice as fast as everyone else's. He finally pulled him aside, not to correct him, but to show him how @ivanlewis described that pen hold. Just let the tool sit in your fingers, loose. The barber tried it on a mannequin head for a week. Came back and said his shoulder didn't ache anymore, and his lines got cleaner because his hand wasn't shaking from the strain.

ivanlewis7mo ago

Man, you are so right! I saw the same thing at a shop near me, this guy was death-gripping his clippers like he was trying to strangle them. His whole shoulder was hiking up with every pass. I tried that tight grip when I was starting out and my forearm would be on fire after two cuts. Switching to holding it more like a pen, just floating it in your fingers, changed everything. It lets your wrist do the fine work instead of your elbow. How do you even start to tell a seasoned barber they're working too hard?

nelson.richard7mo ago

Ugh, it's brutal to watch! That white-knuckle grip is a sure sign they're gonna burn out. Honestly, you just gotta lead by example and hope they notice the difference in your own work. Maybe casually mention how much longer your tools last since you stopped squeezing them to death.