Holding your hammer wrong was costing me all my power

So I've been forging for maybe 4 years now and always had this problem where my arm would get dead tired after like 20 minutes. I thought it was just a conditioning thing. Last week a guy at the guild meeting in Columbus watched me work and goes 'you're choking up on the handle too much'. I was gripping it way too high up near the head. He told me to shift my hand down toward the end of the handle and let the hammer do the work. Man, what a difference. I can go twice as long now and my strikes actually feel heavier even with less effort. Has anyone else dealt with grip issues messing up their swing?

2 comments

2 Comments

robinmason17d ago

Wait, you're telling me all this time I could have been holding it lower and not exhausting myself? Man, I always thought choking up was the way to go for control, but maybe I've been doing it backwards.

milam4215d ago

Wait @robinmason, you didn't know that? Choking up is for kids in little league