Chances are, if you’re a big fan of fps games on PC then you’ll have seen people talk about using different mouse grip styles. The way you hold your gaming mouse can actually have a huge impact on your performance in competitive gaming. Different grip styles give you different levels of control and speed to your mouse movements, so it’s worth figuring out the best option for you.
What Are Different Mouse Grip Styles?
When it comes to how you grip your mouse, there are three main grip styles to consider: palm, claw, and tip. Depending on the game you’re playing and your playstyle, some grips will work better for you than others. And, as always, we recommend trying out different styles to see which ones feel the comfiest for you as well.
Palm Grip
Palm grip is possibly the most popular mouse grip because this is the “default” grip most people use – gamer or not. With this grip, your palm rests on top of the mouse, your fingers lie on each of the buttons, and your thumb rests on the side. With this mouse grip, your arm has to do most of the work for any big sweeping movements which does mean less precision but makes up for it by granting more scope for movement.
This is also a very relaxed grip that’s easy to maintain for longer gaming sessions as there’s less pressure on your hand. You have more control over your movements with a palm grip, but less precision, so keep this in mind.
Claw Grip
Next up, we have the claw grip. With this, your hand looks like, you’ve guessed it, a claw. The tips of your fingers rest on the two mouse buttons and the edge of your palm is on the bottom of the mouse itself. With the claw, you have a more balanced grip on your mouse that lets you combine accuracy with control.
When compared to the palm grip, this can give you a more accurate in-game performance but does lend itself more to strain and injury if you’re not taking breaks regularly from your clicking.
Tip Grip
Finally, for those who have a real need for speed, we have the tip grip. With this, your palm doesn’t rest on the mouse and instead hovers above it with your fingertips resting on the buttons. This grip allows for much faster movements, but you have a more limited range of movement. So, if your game is all about reaction times, then get that caffeine pumping and try this grip out.
Again, this grip is more prone to leading to strain thanks to the lack of support on the palm, so make sure you’re stretching your hands before you play and taking a short break each hour to help prevent this.
Which Mouse Grip Is Best?
The “best” mouse grip will come down to a few factors, there really is no one best way to grip your mouse. If you have a heavier mouse model, then you’re going to find using the tip grip much more difficult than if you had a lightweight mouse. If your game requires a lot of sweeping movements then the palm grip is going to be much more beneficial than the claw or tip. But we know that’s not the most helpful conclusion for an advice article like this. So, we’ve broken down the pros and cons of each grip style to make it a little easier to choose.
| Palm Grip | Claw Grip | Tip Grip |
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Which mouse grip do you use when gaming? Be sure to let us know over on Twitter or hop into our Command Discord server to discuss which is grip style is best!