The Anatomy of the Best Gaming Mouse series takes an in-depth look at what makes up the best gaming mouse. In this part of the series, we are taking a look at how the grip affects a mouse, the type of grips, and the materials on the best gaming mouse to help with each grip. Stay tuned for our next Anatomy of the Best Gaming Mouse article about hardware in the mouse.
To understand how to find the best gaming mouse for you, you must figure out which type of grip you use and plan to use. There are three major types of gaming mouse grips. The palm grip, the claw grip, and the fingertip grip. These three grips make up the most common types of grips; there are some variations to these grips, but most manufacturers look at these three grips when designing the gaming mouse.
The Palm Grip
The Palm Grip is the most common grip among amateur gamers. This grip has the palm of the hand resting on a mouse with the tips of your fingers on the two-click buttons. This grip seems to be the most natural way to grip a mouse and hence most gaming mice have a flatter and wider area near the bottom of the mouse to rest comfortably. Most professional coaches work with pro players to move away from this grip, however. The palm grip requires the most effort to go from A to B; the palm grip always requires a full movement of the wrist and arm, and slight changes still need wrist action. The Carpal tunnel in the wrist also becomes an issue with this grip.The angle you put your wrist in with a palm grip is a natural position and those who play tons of hours will start to develop symptoms from it. The other issue you will find out with the Palm grip is the use of side buttons. When your palm is firmly on the mouse moving your thumb is not only limited but also awkward and stressful on the thumb joint when moving in between side buttons. The same goes for pinky side buttons.
Pros
Feels the most natural for gamers to use Most mouse developers keep this grip in mind when developing a new gaming mouse.Cons
The palm grip is the worse position for your wrist and puts the most stress on the wrist than any other gripThe palm grip is the most energy ineffective way to hold a mouse side buttons require a lot more effort to navigate and sometimes extremely stressful on the wrist.The Claw Grip
The claw grip is a hybrid between the fingertip grip and the palm grip. There is a little bit of your palm resting on the bottom of the mouse while there is a bit more pressure or weight in your fingertips at the top of your mouse.The Claw grip like most hybrids avoids some of the worse of each grip while not getting all of the full advantages one way or another. The claw grip alleviates a lot of the wrist pressure that you get with the palm grip while taxes your fingers and forearm less than the fingertip grip does. Small left and right movements can be done using just your fingers, but significant moves will require full wrist and arm movement.
Using this grip will not give you the full advantages of the nimble fingertip grip. This grip also makes it easier to click side buttons with both your pinky finger and your thumb over the palm grip. It is simpler to click the side buttons because with your knuckles slightly raised off the mouse you can move your thumb and pinky with less stress on the joints.