Beginner Tip – Hand Holds

Beginner Tip – Hand Holds

I want to start dropping some knowledge, TRUTH BOMBS if you will.. There’s a lot to pick up when you’re starting out and sometimes you pick things up in class, sometimes you’re so scared all you hear is white noise and sometimes the weird person next to you won’t stop talking so you can’t hear what the teachers are saying.. Every Tuesday I’ll post up some basic tips to help those of you just starting out.. Today, it’s about the hand hold.

A lot of the connection in Lindy Hop is with one hand (in the open position).. The best thing to do with this connection is to make a shape with your hand and “hook” into your partner’s hand…

Look at that great hand hold…AMAZING.

Some leads use only a few fingers, some use all of them…some have their pinky sticking out, I’m assuming they’re tea drinkers.. For follows though, you want to use all (or most) of your fingers (see above) to create that “hook”.. Straight fingers means leads can’t get a good grip on your hand…

Superman displaying terrible follow technique…STICK TO SAVING LIVES, BUDDY!

When they can’t get a good “hook” from you, Follows, some leads, in an effort to prevent you spinning off into the crowd, will squeeze your hand…

Not good Lindy technique…

Both Leads and Follows should aim to keep a strong connection without squeezing or gripping hard and this can be achieved with those “hook” shapes.. It’s perfectly fine to lightly rest your thumb on your partner’s hand, just avoid leaving an indent…

–Shane