ben486•1mo ago

Pro tip: hold your shears looser than you think you need to

For years I gripped my shears tight, like I was trying to crush them. My hand would cramp up after three haircuts. Then I watched a video from a barber in Portland who said to pretend you're holding a bird. I tried it last month and my cuts are smoother and my hand doesn't ache anymore. Anyone else been told to loosen up and fight the instinct?

2 comments

2 Comments

joel_young1mo ago

...and here I am holding my shears like I'm trying to strangle a snake every time. That bird thing sounds way too gentle for me, I'd probably end up squeezing it into a pancake anyway. Last week I actually dropped my shears mid-cut because I loosened up so much they slipped right out of my hand. Luckily it was just a clump of hair on the floor not someone's ear. But seriously I keep catching myself white-knuckling it again after a few cuts, like my muscle memory forgot the whole bird lesson.

thomas.cameron1mo ago

My buddy Mike, a barber for 12 years, said he fixed his death grip by wrapping a rubber band around his shears as a reminder to ease up. Took him like 3 weeks but he said the band finally got his muscle memory to chill out on its own.