Spent 2 months striking wrong because I watched a YouTube video at 2x speed

So I got into this thinking my hammer grip was fine. Then a buddy came by my little setup in Columbus and watched me hit a billet for like 5 minutes. He just looks at me and goes "why are you choking up on the hammer like a golf club?" I had no idea what he meant. Turns out I was holding it halfway up the handle the whole time, which messes up the arc and makes every hit weaker. I only figured it out because he said my strikes looked like I was tapping a nail instead of forging. Has anyone else had a "wait, that's not how you do it" moment that took way too long to click?

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1 Comment

robert_hayes10d ago

So you were gripping it halfway up the handle the whole time and never once thought to compare your hand position to a reference photo or video? I mean, what made you think that was the standard way to hold a hammer in the first place? Because that's a pretty basic thing to overlook for two months straight.