How to Palm your Shears During Special Haircut

First and foremost rule of cutting hair is to hold your hair cutting shears in the right position so that you get the better results. This way you would be able to maintain the health and safety of your hands, wrists and shoulders too. One thing you will notice among the professional hair stylists, that they know every skill to hold their hair cutting scissors as they have mastery of their tools, natural control and permanence to continue hair cutting.

Hairstylists acquire one lesson very quickly and very early in their training: “If you don’t hold your shears properly, you’re going to regret it”. Hair stylists have to use proper grip techniques for multiple reasons:

One, doing so ensures more accuracy and precision in the cut.

And two, doing so minimizes the strain/stress on the hands, wrists and shoulders, which can lead to repetitive motion injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome.

Now there are two schools of thought when it comes to the way you should grip your hair cutting shears. Some professional hair stylists prefer one way some prefer another, but the most recommended way is to use both for different tasks and hair cutting techniques. Not only does this make some techniques easier to accomplish, but by changing the motions you carry out, you can further curtail your risk of developing repetitive motion injury.

So, here are the two main points for gripping the shears with a little information on the tasks for which they work best:

Anatomy of a Shears:

Before getting in to the logic of grips, let’s make sure we know the basic parts of the hair cutting shears we are using. Okay, so maybe it’s not that difficult to recognize the parts of the hair scissors, you have two blades that are attached at a central point with a screw or bolt and finger holes on the handle end.

However, hair cutting metal shears also have a small piece that overhangs from the smaller of the finger holes. This piece is known as the “tang”, and the purpose of tang is to add stability and steadiness to the hair shears when held properly. The bolt in the center allows the hair cutting shears to open and close which is known as pivot point.

Now onto the grips:

Traditional/Western Scissor Grip:

The Western grip is probably the most common method of holding your shears, and is likely the way the majority of us were taught to do so. It’s the similar to the method that is used for holding virtually any type of scissor, with a few crucial exceptions.

Holding and using your scissors correctly won't just improve the value of your work, it will also keep the health and safety of your hands, wrists and shoulders. If you notice, you will realize that all hair cutting experts have in common is a mastery of their tools, effortless control, and the longevity to continue cutting. Get to know more about the Features you need in a Professional Hair Shears.

Following is the technique with steps that will help you master hair cutting:

1. Balancing is important. Your ring finger rests in the finger hole of the still blade. The finger hole of your still blade should sit just below the second knuckle of your ring finger. Make sure that all four fingers should be relaxed and stress free across the length of the shaft and tang. The applied pressure of your fingers across the top of the still blade creates a balance. It's this balance that keeps the scissor stable and controlled when cutting. To curl your fingers around the shear will limit your range of motion. Once this balance is achieved, your scissors will move wherever you want them to go.
2.  As your fingers are relaxed and fully extended, your thumb should not be able to reach the moving blade. Bend your fingers at their base, dropping the moving blade to your thumb. Again, it should be highlighted that we lower our fingers to our thumb by bending at the base of our fingers.
3. Push against the moving blade generating a pressure just below the second knuckle of your ring finger, instead of putting your thumb into the moving blade. A common misuse of the scissor is to put your thumb into the moving blade.

If you follow this technique, you will for sure get your required haircut thus, avoiding suffering from stress and strain on your wrists, arms and hands.