Braking Technique, How Many Fingers Do You Use?

[Bullet]

Hi eveyone,

 

After our most recent school in the UK, we made a very interesting observation/learning point about body position and braking technqiue. I'll explain more later on what we learned, but wonder for now, if you could chime in how you brake on the motorbike, is 1 finger, 2 fingers, 3 fingers, or all 4, (which of your fingers of these combos you use, i.e index finger, middle finger, wedding finger, little to grip ) and also, if you've found yourself having body position difficulties between left and rights, and what differences you've noticed please.

 

So an example response would be, 2 fingers, middle & index finger, no body problems (easy to replicate both ways)

 

Thanks for your help in my research.

 

Bullet

[Ollie]

Hi Bullet

 

Two fingers, index and middle. No body position issues however I must admit I'm not paying much attention to it, at the minute .

Interested to hear more on this.

 

Cheers

 

Ollie

[teg]

hello bullet

hope things going well at school , try and call in n say hello at some point if not i,ll be back this year anyway .

now then fingers i use 2 - 3 fingers index and middle and sometimes the third finger which is the first to let go as i then release then the index and middle finger .

i think thats what i do anyway ....

i do have shovel hands and large gloves although i,m a short arse - but i,ve actually got short fingers dead opposite to say jimi hendrixs hands -large hands but nearly all finger not palm .

[teg]

oops , sorry forgot don,t think i consciously have any issues with body position lefts or right s , cheers ...

[faffi]

Mostly 2 fingers, index and middle, but sometimes 3 and sometimes 4 - I use all 4 for maximum braking. I have trouble not rotating my hips when hanging off, same both ways (think early Doohan, but worse).

[khp]

I'm using two fingers (index & middle). Ringfinger and pinkie is used for holding/blipping the throttle. Both on road & track, all types of (planned) braking. Panic-reaction-mode-grip: all four fingers.

Body positioning: I know I sit differently in right vs left turns, 'cause I'm grinding my right slider into dust, while the left rarely gets used. BTW, I just swapped the sliders around in the last trackday at Most to avoid making holes in my leathers ;-)

BP is getting better, but judging from pictures, I still seem to be sitting a bit crossed up (upper body leaned towards the tank).

[Hotfoot]

Index and middle finger for me. No major body position issues that I am aware of.

 

Sometimes I use just the middle finger, in the car...

[Jasonzilla]

I use two fingers (index and middle).

 

I was having problems with right hand turns. I've fixed it during the last trackday, but it was not relaxing on the bike. Now I just lay on the tank.

 

And I'm going to guess that the people who use three fingers are normally going to be the ones having trouble turning right.

[aredman]

2 fingers, index and middle.

 

I do have an issue with not getting my upper body leaning in on right handers but I think that has more to do with trying to get on the throttle. Level 3 for me!!!

 

Interested to find out what this new discovery is...

[ozfireblade]

Hey Bullet,

 

2 or 3 fingers for braking and like Kai I have dramas with lefts, right slider nothing left but velcro and left sude odd scrape here or there. Level 3 here I come

[ozfireblade]

Hey Bullet,

 

2 or 3 fingers for braking and like Kai I have dramas with lefts, right slider nothing left but velcro and left sude odd scrape here or there. Level 3 here I come

[Steve Rutter]

Fingers tends to vary on how hard I'm braking, I'd say index, middle and ring with the pinkie coming along for the ride in a hard braking scenario, just my index and middle finger for brushing off speed. As for having difficulty with any particular side, I think I'm more comfortable in left-hand turns, but my rights aren't bad either. When I book level 2 I'm planning on doing one of the other Silverstone layouts so I can verify that my rights are good.

[slobdog]

I'm not really certain how many fingers, not something I've actually thought about too hard. I think 3 - index, middle and ring. I don't think my body position is particularly bad (?) but could maybe do with getting my head further off the bike on lefts? All three of my crashes have been on lefts.

[warregl]

I use 2 fingers, middle & index finger but I have been experimenting with using the middle, ring, and pinky. I seem to have better throttle control that way but less strength available for hard or emergency braking. I'm not aware of any body issues caused by braking either way but that's like saying I'm not aware of a particular leak in a house with half the roof finished. I'm hoping levels 3 & 4 next month will help with that .

[Crash106]

I keep my index finger on the brake and clutch levers so I always know exactly where they are. When I brake, I use all four fingers. Why? I'm a klutz with weak hands. Using four fingers gives me MUCH better control than I could ever possibly get using 1 or 2 fingers. Even using all four fingers, I do NOT have problems with the front tires sliding.

[dhtmbowen@gmail.com]

Hi eveyone,

 

After our most recent school in the UK, we made a very interesting observation/learning point about body position and braking technqiue. I'll explain more later on what we learned, but wonder for now, if you could chime in how you brake on the motorbike, is 1 finger, 2 fingers, 3 fingers, or all 4, (which of your fingers of these combos you use, i.e index finger, middle finger, wedding finger, little to grip ) and also, if you've found yourself having body position difficulties between left and rights, and what differences you've noticed please.

 

So an example response would be, 2 fingers, middle & index finger, no body problems (easy to replicate both ways)

 

Thanks for your help in my research.

 

Bullet

 

2 fingers, index and middle, upper body positioning issue and rotate lower body too much on slow rt handers

[Dark Suzuki]

Hey bullet,

 

All four fingers, I find that allows me to brake harder and with better feel through the lever, and i find i have a better idea of what the front tyre is doing when i use all four. while still being able to blip the throttle on down changes. My body position is OK but i can always improve.

[ktk_ace]

One for uphill / flat terrain

 

two for downhill / "supersporty" riding

 

 

 

 

Fingers always on the lever for me except for full throttle applications.

 

 

[Ridiculefr35]

Hi folks,

 

- two fingers

- middle and index fingers ..........using an Alpinestars GP pro race leather gloves, the little finger (pinky) and ring finger are sown such then act together, so inevitable these keep a frip on the bars.

- No specific issues to turn, but turning right or pushing right, leaning right feels much more 'seamless' than pushing left and leaning left....I am 'right sided'.

 

Brgds

[Kevin Kane]

- two fingers

- middle and index finger ..........

Rain

[Rick448]

2 fingers (middle and index) no problems either way. In really slippery conditions i sometime use middle finger only.

[Dark Suzuki]

You wanna chime back in bullet, i'm interested to read what you learned.

[Bullet]

OK, here's what we learned, well more specifically, what I learned, as this learning is my own, as it was noticed in my own riding.

 

I've ridden for about 10 years, and coached for 5 now, and I've always been tighter and struggled to get really low into the Hook Turn on the right hand turns, in observation, my riding looks tighther, more of a struggle to the right. As part of our coaching development, we're also reccomended to keep working on our own riding, and despite my best efforts for many years, and whilst making improvement, I've never got it satisfactory.

 

We began to look at Body position, and my position is good, I'm locked on well, and don't carry weight in my arms, so the conversation moved onto braking technique. I've used a moderately unusual approach since i started (certainly from reading your comments/posts), which is why I guess this is a quirky thing we've discovered, in that I only ever used 1 finger, (my middle finger). What this has meant, is that my index finger has always been wrapped around the grip, regardless of what I'm doing, blipping, braking and so on.

 

After some discussion around the crew, we debated whether this grip was allowing me to be relaxed and enable myself to slip my grip around the bar? If you look closely at MotoGP riders, they don't generally maintain a static (flat), grip on the bars, and as they move into the right turns, they effectively grip the clip on with a grip more akin to a screwdriver. We debated whether this index finger grip and braking technique was constraining my ability to look looser and hook turn better.

 

So, it was suggested we made a correction to braking technique, by way of experimentation, it was suggested ot move entirely to a 4 finger braking technique to remove any ability to grip with the index finger or middle finger( which are the two fingers with the vast majority of gripping power). And voila, it worked. It took me 1 20 minute session, and my right hand ability changed dramatically. I was able to hook turn very easily, and the tension from the right hand side was gone. I was braking, and then removing my hand from the grip and repositioning it.

 

It was an odd observation, and a very small tweak in technique which reaped an interesting improvement. So, there you have it, if you're struggling to the right hand side, consider your grip on the actual twist grip. Can your braking technique be making you twist and be constrained? Can you make an improvement in it, that may enable you to better applu the drills?

 

Bullet

[warregl]

Bullet,

 

So you were basically maintaining the index finger grip without repositioning after braking and that was causing you to be constrained in your body position?

 

Am I understanding correctly? If so then my experiment with braking with my last three fingers and maintaining grip with my thumb and index finger might not be the best idea. Currently when I brake with my index and middle finger I have to reposition my grip after braking and this is where you found success?

 

Apologies if I'm being obtuse, I just want to be sure I understand. There is no sense in learning a bad habit early on!

 

Best,

Carey

[Steve Rutter]

I'm interested in the whole screwdriver grip thing, I feel weaker on my right-hand side, but couldn't really practice at Stowe circuit as there's only the one right-hander. I'm considering booking level 2 at the South circuit so I can get some proper practice in. I don't think gripping the throttle like a screwdriver will work all that well on left-hand turns for me though, as if you look in my pic, my right arm is locked onto the tank for support and trying to hold the throttle in another way will probably lead me to bending that arm up and away from the tank.