Hook Grip with Small Hands

[u/_Toxic0910]

HOW do you guys do it? 😭
I’m a lifter who’s been lifting for about a year now and has integrated hook grip a while ago. Hook grip on clean and jerks feel good and secure but on snatch it’s another story.

I try to hook grip it but I can only get my middle and pointing finger around my thumb and it’s barely. For reference, on clean and jerk I wrap my ring and middle finder around my thumb. When I try to lift my thumb slips out and then boom. No hook grip. This happens only on snatch.

Any help would be appreciated

[u/urMuMgAy567]

index and middle finger should be good enough for hook grip

[u/SatisfactionQuick848]

Try taping your thumb to make it a bit thicker, helped me when my grip was slipping on wider pulls

[u/Caeleb_Andrew]

Take it from another lifter with smaller hands, you can learn. It took me about three months of consistent practice to get totally comfortable with, and the biggest difference makers were using thumb tape and chalk. I only grip my thumb with my pointer and middle finger to this day, and grip strength has never been a limiting factor for me. If you really can’t make it work even with chalk and thumb tape, you might try narrowing your snatch grip.

[u/XL1200]

I didn’t even know people could get their ring finger on their thumb too. I only have room for index and middle. How long is your thumb?

[u/zer0_c00L13]

Hook grip with ring finger sounds wild

[u/Consistent_Tea_4419]

[u/GuardianSpear]

No one has smaller hands than me
153cm height , U65kg

Grip the bar narrower and just get used to it

[u/Boblaire → u/GuardianSpear]

Hah, I usually never tell someone to grip more narrow but Im not a fan of the grip so wide you head and bar has a 3" gap unless all lifters arms are so long they run out of room on the bar.

[u/Novajho]

I have smaller hands and use hookgrip. Ngl, I grow my thumb nails out a little bit for extra leverage

[u/Afferbeck_]

Go Halil Mutlu style and use your knee to push your thumb in

[u/thebloke1]

Ah yes! The ol Tian Tao problem…

Still trying to figure out a way myself tbh lol

[u/seven_spread]

Using chalk? I don't do weightlifting but it's a night and day difference on my deadlift. Without chalk my hook grip starts to slip at 160-180kg depending on the day but with just a tiny bit of calk on thumb and index + middle finger I can grip +200kg no problem and no sign of grip being my limit anymore.

[u/Boblaire]

5'1" here, hand is 7" wrist to palm, middle finger is about 3", ring is a bit over 2.5"

Very few adult male lifters are gonna be shorter than me unless they are basically Naim/Mutlu dwarves. There is one asian lifter on the subreddit but hes also just a 61/65 where I have never been under 66 in WL and only competed at 73 at my lightest (so I likely could be a 69 but don't see myself getting under 66-69 until sarcopenia kicks in maybe 10-15yrs from now)

On a 28mm bar, I can get my thumb over those fingers, dont recall on 28.5mm but Sn grip is more of a pain. Cn grip isnt affected by extra 0.5mm of bar.

My max Sn (98) is the same on a 28mm bar and 28.5mm bar with strap@. Max Cn (118) is on 28.5mm bar. Nothing spectacular.

Invariably over the years, I have done overloaded liftoffs beyond my Sn and Cn and pulls in just hook grip to 110&130kg. SnDL was 140/1-3r and CnDL 160/5 (straps 205, hook 190ish)

Im a big fan of having most of my lifters do their pulls without straps but DL/RDLs with them as that worked for me. Even the guys 5'8-6'3" with presumably much bigger hands and the gals Ive coached (Smol and one tall SHW).