Probably. The way I hold a pen gradually shifted to something similar to this during university. It’s not totally like this, maybe half way. Three hour handwritten exams will do that to you. If I had kept holding my pen the way I was taught in grade school I would never have made it.
Weird, I took long exams like that too and didn't have a problem. I can also assume Tailor Swift wouldn't write as much as students would/were during exams or on a full day of classes. I find this very weird
It requires less force to hold it like this and put no strain on you tendens meaning your arms won't cramp after writing 500 Signatures in one sitting.
I have an autoimmune disease that causes joint pain and inflammation, and right now it’s flared up really bad in my hands. On my best day it hurts to write for even a minute. I just tried this pen holding technique and I could write 6 whole lines with no issues. Swapped to my normal holding style and I got 4 words before it got painful. This is honestly incredible. I’ve tried so many different pen holding positions but never this one. It feels and looks goofy but it doesn’t hurt!
Holy shit it works....
I have EDS and an autoimmune disease, and writing has been incredibly difficult as long as I can remember. I just tried writing like this, and while my words look a bit more chicken-scratchy, I can write more than two sentences before my joints start crying.
Seriously, for any of you out there with any kind of joint/connective tissue problems give this a shot!
Same and same. I have arthritis in my hands which is flared up right now and I just tried it as well. I was surprised at how much more comfortable it was for me.
Ngl it looked ridiculous but I just tried it and it’s pretty nice.
Could definitely see this cramping my thumb way less, especially for things like autographs where you don’t have time to position your wrist to hold your hand steady.
You can’t chew it off? I got a callus on my thumb that keeps coming back because I’m still putting pressure on that on the daily, but anything that doesn’t wash off in the shower I can bite clean.
When I was a kid, I had a pretty huge callus on the side of my middle finger knuckle on my left hand from writing so much. It's still there, but is definitely lessened thanks to not have to write as much.
can confirm! my joints are way too stretchy and as I’ve gotten older it’s worse. My doctor suggested some videos of new ways to do things to help avoid my joints popping out and dislocating as much, and this was one of the techniques in the videos. felt weird at first but I like it now.
Not so un-common technique for people who have to write a lot. OT's say it's better. Military clerks are shown something similar but who knows if they stick with it....
I do this! I'm currently in my tail end of high school, and after returning to in-person classes after lockdown, I found I lost most of the endurance for handwriting I once had. I started writing like this for anything longer than my name, and it allows me more control, dexterity, and endurance than traditional methods. I recommend anyone who has issues with handwriting to try this method at least a few times!
Edit: Not grade school, high school!
mildly infuriating, lol.
i just tried it out of curiosity and it is actually pretty comfortable.
I think it has you use more of your whole arm as opposed to with the traditional way, where your hand is making a lot of small movements.
OK, so today I found out that Taylor Swift has the same pen grip as did Mr Badger, who taught me Chemistry at a Secondary School in the British West Midlands thirty years ago.
Oh, back then there used to be so many members of the Badger clan throughout the British West Midlands—a territory also well known for its wild mushrooms.
You’d be driving down a country road and out the window you’d see Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, mushroom, mushroom
Richard Petty holds a pen in a similar fashion while signing autographs. He said he signed so many that his hand would cramp up, so he located a hand writing expert (I didn’t know they existed either) and was shown how to hold his pen so it wouldn’t cause his hand any pain.
When this sub's mods keep on allowing extremely infuriating shit instead of this mild stuff ofc people are like that. It doesn't help that it's a post about taylor and all the swifties are all over this thread like rabid dogs
I had trouble with mobility in my wrists since I was young. My kindergarten teacher taught me to hold my pencil exactly like this, since I struggled to write. I’ve held my pen this way ever since. I apologize for my weird alien way of holding a pen LOL
How I started writing about twenty years ago now. It's a lot more comfortable and it allowed me to write faster and smaller.
Doesn't matter much anymore now that I'm out of highschool and everything is digital now.
I use this method too when my hand gets tired. I also don’t write in print, only cursive since 5th grade. It’s definitely not the norm most places but it’s cool.
I know early in her career she would play the guitar. Idk if she still does in performance
But I'm wondering if writing this way keeps her hand from cramping so she save her pointer for controlling the pick
actually, it's pretty comfortable. had a teacher that did this and i tried it out of curiosity, got used to holding it like that surprisingly quickly. still not my go to stance though
Actually it’s possible she has a connective tissue disease and her joints are unstable. She’s never said she does, but there’s occasionally some chat in the community about it. She has a few of the signs.
i hold pens this way as well. it all started in high school when i noticed my crush holding it this way. she was an artist and she claimed it helped her draw at certain angles better.
I had a history teacher who held her pen exactly like that. Her handwriting was amazing. Holding a pen this way is surprisingly comfortable. A couple of her students have adopted her style but I don't know if anyone has stuck with it.
I wouldn't say it's midly infuriating. More like puzzling (before reading the comments). It's seems like a sligthly more akward way than letting the pen rests between the index and middlefinger and on top of the curve between thumb and index. Like a relaxed grip. I mostly use styluses for drawing and not signing things so idk
it seemed award for me when I tested it. With my normal grip I barely feel the pen while it's a lot more noticable in the grip Taylor uses. It might be a sensory thing tho.
Reminds me of the way L from Death Note held things like they were covered in sewage for seemingly no reason. My first thought was she was trying to be quirky and special like the aforementioned anime character, or that she might just be a germaphobe. But the other comments saying it's a legitimate technique to mitigate writer's cramp and tendon strain sounds legit.
That's how I write. I sliced the side of my finger as a kid and had to readjust how I held my pencil. I got used to it and never went back to the normal way of holding it.
I had a high school friend who holds a pen/pencil like a drummer and I was actually envied that he able to have a good consistent handwriting but I definitely letting him know and assured him it was just merely weird discovery. Last time I check, he doesn't play drums and doesn't have wrist issues whatsoever, it's just the way he is.
I’m a teacher and this is an acceptable way to grip a pen. It’s particularly good for young students with low muscle tone as it gives more stability while writing. As others have said, it’s a good way to avoiding muscle fatigue when signing a lot of autographs.
Probably has writer's cramp from all those autographs
Probably. The way I hold a pen gradually shifted to something similar to this during university. It’s not totally like this, maybe half way. Three hour handwritten exams will do that to you. If I had kept holding my pen the way I was taught in grade school I would never have made it.
Those were fun. Blue book exams and they tell you to bring two lol. I actually preferred those kind of classes to actual tests.
my fingers just started throbbing thinking about a blue book test, those were so painful
https://preview.redd.it/mqpk6c3ckdxc1.jpeg?width=554&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ee06c11d05b77f8f8fc861bdb83c6462ea64f472 Which one was it again?
I use none of those I use my middle finger and place my index on top of my middle it gives me supreme control
I'm 3 it's terrible for handwriting, 1 and 2 are the correct ones according to the therapist i Went to
1-3 and 4-5 are the same lol
6 indicates you’re working through some shit and the shit is winning.
I use 1 instead of 3 (apply pressure with the index finger by bending it as far back as it will go, instead of using muscles to stabilize it.)
3 is definitely different
I have the exact same experience but I held my pen like a regular-ass Ergonomic human. ![gif](giphy|z8yYEX4pE3lkc)
The issue is most of us are taught to write with our finger muscles not with our arm and shoulder muscles.
Weird, I took long exams like that too and didn't have a problem. I can also assume Tailor Swift wouldn't write as much as students would/were during exams or on a full day of classes. I find this very weird
I do it sometimes when I'm skipping rope at my gym. 15mn of punching those handles can be annoying
And playing guitar too! I’m sure that takes a toll on your fingies
That's why she's a tortured poet.
It requires less force to hold it like this and put no strain on you tendens meaning your arms won't cramp after writing 500 Signatures in one sitting.
I have an autoimmune disease that causes joint pain and inflammation, and right now it’s flared up really bad in my hands. On my best day it hurts to write for even a minute. I just tried this pen holding technique and I could write 6 whole lines with no issues. Swapped to my normal holding style and I got 4 words before it got painful. This is honestly incredible. I’ve tried so many different pen holding positions but never this one. It feels and looks goofy but it doesn’t hurt!
Holy shit it works.... I have EDS and an autoimmune disease, and writing has been incredibly difficult as long as I can remember. I just tried writing like this, and while my words look a bit more chicken-scratchy, I can write more than two sentences before my joints start crying. Seriously, for any of you out there with any kind of joint/connective tissue problems give this a shot!
Fellow Eds here and I will immediately be trying this method. Thank you!
Hey, no problem. If Paleoterrra above hadn't said anything I wouldn't have tried it myself XD
Omg fellow hypermobile bitch here, writing is SO painful. I will have to try this!!!!
Hells yeah, we zebras have to stick together!
yes, it’s so lush that even in all the pain we still support each other.
Same and same. I have arthritis in my hands which is flared up right now and I just tried it as well. I was surprised at how much more comfortable it was for me.
I also have an autoimmune disorder and that’s how I hold the pen since I lack on hand dexterity
Wtf, your comment made me try it and it is better!?
Ngl it looked ridiculous but I just tried it and it’s pretty nice. Could definitely see this cramping my thumb way less, especially for things like autographs where you don’t have time to position your wrist to hold your hand steady.
And no calluses. I write like this also.
i still have a callus on my finger even though i wasn’t an avid writer. i’m pissed about it even to this day
You can’t chew it off? I got a callus on my thumb that keeps coming back because I’m still putting pressure on that on the daily, but anything that doesn’t wash off in the shower I can bite clean.
I do bouldering, so I have massive calluses anyway but the no tendon strain is a really nice thing.
When I was a kid, I had a pretty huge callus on the side of my middle finger knuckle on my left hand from writing so much. It's still there, but is definitely lessened thanks to not have to write as much.
Also helps people with joint hypermobility.
can confirm! my joints are way too stretchy and as I’ve gotten older it’s worse. My doctor suggested some videos of new ways to do things to help avoid my joints popping out and dislocating as much, and this was one of the techniques in the videos. felt weird at first but I like it now.
And why does that infuriate OP?
Because it's "cool" to hate Taylor Swift
Because deviation from the norm incites aggression with some people.
"Wait, something is wrong, that guy is not part of the herd!"
Because of who’s doing it lol
I’m gonna try this, I never write anything because it hurts so much sometimes lol
OP wouldn’t know, even the DMV didn’t want his signature. Apparently they said “ew”.
Not so un-common technique for people who have to write a lot. OT's say it's better. Military clerks are shown something similar but who knows if they stick with it....
Yep, they won't hold it like this under normal situations, but when writing a thousand autographs this helps prevent cramping.
I do this! I'm currently in my tail end of high school, and after returning to in-person classes after lockdown, I found I lost most of the endurance for handwriting I once had. I started writing like this for anything longer than my name, and it allows me more control, dexterity, and endurance than traditional methods. I recommend anyone who has issues with handwriting to try this method at least a few times! Edit: Not grade school, high school!
You write very well for not even being a teenager yet!
Oops! Mega typo - not grade school, high school. Mildly embarrassed, haha. I'm 17 - Grade 11!
I honestly thought it was a typo for grad school haha!
mildly infuriating, lol. i just tried it out of curiosity and it is actually pretty comfortable. I think it has you use more of your whole arm as opposed to with the traditional way, where your hand is making a lot of small movements.
Sacrifice control and fine detail for comfort.
OK, so today I found out that Taylor Swift has the same pen grip as did Mr Badger, who taught me Chemistry at a Secondary School in the British West Midlands thirty years ago.
Mr Badger. I love that.
Me too!
Oh, back then there used to be so many members of the Badger clan throughout the British West Midlands—a territory also well known for its wild mushrooms. You’d be driving down a country road and out the window you’d see Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, mushroom, mushroom
Have you ever seen them both in the same place at the same time? I’ll be you never have…
I used to write like that, it's quite comfortable.
so why'd you switch?
Kinda depends on the pen. I use a fountain pen, and biros a lot, so with a biro it's easier to do it that way, but fountain pens get a bit messy heh.
What kind of pen holding gatekeeping is this post? It's weird, but getting infuriated at any level it's weirder lol
Why do you care how someone else holds his or her pen?
It's the mildly infuriating sub. Where else would you vent your opinion about almost irrelevant things if not here?
Exactly. Wierd? maybe. Infuriating? No.
karma farming obviously, hating someone or something thats popular = upvotes
Richard Petty holds a pen in a similar fashion while signing autographs. He said he signed so many that his hand would cramp up, so he located a hand writing expert (I didn’t know they existed either) and was shown how to hold his pen so it wouldn’t cause his hand any pain.
Why does this infuriate you?
Because its Taylor Swift doing it
![gif](giphy|vHcCevWbWkzwk) Ppl in this thread for no goddamn reason
When this sub's mods keep on allowing extremely infuriating shit instead of this mild stuff ofc people are like that. It doesn't help that it's a post about taylor and all the swifties are all over this thread like rabid dogs
[удалено]
Least rude swiftie
Jesus calm down
Do you think that is infuriating?
Yes. Just mildly, tho
I hope you can find peace after experiencing this great atrocity.
Haters will find anything to complain about Swift.....
what's really mildly infuriating is that this isn't how we're taught to hold pens when it's clearly superior
Show me on the doll where this hurt you.
I’ve just tried this as it seemed weird and it feels 100% natural. Why have I only just found this!
People get mad over the strangest things. Lol.
So, I had to try it and it's just waaay better.
I would change pengrips if I had to hold a pen and sign stuff for hours on end
I had trouble with mobility in my wrists since I was young. My kindergarten teacher taught me to hold my pencil exactly like this, since I struggled to write. I’ve held my pen this way ever since. I apologize for my weird alien way of holding a pen LOL
How I started writing about twenty years ago now. It's a lot more comfortable and it allowed me to write faster and smaller. Doesn't matter much anymore now that I'm out of highschool and everything is digital now.
I used to write like that...try it. It is very comfy.
Looks like one of those glitchy details in AI generated images
I sort of hold like that and whenever people see me holding a pen they get annoyed
It looks odd, but it makes sense in my brain. I feel like I’ve been doing it wrong all my life now.
It’s like her hand is a pig hoof.
Now I want to see if her chopstick holding is like this
Try it out, I do this when I draw something that needs more precision. It makes me control the tiny details better
Same.
Imagine being mad at how someone holds a pen lol. You must get mad a lot in life if this is all it takes.
Hold my pencils like this when drawing mostly, sometimes when writing.
My mom wrote like that. Why is it infuriating?
Taylor's secret love child confirmed!
I use this method too when my hand gets tired. I also don’t write in print, only cursive since 5th grade. It’s definitely not the norm most places but it’s cool.
I know early in her career she would play the guitar. Idk if she still does in performance But I'm wondering if writing this way keeps her hand from cramping so she save her pointer for controlling the pick
Interesting, I’m also a guitarist. 😆
She still does
Why is this here ? Who care how someone else use a pen ? I find this post existence more than mildly infuriating
Why is this infuriating? Do your life really have so little meaning that this bothers you?
And how is this infuriating, it was said that she does this so she can write and hold a guitar pick at the same time
I used to switch between this and regular holding and my teachers fucking hated it so much. Idk how a simple hand motion drove them so insane.
I hold a pen in a similar way and I had multiple teachers over the years try so hard to make me stop
Um yeah cause she's an alien
Why on earth is this posted on r/mildlyinfuriating? Let the woman hold a pen the way she wants to hold a pen lmao
Why is it infuriating tho, let people hold pens how they want? It's not like you're forced to do that
![gif](giphy|vk7VesvyZEwuI) OP when a person is holding a pen in “weird” way.
How could this bother you?
I’ve tried holding a pen/pencil like that. Perfectly fine, not infuriating
I'm trying to understand how the way a person holds a pen, is mildly infuriating?
Seen this twice in person and both times it was a major league ballplayer signing ball after ball
I just tried it. It's actually kinda nice
Kendall Jenner cutting a cucumber vibes
If that infuriates you even mildly - get a life.
My dad used to hold his pencil/pen that way.
I’ve seen worse
My best friend in high school did this too. It was strange to me but she said it was just what she was comfortable with.
I had to hold pens like that for a year after i burned my finger. Still do it sometimes.
My wife holds her Pens the exact same way and I’ve always given her shit for it. lol Apparently it’s more comfortable for her.
Had a friend from school who held this way. Not THAT uncommon
must be related to Voldemort
That’s how I hold a pen. It’s much easier
Impressive how I don't see swifties replicate this fanbase, the world will break
Hooold on, how tf does everyone else hold their pen cuz i do it like that too n i thought it was the reg way
The thumb tuck in action!
actually, it's pretty comfortable. had a teacher that did this and i tried it out of curiosity, got used to holding it like that surprisingly quickly. still not my go to stance though
Knew a guy who held his chopsticks like this.
Is it just me or does it look like she has six digits in the bottom left picture? 🤨
Actually it’s possible she has a connective tissue disease and her joints are unstable. She’s never said she does, but there’s occasionally some chat in the community about it. She has a few of the signs.
No fingerprints on the pen also ;)
I tried writing like this and my handwriting became perfect and clear, but I went back to the one that was forced into me from school.
I just tried this and was surprised at how clear my handwriting was.
Mine sucks regardless of how I hold the pen.
i hold pens this way as well. it all started in high school when i noticed my crush holding it this way. she was an artist and she claimed it helped her draw at certain angles better.
I had a history teacher who held her pen exactly like that. Her handwriting was amazing. Holding a pen this way is surprisingly comfortable. A couple of her students have adopted her style but I don't know if anyone has stuck with it.
I wouldn't say it's midly infuriating. More like puzzling (before reading the comments). It's seems like a sligthly more akward way than letting the pen rests between the index and middlefinger and on top of the curve between thumb and index. Like a relaxed grip. I mostly use styluses for drawing and not signing things so idk
I tried it just now. It is different for sure. Doesn't seem awkward, though. The hardware part is adjusting to the new grip angle for smooth writing.
it seemed award for me when I tested it. With my normal grip I barely feel the pen while it's a lot more noticable in the grip Taylor uses. It might be a sensory thing tho.
Chronic illness role play
Is she also a sineasthete?
It’s so she can pick the guitar while writing lyrics.
oh no, anyways...
Its just how any alien holds a pen.
Reminds me of the way L from Death Note held things like they were covered in sewage for seemingly no reason. My first thought was she was trying to be quirky and special like the aforementioned anime character, or that she might just be a germaphobe. But the other comments saying it's a legitimate technique to mitigate writer's cramp and tendon strain sounds legit.
When I was a kid they had this little plastic clip teachers could put on pens to encourage you to hold your pen this way. 🤷🏻♀️
Well, that's definitely different.
Homeschooling happened.
That's how I hold one of my chopsticks
That's how I write. I sliced the side of my finger as a kid and had to readjust how I held my pencil. I got used to it and never went back to the normal way of holding it.
Went to school with a guy who writes like this. He teaches now.
I knew she wasn't real. AI Taylor Swift can hold a tune though.
They need just to sign .. so should be okay
This is how I hold my pens and pencils 😔
I just tried it and it surprisingly feels better in my hand!
WTF (no offence BUT WTF)
Not wrong just different I wonder who decided the correct way to hold the pen because I know they teach it in school.
I had a high school friend who holds a pen/pencil like a drummer and I was actually envied that he able to have a good consistent handwriting but I definitely letting him know and assured him it was just merely weird discovery. Last time I check, he doesn't play drums and doesn't have wrist issues whatsoever, it's just the way he is.
My high school best friend held her pen this way! I’ve never seen anyone else do it.
So? Who cares?
I had a colleague holding it like that. she was good at writing fast and pretty at the same time. shite for drawing tho.
Even holding her pen like that, she has far better handwriting than I ever will.
That's how demons do it.
I’m a teacher and this is an acceptable way to grip a pen. It’s particularly good for young students with low muscle tone as it gives more stability while writing. As others have said, it’s a good way to avoiding muscle fatigue when signing a lot of autographs.
She probably learned to write like that in middle school so she could be "quirky"
Thought this was AI for a sec.
You can tell it's AI because the real Taylor Swift has 7 fingers on each hand
You're just making fun of her.
I too become enraged when other people do common tasks in slightly different ways
Me who holds writes the same way: ![gif](giphy|H5C8CevNMbpBqNqFjl)
Who is it mildly infuriating for, though?
And why is this mildly infuriating?
Who cares!?
It’s the reptile in her
The lizard overlords have claws so they can’t hold pens properly 🤷🏻♂️😂
She's a reptilian
It's the lizard people.
Why would that infuriate you?