Riding Technique Question

JHipps835
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JHipps835
I began riding this year in March on a 18' CRF250R. Ever since I began, I have experienced pain in my hands after just a few laps. I also get blisters on my palms right at the base of my fingers. I am not sure at this point if I am doing something wrong technique wise, or is it my grips/bar positioning? Its not as much arm pump as it is pain in my hands, it gets so bad that I need to pull off way earlier than I should have to. I run the ODI half waffle grips in the super soft compound. And I run renthal fat bars in the 19 CRF bend. Any help or advice would be appreciated.
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AJ565
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AJ565 6/8/2021 8:11am
6/8/2021 8:11am
More grip with you’re knees and less grip with your hands. Balls of your feet on the pegs in most situations and with your toes pointed in to help with the leg grip. Elbows up as well. Also a thing to note is if you use a lot of hand lotion then you’re hands will never not blister.
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Paw Paw 271
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Paw Paw 271 6/8/2021 9:10am
6/8/2021 9:10am
Relax your grip with your hands so you can ride relaxed. Grip the bike with your knees more.
I am not a rider that feels like the softer grips do anything but make this issue worst than the use of harder grips.
Try harder and smaller diameter grips and see if this helps. Be sure to do a lot of regripping of the bars while ridding. This will help your relax.

Paw Paw
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Rider 5280
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Rider 5280 6/8/2021 9:25am
6/8/2021 9:25am
Paw Paw 271 wrote:
Relax your grip with your hands so you can ride relaxed. Grip the bike with your knees more. I am not a rider that feels like...
Relax your grip with your hands so you can ride relaxed. Grip the bike with your knees more.
I am not a rider that feels like the softer grips do anything but make this issue worst than the use of harder grips.
Try harder and smaller diameter grips and see if this helps. Be sure to do a lot of regripping of the bars while ridding. This will help your relax.

Paw Paw
Exactly my experience, too.
1
StevenMX
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StevenMX 6/8/2021 9:54am
6/8/2021 9:54am Edited Date/Time 6/8/2021 9:54am
Anytime I feel myself have that "locked" hand/finger feel I immediately tell myself to point toes in, squeeze with legs (ankles, knees) and loosen the arms/hands and release the death grip. Could try doing some 1 hand drills to really focus on using the legs as well and force yourself to do it by having one arm off the bars.

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FWYT
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FWYT 6/8/2021 11:01am
6/8/2021 11:01am
To add what others have said- turn your hands on the grips so it lays across at an angle, like holding a tennis racket as opposed to holding it like a hammer.
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garasaki
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Mount Vernon, IA US
garasaki 6/8/2021 11:36am
6/8/2021 11:36am
Or hold it like you are turning a round doorknob instead of pushing up a bench press bar.

AJ Catanzaro has some good videos that cover this. In fact, they are great for covering all the bases of body position.

Also, squeeze your should blades together like you are doing a row.
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kb228
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kb228 6/8/2021 12:49pm
6/8/2021 12:49pm
What i do is just slow down and focus on not using my hands. Squeeze the knees and hinge at the hips. You can ride with no grip strength. Im 290lbs and can ride pumped up to where i can hardly open a bottle of water just because my legs do the work.
murph783
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murph783 6/8/2021 9:03pm
6/8/2021 9:03pm
You get used to it honestly. I’d venture to guess most of us that have ridden a lot have some gnarly callouses in that spot, I know I do.
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DAG
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DAG 6/9/2021 9:35am
6/9/2021 9:35am
I used to wear gloves that were to big and blister. They should be kinda snug and no material should bunch when gripping. And what everyone else said.
JOE_SPROCKETS#1 6/9/2021 10:04am
6/9/2021 10:04am
i used to be the same way but swinging iron and using the rowing machine like crazy fixed the blister issue.

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