Pinch grip issue.

[chrisleematt21]

Does anyone else who "Pinches" have or had problems with not being able to get full movement / rotation on the sticks?

If so have you over come it?

[jimmyhorns]

Yes, which is why I have just moved back (after swapping over while flying fixed wing ages ago) to thumbs.

The downside is it is way less accurate, and has taken a bit of getting used to.

A few guys at the club have a hybrid grip, with thumbs on top, but steadied with the index finger, which seems like a happy medium

[philipjdall]

Try and persist with pinching if you can... it is more accurate.

[SGD]

Pinch grip doesn't suit everyone and is dependent on which Tx you have, the size of your hands and how flexible your finger joints are.

Some years ago I was learning to fly mode 2, I normally fly mode 1, and used the pinch method in an attempt to distinguish between the two modes and found that it helped to use a neck strap to support the Tx which allowed my hands to relax my grip a little which in turn gave me a bit more range of movement on the sticks.

[philipjdall]

Interesting Stew.

I am a pincher and have always used a neck strap. I guess when I learnt to fly I was forced to pinch by my uncle, so in part it comes down to what you're used to. Further down the line I am certainly grateful for this, although there are loads of amazing thumbs pilots!

[bigpops]

There is no right or wrong.

Some of the best pilots in the world are thumbers. Jamie Robertson, Bert Kammerer, Tareq to name three.
Some are pinchers. Bobby Watts is the only one I know for definite off the top of my head.
Others are hybrid (like me) and pinch collective and thumb cyclic. Kyle Dahl is one of those people.

[chrisleematt21]

I might try the neck strap again and see.

I started as thumbs and decided to change to pinching.

[jimmyhorns]

Try and persist with pinching if you can... it is more accurate.

The caveat to that is, only with certain things.

For me it is definitely more accurate to pinch for the fine control of hovering, but try doing anything that requires a stir of the sticks and you will find it much more difficult to draw out a circle with pinch as the movement turns into an ellipse, usually because your finger isnt long enough to reach towards the diagonal of bottom/transmitter centre.

[philipjdall]

Yes, stirring can take practice I agree.

I found with things like stationary flips and rolls its quite easy to skew the flip/roll when thumbing.

Mr Muller has a pretty good technique.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z-8bqdFWmM

As others have said there is no right or wrong, but to answer the OP's initial question; yes it can be overcome. The answer is PRACTICE!

[chrisleematt21]

Yeah I have short fingers

[chrisleematt21]

Yes, stirring can take practice I agree.

I found with things like stationary flips and rolls its quite easy to skew the flip/roll when thumbing.

Mr Muller has a pretty good technique.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z-8bqdFWmM

As others have said there is no right or wrong, but to answer the OP's initial question; yes it can be overcome. The answer is PRACTICE!

I'll have to try to stretch my fingers!

[myxiplx]

My understanding is that you can learn to fly anything using either pinch grip or thumbs, but there are differences in the two that will require different radio setups.

• With pinch grip you have more fine control in the centre, but it's harder to reach the full extent of the sticks.
• With thumb you have less precision, but can reach the full throw much more easily.

I'm a thumb flier myself so I tend to run expo to give me more fine control in the centre, with a little deadband around centre too. I have a decent flip rate at around 3/4 of the way to full deflection of the sticks, but I'm quite happy using the full throw of the sticks in flips and rolls if I need to.

If I were using a pinch grip I would almost certainly run way less or zero deadband, and less expo and would be doing much more flying with very little stick movement. I'd also probably run much more extreme throws, so I could get the full flip rate I wanted with about half movement of the sticks I'm using now.

The great thing about computerised radios is that you can tune the way the sticks react so you have exactly the control you need for your type of flying :-) I actually tried AccuRC at Weston Park last year and found it almost unflyable as the model was super sensitive, and I'm pretty sure it was set up for a pinch flyer rather than somebody who uses thumbs. Both techniques work, but they do have different requirements for the radio.

[SaneAdam]

There is no wrong or right. You can only say whats right for you.

Pinching is certainly not more accurate for hard 3D IMO. Thumbing is… by a long way…. for me.

When my skill level increased i had to do away with the pinch because it severely limits the wide range of motion required for fast precise cyclic control. It was totally holding me back. I do have enormous hands and stupidly long fingers though. So there is no point debating it objectively. It is totally different for everyone.

It must be anyway… because i can't fathom how pinching is more accurate… because it held my progress back, especially with stirring motions as has been said. Yet others actually seem to find it more accurate??!! So there you go.

[Tim Procter]

https://www.facebook.com/tim.procter...71278976808279

[james_2k]

that looks so horrendously uncomfortable