On thumbs and allemandes:
A good friend of mine is sensitive to the 'dreaded thumb lock', and has showed
me exactly why. He's right. It's AWFUL. His strategy is to keep his thumb
beside (n line with) his fingers, everything else is the same in the 'mitten
grip'. I've tried it myself, it works great. (And for those who don't believe
it re. the thumb lock, get a friend to practice with you. Do the bent thumb
allemande and tell them to press down hard with their thumb. Then try to
extricate yourself. Ouch.)
This particular thumb-free (or perhaps "thumb-safe") allemande grip is no
different than the bent thumb grip. (Thus, I disagree heartily with the FB
person Jeff quoted.)
What makes the allemande feel great is the "connection" of the shared muscle
tension in upper arms, the position of fingers around base of thumb of the
other person's hand, and the straight wrist.
I once heard some great caller point out that you are engaging your upper arm
muscle when you allemande - not your shoulder, not your wrist, not your
fingers, and definitely not your thumb. Which is to say it's the shared,
elastic tension that makes the allemande a great ride.
Chrissy Fowler
Belfast, ME
