Mouse Grips: Palm Grip vs Claw Grip vs Fingertip Grip

If you have ever read one of our gaming mouse reviews, you will have noticed that we often mention the terms Palm Grip, Claw Grip and Fingertip Grip. But what exactly is behind these grip types for mice and what does it ultimately come down to when choosing the right gaming mouse for the respective grip style? We will show you this and more in this guide article regarding mouse grips.

But first, there is no best or right way to hold a mouse. If you have no problems with pain or your aiming with your current mouse grip, stick with it! Please don’t frantically try to copy something a pro does.

Rather, use this post as a starting point to determine which mouse grip you are using at all. This will help you figure out which gaming mice are best suited for your mouse grip.

What Types of Mouse Grips are there?

There are 3 mouse grips that people use to hold a mouse at the computer, namely the Palm Grip, the Claw Grip and the Fingertip Grip. These grip styles describe which fingers and palms primarily operate the mouse and provide conclusions when purchasing a suitable mouse.

A distinction is made between these three grip types:

  1. the Palm Grip style (the hand lies fully on the mouse)
  2. the Claw Grip style (the mouse is guided with a claw without hand contact)
  3. the Fingertip Grip mouse handle (the hand only rests lightly or not at all)

What exactly is the Palm Grip?

Let’s start with the most popular of all mouse grips – the Palm Grip. With the Palm Grip, your mouse comes into contact with all of your fingers and with the palm of your hand. The mouse rests in your hands with a relaxed, natural and low-tension grip. You touch your mouse with about 75% of your palm.

And the latter explains the popularity of the palm grip – it simply feels the most natural, especially since the hand gets the most contact points and the most support. However, this makes the mouse more of an extension of your arm, so you may be doing more slow arm movements than faster wrist movements.

The Palm Grip allows for good as well as almost smooth handling of the mouse and is very good for precise aiming. When aiming in FPS games, the Palm Grip benefits you by allowing you to aim more from your shoulder and elbow, rather than relying on more erratic wrist movements.

In addition, a Palm Grip pairs well with low mouse sensitivity. It’s less suited for fast clicking and quick mouse movements, especially since you’re somewhat limited in wrist movement.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Palm Grip

  • The Palm Grip makes it possible to operate the mouse extremely precisely
  • Very comfortable posture for the hand
  • Very reliable aiming due to a stable posture
  • Short distances can still be covered quickly and with great precision
  • Disadvantages are with the Palm Grip the agility compared to the other hand grips, because more parts of the hand have to be moved to perform an action. Speed is lost in the process
  • Somewhat higher strain on the elbow and shoulder
  • Not ideal for extremely fast games
  • When it comes to long distances, for example a complete body rotation in a shooter, you are extremely slow

Which Mouse is best for Palm Grip?

If you use the Palm Grip, your mouse should be a bit bigger. Larger in the sense of wider, longer and with a higher back. Flat mice are therefore completely out of the question, especially since they quickly become extremely uncomfortable for the Palm Grip. Cramps on the upper side of your hand are inevitable.

Accordingly, a mouse for big hands is very suitable. In particular, we can recommend the following mice, among others:

  • Logitech G502 Hero
  • Razer Deathadder
  • Roccat Kone AIMO Remastered
  • Steelseries Rival 5

Although these mice offer a more relaxed position for your hand, they tend to restrict your hand movement somewhat. Accordingly, they are usually less suitable for games that require rapid movements to be repeated often.

What exactly is the Claw Grip?

The second most popular mouse grip is the Claw Grip. Although less popular than Palm Grip, the Claw Grip is becoming increasingly popular, especially among RTS players these days. As the name suggests, the hand is curved with fewer contact points on the mouse, forming a claw-like shape. The back of your palm still has contact with the mouse, but less so compared to a traditional Palm Grip. This position allows for better wrist movement than the Palm Grip, but with more precise control than just using your fingertips.

The finger position allows for very fast clicking in the claw grip. This makes your mouse fingers much more responsive, while also putting a little more pressure on the mouse buttons and allowing for a better grip on the mouse itself. Also, with a Claw Grip, you can click your mouse buttons more easily and still make quick, fine movements with your wrist.

Thus, this grip combines the stability of the Palm Grip with the precision of the Fingertip Grip, aiming for a middle ground that works well across multiple genres. Thus, the Claw Grip is somewhat considered the all-rounder grip, but it is less common among pro gamers.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Claw Grip

  • Super high agility and therefore mainly suitable for fast games
  • Very precise when aiming
  • Side box, thumb keys and extra keys are harder to use and therefore there is a clear disadvantage
  • Mostly only useful with very high DPI

Which Mouse is best for Claw Grip?

Mice for this grip type are usually shorter and have a medium to high flex at the rear end of the mouse cone. Similar to the Palm Grip, ergonomically shaped models are also very suitable for right-handers. However, you should make sure that the curvature of the mouse is slightly lower so that you can use it comfortably for a long time.

In addition, your ideal mouse for claw grip should be lighter than, for example, a mouse for palm grip, especially since you need to be able to move the mouse with less force. In particular, we would recommend the following mice for the Claw Grip:

  • Logitech G Pro Wireless
  • Glorious Model O
  • Zowie FK1

Compared to palm grip mice, claw grip mice are better for fast gliding and will give you the feeling of control when moving the mouse back and forth quickly.

What exactly is the Fingertip Grip?

Strangely enough, the Fingertip Grip is even more unpopular than the Claw Grip and is the exact opposite of the Palm Grip. With this grip, the palm is removed from the equation when controlling the mouse. Thus, virtually only the fingertips are used to move the mouse body. This type of grip is normally reserved for people with very large hands or if you use a mouse for small hands.

The fingertip grip gives you maximum flexibility, as the wrist and fingers control all movements. It’s also the loosest grip of the three and you have very little tension in your hand. Everything here is designed for speed, which is definitely achieved. However, due to the minimal contact points and support for the hand, this grip may not be ideal if you need your mouse’s gliding movements to be slower and more precise.

This is because although the Fingertip Grip can be fast, it is much more difficult to achieve good and consistent precision. Especially since aiming is less done with the arm, the learning curve increases significantly.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Fingertip Grip

  • Advantageous with Fingertip Grip is simply the good mix of control and mobility
  • Very fast clicking possible in different places
  • Quickly cover longer distances
  • More difficult to learn
  • Signs of fatigue appear more quickly
  • The Fingertip Grip can become somewhat inaccurate if the distances are too large or too small

Which Mouse is best for Fingertip Grip?

Mice for this type of grip are usually very light, very short, and often have the shallowest angle at the back bend of the mouse. Due to the very little touchpoints, rodents with rubberized sides are certainly a good choice here, so that you can grip better.

The weight of the mouse is particularly important for the fingertip grip, especially since you can only use very little force for mouse movements. If the mouse is too heavy, your aiming and mouse control will suffer enormously. Fingertip grip gamers should take a look at the following models:

  • Razer Viper
  • Corsair Katar
  • BenQ Zowie EC2
  • Cooler Master MM710

Which is the best Mouse Grip Style for me?

Basically, there is no best mouse grip style for all gamers, and that’s simply because many personal characteristics play a role here as well. Simply put, you’ll get the best performance with the grip that’s most comfortable for you and your gaming.

Want to see all mouse grip styles in action? Then check out the below YouTube video. There the three most important mouse grip styles explained:

Which handle is suitable for what? We can basically give you some guidance along the way:

  • The most common grip is the Palm Grip. FPS players benefit here from the high accuracy and precision that you have through your arm and wrist.
  • The Claw Grip is basically suitable for players who play games where you have to click a lot and quickly. This applies to fast to League of Legends, for example.
  • The Fingertip Grip is basically best suited for MMOs or RTS, because you can move the mouse very fast and you can benefit from the high precision here. However, you have to be prepared for a high learning curve.

If you are not sure which mouse is best for you, order two mice of similar size for different grip types. Then you can try it out for yourself and keep the mouse that suits you better.

A service offered by the manufacturer Razer is also helpful. At Razer you can find a table with which you can measure your hand. This also makes it easier for you to decide when buying a mouse. Razer also presents suitable Razer mice for every hand size and gamer type.