The thumb during the crimp grip.

F. Quaine, L. Vigouroux, F. Paclet, F. Colloud
Int J Sports Med. 2010-11-17; 32(01): 49-53
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1267230

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1. Int J Sports Med. 2011 Jan;32(1):49-53. doi: 10.1055/s-0030-1267230. Epub 2010
Nov 17.

The thumb during the crimp grip.

Quaine F(1), Vigouroux L, Paclet F, Colloud F.

Author information:
(1)Université Joseph Fourier, Isere, Grenoble, France.

During rock-climbing, fingers grasp holds of various shapes with high force
intensities. To ideally place the fingertips on the holds, the thumb is sometimes
positioned on the nail of the index finger. This allows using the thumb as an
additional actuator by exerting a supplementary force in the same direction as
the index, middle, ring and little fingers. This study analysed how the forces
exerted by the fingers are modified by the additional action of the thumb. The
results showed that the thumb increases the resultant forces exerted on the hold.
It was shown that the pathology risks of the middle, ring and little fingers were
not modified in this condition. The finger force sharing was totally re-organized
due to the support of the thumb. This led to the conclusion that the central
nervous system organised the association of the 5 fingers. The results were
discussed in regard to the established theories of the virtual fingers and the
neutral line of the hand.

© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1267230
PMID: 21086244 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

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