# Holding Shears



## Ladywolfe (Jan 11, 2012)

I just did a little research on holding grooming and haircutting shears/scissors. You professionals do not even want to know how I was holding mine.

Can some of the groomers here tell me if this video is right, and might it help me learn to handle a good pair of shears before I invest in them? I know the video is about cutting human hair, but it does look much like the dog grooming videos that I also viewed. I am open to input.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=xV7NERyC5jI

I want to get some nice scissors/shears; but it seems like that would be silly when, apparantly, I didn't even know how to use them?


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Yeah, typically the only thing that should be moving is your thumb, but don't feel bad, that takes years of practice to master. Don't have your middle finger in the loop like you're in elementary cutting paper, use your ring finger, you have better control and I heard it lessens the chance of carpal tunnel (which I'm developing.)

I still don't do it right, and I still don't have nice shears, so don't stress over it. At least I'm holding them right now! Using your middle finger also makes the shears bounce more since you're putting more pressure to cut.


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## Jacamar (Jun 2, 2012)

His "crane position" seems like a lot of bend at the wrist, which is probably bad news, ergonomically. Shirlee Kalstone advises maintaining a straight line between your hand and wrist, saying, "Avoiding bent, extended or twisted positions for long periods of time keeps extra pressure off your wrist and hand".


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## pgr8dnlvr (Aug 7, 2011)

Wow! That was SUPER helpful for me! Now I won't look like such an idiot when I go shopping for my first shears! Lol! 

Now if only someone could find or make a good video on the NEXT step of poodle scissoring!

Thanks!

Rebecca


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## Tonjad (Mar 12, 2012)

I just ordered CC7"shears , curved and straight--they are on her factory outlet page...I hope I can learn to use them !


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## Jacamar (Jun 2, 2012)

Congrats! How did you decide on the 7" shears as opposed to longer ones?


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## Anntig (Jun 9, 2010)

there's another video here 



 by Melissa Verplank, this is how I was taught, it is slightly different to the first video as the ring finger is not held nearly so far in.

Another tip for you girls, what the guy said about practising before you start cutting hair is true you need to build up muscles and develop muscle memory in your hands I spent weeks scissoring up and down walls (for straight lines) and round doorways (for curves) so that by the time I was allowed to try on a dog my hands already knew what they were doing (sort of) it still takes years of practise to be able to consistently do a good job I'm coming up 8 years now and still see a lot of room for improvement.


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## Tonjad (Mar 12, 2012)

Jacamar,
I did not know which to order--sounded ok......we will see..do you think they will be to short ?


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## pgr8dnlvr (Aug 7, 2011)

Ant, you're killin' me! Lol! Now I'll have to try both methods and figure out which might be best for me?! 

Can you make a video showing us how you "practiced"? Trying to picture by your explainations and it was a little tough...

I'd also be ever so greatful to anyone who can show me actually starting and grooming on a poodle. I have no idea where to start the cutting! Lol!

I want to learn the proper "puppy cut" and a long lamb trim first.

I know the other descriptive video on here where a member clearly illustrated her dog in a puppy cut was ENORMOUSLY helpful, I watch it regularly and now know what I'm aiming for, just not sure where to start once I pick up some shears! Lol 

Rebecca


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## Jacamar (Jun 2, 2012)

Tonjad said:


> Jacamar,
> I did not know which to order--sounded ok......we will see..do you think they will be to short ?


I have no grooming experience, but I've been researching a lot so I knew that they come longer and just thought I'd ask what your reasoning was.

As coincidence would have it, I went to a dog show today, and there was a vendor there who sell and sharpen (obviously) shears and clippers and also breed/raise spoos. He suggested 7 or 7.5 inch shears to me and I asked him the same question: Why not longer ones? He said longer ones require more skill and wear out your hands faster, and you dont really use that much of the blade anyway. So it sounds like you did good with your 7 inch shear purchase. :smile:


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## Jacamar (Jun 2, 2012)

And BTW the dog show was so much fun!! :smile:


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## Anntig (Jun 9, 2010)

Ok I had a wee play with my shears during my groom today and what I figured out was the method described in the op gives you slightly more control but a lot less flexibility I found even once I got used to the position I was having to move my wrist a lot to get at all the angles rather than letting the blades move in my hand which probably wouldn't be good long term considering the amount of scissoring you have to do on a poodle.

Sorry I don't own a camcorder but i'll try to explain, standing paralell to the wall hold your shears out straight in front of you pointing forward, your elbow should be even with your side, move so your hand is not quite touching the wall and start opening and closing the shears moving down and then up keeping the shears level. The goal is to be able to go up and down as close as possibe without ever touching the wall.
(I'd also advise not to use a concrete wall like I did, as you're going to hit it a lot at first)
It feels ridiculous and looks very sillly if anyone walks in and sees you but if you do it enough you'll find it much easier to scissor straight lines without your hands wobbling in and out and cutting big chunks out of the coat.
The same trick can be done with a ball or balloon to learn curves just try to keep the scissors as close as possible without touching 

My very first pair of shears were 10 inches I used them for everything for the first couple of years, nowdays I tend to use my 8.5s more but the 10s are still good for getting straight legs on the bigger spoos.


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## 3dogs (Nov 3, 2010)

At least for "Dog Grooming" Melissa video is totally correct. The Hairdressing video made me cringe. Your finger & thumb barely go in the holes. The thumb does all the work & keep your arm straight from elbow to wrist. I see lots of grooms bend their wrists so much it makes me turn away, I just think wow what pain they are going to be in.

There are various "shanks" as well. I use "short shank" so I don't have all that bending to do & if you can get "bent, short shanks" that is the best since the "bent" get's into the corners & angles that you would otherwise have to get your wrist or body into. Now there aren't many "bents" to choose from. I have Heritage & Kenchii "Eric Salas" series. I also think Geib has bent shanks as well. If I could I would get all my shears with "bent" shanks. A dog show is a very good place to find different style of shanks.


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## pgr8dnlvr (Aug 7, 2011)

Does anyone have any more advice to add to this thread? Any more videos? I'm sitting here trying both methods of holding the shears and neither one is that comfortable. I guess the second video is a bit better, but still not sure if I'm doing it correctly. 

Fluffyspoos, can you get someone to video how YOU hold and use shears?

Rebecca


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

The Melissa Verplank dog grooming video is correct. I'm not sure about the hairdressing one. I would not hold my shears as in the first video because you are angling the shears in a weird direction to where you have to twist your wrist. I believe the videos are different because hairstylists are cutting the ends of the hair as they lift the hair, whereas groomers who groom poodles are sculpting the hair. You want the shears to be straight, and have good control of the shears so you are not dipping into the hair.

It has been a challenge to teach proper shear holding techniques in the poodle grooming class at the rescue. First, the shears are way too long for people, the shanks are long, and thumbholes are big, and nothing fits anyone's hands. We don't have any thumb rings (like this: Heritage Rubber Thumb Rings for Grooming Shears | PetEdge.com) to adjust the thumbholes, so everyone holds them like kitchen shears and like they are hacking away at wrapping paper. If the thumbhole is too big, you can even double up on the thumb rings. You can even wrap one side of the thumbhole to keep your thumb from going through.


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

Also, I'd like to mention that longer/bigger shears are not always better. The 10" may be good for doing the legs on a leggy standard, but for sculpting the body, topknot neck, you will be okay with 7-8" shears. Most of the time, you are only using 1/3 of the shear, usually close to the tips. The problem with 10" shears is that some are a little heavy, and hard to hold. At least for me. The 10" ones I have are only 1oz heavier than my everyday shears but they hurt my wrist. Maybe I need to work on my wrist strength, but I find my wrists and hangs get so fatigued I end up cutting divots in the hair because the tip is pointing slightly inward. This tells me I do not have good control over those shears. My everyday shears are 8", and I will soon be buying a 5-6" so I can do smaller dogs and schnauzer brows.


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## Melodyp77 (Mar 4, 2012)

Wow! I've been grooming for over a yr now and even though I had to do exercises to learn to hold and strengthen my wrist etc I still learned something new. At first I thought maybe I made the mistake of getting the 8 inch but I like the weight and this is the size I started with. I just wished I knew about the short shank versus the regular ones I have. I have tiny hands and the short shanks would be better. Just keep practicing. No one expects your poodle to come out perfect and believe me you will make a lot of mistakes but you learn from them. Thanks for asking this question. Makes me want to go back and practice the wall thing and the balloon. lol:act-up:


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