Ryan Vought <<airthug84>>
writes:

After doing lots of flying with Dave Gibson, I noticed he often
has at one hand turned palm-up holding the base tube from underneath. I tried it
a few times, and found it felt very awkward, very different from what I was
accustomed to.

After asking him about it, he said it helps use different muscles and gives the
arms a bit of a rest… especially during long glides. Fascinated, I decided to
practice it a bit more before making a call on if it’s something I wanted to use
from time to time.

I can now say- after putting in the time and effort to practice flying that way
(it feels so WRONG at first!) - I really like it on glide! I find it much easier
to hold the base tube in if there is a lot of pressure. It also helps me hold my
upper-body down in an aerodynamic dangle angle, where as pulling in with the
traditional hand position can lead to rocking more head up if you’re not careful
about only pulling in and not pushing down at all like a pushup. With palms up
holding under the base tube, it also puts my arms and elbows tucked into a much
more aerodynamic position!

Oz Report readers might want to check it out… but if you’ve never tried it
before, be prepared to feel like a H2 all over again! I was astounded at how
“different” flying with my hands that way felt. I had to really work to learn
the new feel and be precise again.

Hope that helps some people!