My hands hurt after riding. What's the proper grip position

[hobbs]

I understand you @beemer . 

You're awesome because at times I feel like the most misunderstood person I've ever known and nothing sucks more than being misunderstood and having to explain what you meant.

 
 
In my own country I am in a far off land.
I am strong but have no power.
I win all yet remain a loser.
At break of day I say goodnight.
When I lie down I have great fear of falling.
 
François Villon
 
 
To the OP. Take a deep breath, relax, find what works for you to stabilize your lower body. It will go a long way towards keeping your upper body limber. Recognize that it's a skill so it takes practice.

[phicurious86]

im a new rider as well, but not to sound like a whiny person i also have this hand pain. Ive noticed that i can not ride with the hand placed fully on the grips, both sides. Otherwise my wrists hurt really bad. As a result i place my hand around half the outer grips and the bar ends as well. I feel as i need wider handle bar at times even though this sounds ridiculous!! In the 4 month period or so that ive had the fz i have logged almost 5k miles even though i dont grip the handle hard at all and dont rest hardly any weight i managed to get 2 blisters where my palm has the most pressure on the grip. I dont know if this has to do with gloves type as well, but ill see how i do with the new a-star sp1 i just got.

Blisters make me think that there's definitely a serious grip issue going on, or there's a potential medical issue. The gloves may be part of it, but even loosey-goosey gloves shouldn't cause blisters if you've got a relaxed grip.
 
What's telling is that your wrists hurt. If your wrists are really hurting you, that's indicative of using too much arm to prop yourself up on the bike and not enough legs and core. Your arms should always be a little bent at the elbows and you should feel very little pressure at your elbows and wrists (though you'll feel more pressure you when press on the bars to help turn).
 
 
 
Kind of like this fella -
 

[biggaudi]

This may sound silly, but to relax my grip and arms when riding I repeat "T-rex arms, t-rex arms" to myself. This helps me to visualize my arms out in front, relaxed, light grip. You don't need a lot of force to countersteer the bike or to operate the throttle for that matter. So it just helps to smooth everything out for me.

[bigity]

@dentalprodigy I think you have three things happening. First is obvious. The sustained muscle use of the death grip would make any muscle in your body ache. Second, as a newer rider you are probably trying to learn proper posture and may be putting too much weight on your hands. Like others said, there should be no weight supported by your hands, at all. Use the balls of your feet, butt, and thighs on the tank. And third and MOST important, you're exercising you hand muscles in a new way. Pretty much the same as taking regular hands and turning them into a marathon athlete. Even with the right posture and a light grip, your hands will still be sore being a new riding. It will fade in months as they get stronger. I use this to help strengthen my hands. It comes in different resistance strengths:
 
 

[bigity]

im a new rider as well, but not to sound like a whiny person i also have this hand pain. Ive noticed that i can not ride with the hand placed fully on the grips, both sides. Otherwise my wrists hurt really bad. As a result i place my hand around half the outer grips and the bar ends as well. I feel as i need wider handle bar at times even though this sounds ridiculous!! In the 4 month period or so that ive had the fz i have logged almost 5k miles even though i dont grip the handle hard at all and dont rest hardly any weight i managed to get 2 blisters where my palm has the most pressure on the grip. I dont know if this has to do with gloves type as well, but ill see how i do with the new a-star sp1 i just got.

The key point that stood out to me was "pressure." Your palms, and hands should be like cotton candy, light and fluffy Try and tighten you lower back, butt, and thighs and relax your hands, arms, and shoulders. That is a big one!!!! People forget your shoulders should be relaxed. All of this should translate into very little pressure on your hands.
 
@dentalprodigy @forcefed86 it literally takes almost zero squeezing to hold the bars, as your skills develop you will likely learn to apply the brake and throttle with your right hand at the same time. You will do this when down-shifting very quickly. When I do this, I have none of my fingers on the throttle (except the thumb that wraps behind the throttle), they are all on the brake lever and the resistance(grip) between the glove and the rubber is what I use to turn the throttle. This is just an example of how little pressure it takes to use the controls. Keep it light and your hands will be happy!

[motomeek]

Hold it like you're holding an egg. You want enough pressure to keep the egg in your hand, but not too much that you crack it and you get egg guts all over you.
 
Totally forgot this analogy, but remembered it on my ride to work today.

[sorkyah]

Hold it like you're holding an egg. You want enough pressure to keep the egg in your hand, but not too much that you crack it and you get egg guts all over you.  
Totally forgot this analogy, but remembered it on my ride to work today.

Or as I was taught when learning to shoot..
 
like holding a bird or small animal
you want to secure it, but you dont want to squeeze it to death

[dentalprodigy]

Just wanted to update that I finally got home from gradschool (spring break) and rode ~70 miles. I consciously told myself “no t-rex arms ”( thanks for this tip) and used all the advice posted in this thread. I think I figured out what I was doing wrong. I was putting all my upper body weight on my hands (where the inner palm muscle is, the one I circled in the imgur link). That's why that area of my hand was soo tender. Thanks again for tips everyone, they all really helped.

[biggaudi]

Just wanted to update that I finally got home from gradschool (spring break) and rode ~70 miles. I consciously told myself “no t-rex arms ”( thanks for this tip) and used all the advice posted in this thread. I think I figured out what I was doing wrong. I was putting all my upper body weight on my hands (where the inner palm muscle is, the one I circled in the imgur link). That's why that area of my hand was soo tender. Thanks again for tips everyone, they all really helped.

Haha! The T-Rex has weak arms in comparison to his huge thighs and legs which come in handy for gripping the bike. That's why I would repeat "T-Rex arms" to myself. Go to the gym and do your "curls for the girls" (or guys), but you just don't need to use a ton of weight and force on the bars, just enough to point it towards what you're looking at. You might benefit from watching Twist of the Wrist volume two on YouTube. Try to focus less on the racing aspect of the video and more on the throttle control, traction, and stability oriented info as they give good visual demonstrations of good and bad habits.
 
https://youtu.be/5ZwyOCdUup8

[dentalprodigy]

Just wanted to update that I finally got home from gradschool (spring break) and rode ~70 miles. I consciously told myself “no t-rex arms ”( thanks for this tip) and used all the advice posted in this thread. I think I figured out what I was doing wrong. I was putting all my upper body weight on my hands (where the inner palm muscle is, the one I circled in the imgur link). That's why that area of my hand was soo tender. Thanks again for tips everyone, they all really helped.

Haha! The T-Rex has weak arms in comparison to his huge thighs and legs which come in handy for gripping the bike. That's why I would repeat "T-Rex arms" to myself. Go to the gym and do your "curls for the girls" (or guys), but you just don't need to use a ton of weight and force on the bars, just enough to point it towards what you're looking at. You might benefit from watching Twist of the Wrist volume two on YouTube. Try to focus less on the racing aspect of the video and more on the throttle control, traction, and stability oriented info as they give good visual demonstrations of good and bad habits. 
https://youtu.be/5ZwyOCdUup8

I'll watch it tonight!

[bigity]

Just wanted to update that I finally got home from gradschool (spring break) and rode ~70 miles. I consciously told myself “no t-rex arms ”( thanks for this tip) and used all the advice posted in this thread. I think I figured out what I was doing wrong. I was putting all my upper body weight on my hands (where the inner palm muscle is, the one I circled in the imgur link). That's why that area of my hand was soo tender. Thanks again for tips everyone, they all really helped.

Good to hear you sorted it out! I remember when I started riding my wrists and shoulders were so sore. I was doing the same thing you were.