<html> <body> I change my grip depending on what kind of pinbock situation I'm up against.  I've just started trying out the ball end Schaff sells to slide on the end of their hammers.  It is quite helpful. I use it with a 20 degree head and a short tip.  Now I need a shorter and much stiffer hammer. Andrew At 10:58 AM 8/12/2005, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Hi.     I'm wondering how you all grip your tuning hammers.  Do you think the grip is crucial or is more about  the technique you use to move the hammer?  When tuning for PTG exam, is there a particular grip  that the examiner is looking for or if you do an acceptable tuning, is that all that matters?  I seem to be having difficulty trying to determine the best way to grip the hammer comfortably on certain kinds of pianos and control the amount of movement.   Do you usually stick to the same technique or do you find you have to adjust according to the type of piano you are tuning?   By the way, I use a Shaff compact extendable hammer.  I do have the book "Different Strokes" which offers a lot of suggestions but I'm curious about what you all do and hope that you might have some dialogue re: this.    thanks,  nancy <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=34442/*http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs"> Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page </a></blockquote></body> </html>