Hammer Grip Atlatl Handles

by Atlatl Digest
10/3/2005

Hammer Grip Atlatl Handles:
 
As the name suggests, a hammer-grip atlatl handle is held much like a hammer. The parts of the hand closest to the spur are the thumb and index finger. The pinky finger is the closest to the end that leads the throw.
 
Traditional atlatls have been unearthed showing both hammer-grip and slit-finger grip (or loop) handles, but it is impossible to say which was the more preferred style among prehistoric atlatlists.
 
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage to the hammer-grip handle is that at the end of each throw, the throwers wrist must turn ever so slightly to the side. That's how the body is built. Keeping the wrist straight with any atlatl can be difficult at first and any wrist twisting with a hammer-grip style handle is hardly noticeable. It doesn't usually affect accuracy, but anyone having problems may wish to try another style.
 
I believe that the hammer-grip is just a little easier on the elbow and upper forearm muscles than split-finger or loop styles, but this may be because individual people have a varying degree of muscle mass and flexibility. When I throw darts using a split-finger type atlatl, it isn't nearly as comfortable as when I throw using a hammer-grip style. The muscles at the back of my forearm tend to get sore. Other people completely disagree and say the opposite; that the split-finger is much more natural feeling than the hammer grip. This leads me to believe that they are built just a bit different, not that they are right or wrong. 
 
Hammer-grip atlatls can come with or without dart rests and they can also be fingerless. 
 
The atlatl I use has a rest in front and behind my hand, but it is not fingerless. As far as I know this was the first modern atlatl designed this way, but I cannot say that for sure. When using styles with just a rest in front of the dart, I noticed that gripping the dart with my index finger actually bent the shaft of the dart downward toward the shaft of the atlatl from the rest to the spur. I figured that this extra bend wasn't likely to increase my accuracy, hence I decided to make a double rest.
 
Hammer-grip atlatls are, generally speaking, the easiest to make. You can simply carve a hook on the end of a stick and create a hammer-grip atlatl.