Arm-wrestling is often used as a trial of strength, a way of proving how strong you are. However, most people have no idea how to utilise it effectively. By paying attention to the right technique, one can use it to one’s advantage, even when fighting against a stronger opponent.

It’s not just about applying side pressure to another person’s arm, and trying to push it downward. Proper arm-wrestling technique involves a significant pulling motion, which isolates your opponent’s arm, and places it in a position where you can easily pin it down.

Essentially, it’s about making a strong pulling motion and using your back and shoulders, in addition to your arm, to get your opponent’s arm close to you and away from their body. Then, rotate your shoulder and body in the direction that you want your opponent’s arm to go, and apply downward pressure in order to finish it.

Positioning and posture

To ensure that you use the right technique, first make sure that your body is properly positioned. This involves doing the following things:

• Stand so that your forward leg is on the same side as your competing hand. For example, if you’re competing with your right arm, then you should stand with your right foot forward.

• Stand with your hip close to the table, so that your arm is near your body. This will help you use your whole body when making the pulling motion, rather than just your arm.

• Once the contest is about to start, engage your core muscles and keep them ‘tight’. Doing this will help with the pulling motion, and will give you a minor boost in strength.

Advantageous hand position

In addition to positioning your body properly, get your hand to a position that gives you leverage over your opponent. Try to get your hand into the ‘toproll’ position – this involves rotating your hand over your opponent’s, so that your forearm is in the prone position (facing downward), while simultaneously twisting your wrist toward your own body.

You can sort of ‘climb’ with your hand over your opponent’s hand by loosening your hold a bit, and then moving your fingers forward and gripping tightly again, once you’ve advanced.

To help strengthen your grip, you can curl your thumb and try to get it underneath your own fingers. Make sure to keep a tight grip throughout the match, but don’t overdo it so much that you tire out your hand. Your goal is to keep your muscles engaged and in control, but not to try and crush your opponent’s hand.

The mental aspect

If you and your opponent are closely matched in terms of strength and technique, then the winner could simply be the one who refuses to give up, which a lot of people do prematurely when they think that they’re about to lose, even if that’s not the case. As such, as long as you still have strength left, try to hang on, and keep the match going.

Remember that if you’re feeling tired, your opponent is likely feeling the same. This is where mind games come into play in arm-wrestling. Essentially, you want to appear as confident as possible, even if you don’t feel confident in reality.

Strength in arm wrestling

Strength does matter in arm wrestling, and when there is a big enough difference in terms of strength, no amount of technique could help you win. To take an extreme example, a professional adult bodybuilder is going to beat a 5-year-old kid at arm wrestling, no matter how good the kid’s technique is.

However, most situations won’t be as extreme as this one, and in most cases, the difference in strength between you and your opponent should be one that you can overcome by properly using the technical tips.

If you do choose to arm wrestle with someone, you must reduce the risk of injury by avoiding the ‘break arm’ position. To avoid this position, you need to keep your arm in line with your shoulder, and perpendicular to your chest. This means that you should be able to look directly at your hand as it moves during the match.

More torque, not talk

Arm-wrestling doesn’t involve any talk between players, rather it is all about torque – the force needed to cause an object to rotate around its axis. In an arm wrestling match, whoever creates the most torque is likely going to win.

Three factors determine the amount of torque on an object – the force applied to the object (force vector), the distance between the axis of rotation and the force being applied (distance vector), and the angle between the force vector and the distance vector.

The relationship between force, distance, and torque can be seen in the mathematical expression: Torque = Force x Distance

To increase torque, either increase the force being applied or the distance between the point where force is being applied and the axis of rotation. In the case of an arm wrestling match, the object is your opponent’s hand and their elbow is the axis of rotation. Your ultimate goal is to apply enough force on your opponent’s hand so that your opponent’s forearm rotates at the elbow and ends up touching the table.

So an arm-wrestling match is basically a contest of who can create the most torque.