Old timer on site told me my trowel grip was backwards, took me 2 days to see he was right

Worked a repoint job last spring on a brownstone in Brooklyn. This guy, Pete, must have been 70, watching me from the scaffolding for about 20 minutes before he said anything. He just points at my hand and goes, you're fighting the wrist, not the mortar. I laughed it off because I been laying brick for 8 years and my joints are fine. But that afternoon I noticed I was palming the handle way too tight, thumb on top like a hammer. He showed me his grip, thumb riding the side of the blade, wrist loose, letting the weight do the cutting. I switched halfway through the next day and my shoulder stopped barking by noon. Still feel like an idiot that a guy twice my age fixed a habit I never knew I had. Anyone else get corrected on something so basic after years on the tools?

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williamm8217d ago

8 years and you never noticed your wrist angle? Damn, Pete's a legend.