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What We Learned About Playing Claw From Flea's Amazing Tutorial

by Mason Moreau 17 May 2019

No, not the toy machine.

If you came here hoping for tips on how to win a sun-bleached PS Vita in a New Jersey boardwalk arcade, you're going to be disappointed. In this post we're going to talk all about how one YouTuber's video changed our brains.

Hailing from down unda' (Australia), Flea is a total content rock star, and not too shabby of a Fortnite player either. After discovering that he loves KontrolFreek as much as we love his content, we knew we had to work with him.

We initially found Flea when looking up tips and tricks for how to play games using "claw" style hand positioning - or just "playing claw". Playing claw specifically involves adjusting your hands so that your middle finger rests on the shoulder buttons and your pointer finger rests curled (hence "claw") over the face buttons.

We kept hearing people rave about how playing claw is a more advantageous way to utilize the button layout of the standard controller, but weren't sold on it. Once we stumbled upon Flea's video though something clicked and we finally got it. We definitely see it as the gold standard for control tutorials on YouTube, and we love it when creators introduce us to unique and new playstyles.

If you haven't checked it out already we'll put it right below here:

The one true benefit of playing claw

There really is one game changing benefit to playing claw, which is that you will never have to take your hand off of the right thumbstick to hit a face button. This seems simple, but it can't be understated. This really makes console games feel slightly more similar to the snappier control schemes that you're able to achieve on a PC.

Rotate your wrist

Something that can literally make or break your claw playing experience is the positioning of your wrist. If you're still holding your controller the traditional way, your wrist will be in an uncomfortable spot. Rotating your wrist a few degrees to the left will ensure for a more comfortable claw-playing experience.

What about the shoulder buttons?

Something else that Flea says pretty frequently is that much of what goes in to playing claw is up to personal preference and what is comfortable for you. For instance when it comes to the shoulder buttons, you have a decision to make.

Middle finger, ring finger, or both?

This is a very important decision to make since whichever finger you're using will ultimately be the one pulling the trigger.

What do you think FreekNation? Is playing claw worth it? We certainly think it is! Make sure to go check out Flea's YouTube channel for more tutorials and gaming awesomeness!

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