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by wrp 1461 days ago
You and Sassoon are talking about different things. She is referring to angle of grip and how it influences style of writing. You are referring to tenseness of grip. Sassoon also deals with that issue in other writing. She works as a physical therapist with people who get RSI from their writing style.

The letter forms of cursive evolved when people were writing with quill or dip pens, and rely on stroke forms that are facilitated by the natural grip of using a quill/dip pen. Ballpoint pens require a more upright angle, a firmer grip, and more emphasis on axial rather than lateral force. Ballpoints encourage stroke forms that conflict with traditional letter shapes. Fountain pens, on the other hand, are properly held more like a dip pen. That is why people experience an improvement in their handwriting when they switch from ballpoint to fountain pen.
1 comments
webmaven 1461 days ago
> Ballpoints encourage stroke forms that conflict with traditional letter shapes.

Hmm. Can you point to more information on this conflict?

Maybe what's needed is a new non-traditional form of cursive that embraces the stroke forms that come naturally with a ballpoint.

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wrp 1461 days ago
I've never seen or heard of a study of the mechanics of ballpoint pen manipulation. However, I have seen a considerable amount of handwritten correspondence from the early to mid-20th century. With the general change from fountain pens to ballpoints, there was a significant change in letter forms, particularly among female writers. The newer style is marked a reduction in straight vertical lines, a general trend to circular motions, and a slower advance along the line. This seems not surprising when you consider that quill/dip/fountain pen movement is more with the arm, while ballpoint movement is more with the fingers. So...it seems that a new form of cursive has already (informally) evolved to a degree.
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masgrimes 1461 days ago
What makes you think the change in penmanship specimens over that time period are more connected to the proliferation of the ballpoint pen instead of the changes in penmanship instruction?
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