A coach suggested the handhold for man's left and lady's right should be with the thumbs butted against each other.{Like "here's the church, here's the steeple, open the doors, etc.] It feels really weird, and it's the first I've ever heard of it. Anybody know anything about it? Is it a teacher's insurance against pulling ladies, an Arthur Murray technique, something new, or just a personal choice?

Aka the secret handshake of british champions, or "eggleton thumbs"

Annie. A look at a recent IDSF Final shows that all six finalists have the thumbs up. I think it stops the male turning his palm to the front.

Are American style competitiors adopting that stle,also?

It is not how one holds the hand that really matters.
It is the function beneath the form that does.

It is about body lines.
The idea is to hold the partner's hand without a bend at the wrist.
Whatever manner that one can create a straight line with one's forearm--to a certain point--is acceptable.
The rest is simply neatness--and perhaps secret handshakes of her Majesty's Most Secret Order of the Ballroom Hold--as the case may be :)


Z

El Zorro. Only last evening i was given a demonstration with me being the lady, how the position of the man's left hand can make or destroy the ladies top line.

Personally, i find the 'thumbs up' hand hold very unattractive. There may be a very good technical reason for it, but that doesn't stop it looking unattractive. Just a personal view

If you get the right rotational alignment of the hands, the thumbs won't be so prominent.

Handy,
You missed my point.
OF COURSE it is possible to destroy the topline with a bad handhold.
Very easily I might Add.
But then, there are other factors that go into a good topline. (Now, if we were talking about toplines, then I would include the height of the thumbs in relation to the lady's eye, the angles of the forearms, the direction in which it intersects with the torso--and so on...but I digress...)

For this topic, I was addressing Annie's immediate question of the handhold--and how the focus should be, INSTEAD, in the lines of the forearm through the wrist.

I was suggesting that focusing on the handhold ALONE doesn't do any good--because it doesn't ground the form (the shaping of the hands) in any mechanical function.
IMO it is bad practice because it is pure FORM for FORM's sake.

El Zorro

El Zorro. We all seem to be speaking from the man's point of view. How about asking the partners if they feel comfortable with this. Do they feel and look OK. Or do they have a left shoulder that lifts every now and again to accommodate the man's left hold. And don't forget each person is not the same
height and build, there has to be a difference. In other words we cant say here i am fit into this.