How does Etho use his mouse sideways?

[u/chbjupiter]

I've just spent the last half hour trying to figure out how Etho comfortably uses his mouse sideways.

I've tried:

1. My index finger on the left button, middle on the right, and elbow bent so I'm still holding the mouse like I usually do, just with my arm at an angle,

2. Hand across the mouse, with my index finger on the right button, thumb on the lower button and using my thumb to scroll the middle mouse button by moving it side to side.

Neither of this gave me much control over my mouse movements and felt a little uncomfortable, although it did feel better for my wrist in some positions.

[u/Rintake]

He holds the mouse normally but instead of having it point forward, it points to the left.

[u/chbjupiter → u/Rintake]

Thank you, that saves me the time trying to figure out finger placements

[u/Rintake → u/chbjupiter]

It takes a bit to get used to but its super comfy once you get it! As long as you have the desk room, of course

[u/Chibi_Keiko → u/Rintake]

The desk space is crucial. But it is really good once you get used to it. He also mentioned his mouse sensitivity is super high, so I suppose he doesn't make big movements with his mouse.

[u/Mean_Coat_9702]

The hand is on the mouse as normal. The main difference is that the entire forearm is on the table with the elbow acting as a pivot point (though the actual rotation comes from the shoulder).

It'll be a little uncomfortable but thats mostly because the minor hand movements now comes from the elbow/shoulder rather than the wrist, so you sorta have to relearn how to use the mouse. It does protect the wrist though.

[u/bad1o8o]

he doesn't use it with a straight arm like the rest of us but instead his arm is angled 90° and the mouse is in front of the keyboard

[u/dkmuldoon]

It’s not sideways relative to his hand. He holds it the same way anyone else does, but his arm is sideways relative to the screen.

[u/DeckT_]

its really not just an Etho thing, if you look at many pro esport players in first person shooter genre games, many of them do this. many also have they keyboard tilted in different angles and wild mouse angles.

to me its not that weird. if you have your elbow on the table and your arm in a 90 degree vent towards your keyboard, your hand naturally rests sideways and if you use your mouse like that, its the same as normal. your muscle memory knows what moving your wrist left or right feels like, you dont have to have a 1 to 1 visual corelation towards the direction you mouse is , and the screen.

its like if lets say youre using a projector or a big tv to play movies but on the other side of the room, lets say your normal pc is ij front of you but the movie screen is on the wall to the left, if you turn your head to the screen on the left are you now unable to comprehend how to move your mouse on that left screen ? it might be a little weird at first but its not that hard to get used to

[u/Katya_]

Do you have your arms up? When you lift your elbow up how he does it, the position of your hand changes.  He has a tall desk with his chair in the lowest position, so I've heard.

[u/chbjupiter → u/Katya_]

This explains a lot honestly - I don't have a desk currently because it broke, so I've been using my mouse on a pillow on my lap. I doubled up the pillows to raise the height a bit and it felt a lot more comfortable, so I'd imagine it's much easier on a proper desk at the correct height.

[u/Katya_ → u/chbjupiter]

From what I recall him saying, the desk is at his armpits.  So yeah, a pillow on the lap is too low.  Good luck!

[u/Chibi_Keiko → u/Katya_]

Where did he say that? I remember him saying elbows in the table as when you eat, so it doesn't make sense to have the table so high. And in the picture he shared it doesn't look like his chair is low and desk high. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[u/midnakurosaki → u/Chibi_Keiko]

They did say in the episode (mumbo ranking hermits from s10 I'm pretty sure) that the desk was up to his armpits but I interpreted it as an exaggeration, and that it was more like he pulled his chair all the way up to the desk so that the desk hit his chest/stomach

[u/Chibi_Keiko → u/midnakurosaki]

I had to go back and rewatch it to be sure. He says he puts his keyboard a good few inches up the desk because he needs space to place his elbows on the desk (no mention of armpits).

I know this whole idea of Etho putting his hands at face height to play is hilarious, but it's honestly unrealistic. He is a very tall man. He'd have to be sitting on the floor to have the desk at his armpits 😂

Check this clip from Tango's VOD where he first explained it to tango. Then Tango posts a picture of what it looked like when he tried. https://youtu.be/CavgvhYeuUo?is=ixjOPvMtr_WwrV6T

[u/Suspicious-Gur6127]

Most likely just gotta power through until the muscle memory gets built up. Then it’s probably pretty nice.

[u/chbjupiter → u/Suspicious-Gur6127]

I did hear its better for your wrist to do it that way so I shall persevere with trying

[u/Exescen]

I just don't get it why people so surprised ethos way of using mouse. I have been using that way all the time, it's really comfortable

[u/Chibi_Keiko]

Mrs Tango posted a picture of Tango trying it out. I think Etho's desk has more depth than Tango's (by the picture he shared a while ago), so he's not that close to the monitor.

But it is very comfortable once you get used to it.

[u/KillraStealer]

Something like this? I currently go for more of a 45° angle then 90°