A while back I wrote about driving tips for sciatica and piriformis syndrome which included the instruction to drive with the hands placed on the wheel at ten o’clock and two o’clock.
Driving with the hands in this position, which has forever been the standard way students are taught, is also good for your posture, especially if you have pain issues, because it maintains a balance in both sides of the trunk. This supports both the spine and the sacroiliac joints.
But my wife heard a report on the radio about outraged parents who called a driving school in shock to hear that their children were being taught to drive with their hands positioned at nine and three o’clock.
The reason for this heresy makes perfect sense. In the age of airbags, the hands at ten and two are much more likely to break your glasses or your nose than if you’re holding on at nine and three.
I have no problem with holding the hands at nine and three, it might even be better as it maintains the balance of the two sides of the torso and the shoulders are more relaxed (depending on your height, I guess).
In the prior post the other tips shared for sciatica, but applicable to all manner of pain and discomfort, were to keep the left foot on the pedal provided for it. This basically serves the same purpose as holding the hands at ten and two— I mean nine and three—because it allows for both legs to be equally extended which gives the pelvis the best chance for balance.
The other tip in the post was to keep the right foot parallel to the left. There is a tendency to turn the right foot out to step on the gas and then rotate it to brake (in an automatic). It would be better to keep the foot parallel and move it from pedal to brake without any rotation.
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