Without the unique structures of the hand, many human accomplishments would not have been possible. The form of the human hand is structured in such a way that it allows us to apply great force or to handle objects with care and precision. With the many ways that we can turn, bend and flex our hands, we can manipulate tools and apply force in many ways.

When it comes to the usefulness of our hands, much of it comes down to our gripping abilities. The ability for our thumbs to go in opposition of every finger of the same hand gives the human hand gripping capabilities that far exceed that of any animal.

Humans have two basic grips that we use for all of our tasks. These are the power grip and the precision grip. A power grip is for objects that are particularly large or heavy and the precision grip is used for handling things that are lighter and for tasks that require finer, delicate motions. Among the power and precision grips, you have several different styles of gripping that can be used for different tasks.

With most power grips, the object sits in the palm of the hand with the fingers wrapped around and the thumb going in opposition to complete the grip. For most of the precision grips, it is the tips of the fingers and thumb that do most of the gripping.

In the category of precision grips, you have the lateral prehension grip, the pinch grip, the side-to-side grip, and the lumbrical grip. For power grips, you have the hook grip, the cylindrical grip, and the spherical grip. Many of these grips can be turned, angled, or modified for a myriad of different gripping and handling purposes.