Bought these for myself to help ease wrist and finger tension while working. I must say these Soft Touch hooks are the best I've worked with. The hook and shaft glide through yarn loops like a knife through hot butter! Quickly and effortlessly. The handle has a thumb pad that is cushioned to help was thumb stess and I find that using overhand or underhand holding technique still allows the thumb to comfortably rest on its pad. With these bonuses, i found myself crocheting much quicker and more accurately. I ended up buying lots of them to have as many as possible in my tool collection. Remember, these are your tools for your art, take care of you and your art.