The Lost Art of the High Five

Over the years everything will change and I have slowly learned to accept that. I know that I try to make little effort to conform and definitely enjoy the classics like the original Tranformers cartoon, Big League Chew, and The Dukes of Hazzard. Everything now a days needs to be updated and hip, according to the popular culture. One thing that has been lost is the good old fashioned high five.

The high five used to be great. It used to be the best compliment of a job well done. It used to be so easy. It has subsequently been morphed into fist pounding, knuckle bashing, or a series of wiggles, waggles, and slides. It is too pompous and takes the focus away on what the high five used to mean. Even slight adjustments to the five, like the up and under, where the five starts high and ends low, a la Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards in Top Gun during the volleyball match, bastardizes the five. Even something as slight as that takes the attention away from the act and its transfer of good will and congratulation to an act of showboating, a show of pure classlessness.

I started to think though that many kids these day probably lack the proper education on what a great and appropriate high five is all about. To start with you need to know what the high five truly means and when to actually use it as it is a very diverse tool and can be used in many situations. Let me discuss a few.

The most obvious is the celebratory high five. This is used to congratulate a teammate or in a work setting, a colleague, on a job well done. It is meant for minor victories but ones that must be acknowledged. Like hoop and the harm, hitting a sacrifice fly, or getting a strike in the fourth frame would all be very appropriate times to use this high five. Please do not high five big events such as game winning baskets and winning provincial championships as these events require more than the simple, but great, high five.

The other main high five that has a little less gusto is the congratulatory high five, though very similar, this one would be giving to the opposition. This is usually reserved for less competitive events like beer league softball, a pick up game of hoops, or maybe a quick 4 end curling match. For larger and more competitive events, like university sports, a firm hand shake should be used.

Other, more frowned upon uses for the high five, are the "good burn" high five, as this is more of a gloat than a pat on the back. Also high fives for doing something stupid or flukey can send the wrong message at times, but are very good at boosting morale, but please do not over use them.

Ok, now onto technique. In its sound and feel the perfect high five should have a loud pop or snap sound, but should not sting. If a sting remains afterwards it means that you are making too hard of contact and should practice better contact by clapping and finding that perfect tempo. The side effects of a stinging five is the reluctance to enjoy later and more important high fives, thus making events less enjoyable.

Now onto the look. First you should have a slight - ever so slight - arch in the fingers creating a small cup. This is to trap air between the two hands and helps increase volume without increasing velocity. The elbow should, at a minimum, be at shoulder height, but never fully extended. The hand should remain in line with the forearm. The arm should be extended up and out from the elbow, at a 90 to 120 degree angle from the upper arm and then remain still. This is the important part. All the movement is in the shoulders. This prevents unneeded injuries to the elbow. You should try and use your right hand and both you and your partner should have five digits on each hand, thus creating the five for which the move is named.

Now, moving ever so slightly towards your partner, both participants should rotate the arm slightly back past vertical and in a swift and smooth motion rotate forwards, using your shoulders only. Both hands should meet evenly, with the thumb connecting with the pinky of the partner. This should create the desired popping sound. If contact is not made properly you will hear more of a smacking sound.

Now some other general rules:

1) Be sure to keep a mental record of your best high fives and what they relate to and who they were with. Don't be afraid to rank your fives. As they say in business, those things that get measured, improve.

2) Celebrate your great high fives with nothing more than words of enjoyment or possibly a verbal ranking of where that five stands against all the rest. Never, ever high five your high five, it will just take away from the original, especially if the next one goes badly.

3) Finally, use your high fives responsibly as they possess great power, in healing the down trodden and in increasing positive energy. Never high five when the mundane happens as this will not drive your student to strive for more high fives. If you give them out for everything then the meaning is gone and the high five loses its motivational power.

Now go forth and re-educate. The world needs high fives to move forward, but please do not give high tens, especially without a spotter, as they can cause awkward eye contact and chest bumping, which leads to unwanted pregnancy.