Why is it so much easier to tap/drum your fingers on a table from your pinky to your index finger compared to index finger to pinky?
In: 2
Ligament independence.
Try making a fist and place it palm-down on a table. Now stick out your index finger. You should be able to move it up and down easily. Now try the middle. It’s a little less free. Now try your 3rd (ring) finger. Probably impossible. The pinky is on the end of your fist so it will have some ability to move probably.
Now hold your hand straight up with your fingers fully extended and spread your fingers loosely so they are straight out but relaxed. Now just do some bends of your first two knuckles on your index finger. Now just do the middle finger. You might see some movement in your ring finger when you do that. Now bend just the ring finger. You should encounter some difficulty while your middle finger is extended straight and your pinky finger should try to bend a little. You may not be able to bend the pinky by itself without moving the ring finger.
It turns out our fingers are not naturally all as independent as they seem. So if you drum from the index finger to the pinky, you start by stabilizing the more independent fingers down on the table and are stuck holding the less independent ones up, which might make the muscles more jerky and make the movement less smooth. But if you start by setting the pinky down and moving towards the index finger, you’ll be following a more natural pattern of muscle and ligament interaction.
At least, apparently, for some people. Including me.
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