A guy at the county fair told me my hammer control was 'all arm, no shoulder'
I was demoing some basic scroll work at our local fair last fall, just making some simple hooks. This older smith, must have been in his 70s, watched for a few minutes and then just said, 'Kid, you're working too hard. You're all arm, no shoulder.' He came over and showed me how to let the hammer fall more from my shoulder, using the weight of the tool and a loose wrist to guide it, not muscle it down. I tried it right there and my hits got way more consistent. I went home and practiced on some scrap for a week, and now my work has less hammer marks and I'm not nearly as tired at the end of the day. It's a small change but it made a big difference. Has anyone else had a simple piece of form advice totally change their forging?