Are you using the lock as a lever or not?

[pillar]

A question regarding SPP:

Are you using the lock as a lever or not?
This picture:


Is picking the top style better or in the lower style?

[Zenophryk]

It's going to depend a lot on the keyway. Usually the keyway won't allow you to leverage a pick on the bottom like that but some keyways may have a flat shelf a(s part of the profile) under the pins where you can push off of from.
I personally like to be able to use a lever method if I can. It gives me more of a sense of how far I'm pushing in the pin. But I'm a beginner, and that probably has a lot to do with it.

-Zenophryk

[cheerIO]

I was always confused by people saying not to lever off the lock or the warding. It's the way I pick 99 percent of the time.

I think what they actually mean is that Beginners should not always lever off the lock when picking. I think the intention is to keep you from bending picks. As a beginner, if you put too much tension on a lock, it is more likely that you will lever off the bottom of the lock on a pin that is pinched in there solid and you will bend your picks.

I find it almost impossible to just lift a pin with any kind of consistent feeling. I am still trying to train myself to lever off of my finger outside the lock. But most times I can find something to lay the pick on.

[Punt]

Their have been a couple of times where I had to use the keyway as a lever. When I have a deep false set and only 1 or 2 pins left to set, sometimes they require a lot of pressure to push up to the shear line. I actually prefer this method no matter what.