Key grip with putty strengthens the pinch you use to turn a key or hold a card. With your fingers curled into a loose fist, you hold a small ball of therapy putty against the side of your index finger and press into it with the pad of your thumb, keeping the thumb joints slightly bent. Physios and occupational therapists tend to add it once the thumb moves well without any resistance, for example during recovery from a hand injury or a stroke.

How to do the key grip with putty

Sit at a table and roll a small piece of soft therapy putty into a ball.
Curl the fingers of the hand you are working with into a loose fist, with the thumb on top, the way you would hold a key. Bend your elbow and hold the hand up in front of you, as in the video. If holding it up is tiring, rest your forearm on the table.
Place the putty on the thumb side of your bent index finger.
Press the pad of your thumb down into the putty, flattening it against the side of the finger. Keep the thumb joints slightly bent and raised, not pushed flat or bent backward.
Ease off and repeat. When the putty gets too flat to press, roll it back into a ball.

What you should feel

You should feel the fleshy pad at the base of your thumb working, along with the web between thumb and index finger. The thumb may tire toward the end of a set.

Common mistakes

Letting the thumb tip joint bend backward as you press.
Letting the fingers uncurl, so the index finger stops giving the thumb something firm to press against.
Starting with putty so firm that you cannot flatten it with control.
Bending the wrist or hunching the shoulder to add force.

How often

Many programs start with the softest putty and 10 to 15 slow presses, for 1 to 3 sets, once or twice a day. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

Sharp pain at the base of the thumb or along the thumb side of the wrist.
New or worse numbness or tingling in your thumb or index finger.
Call emergency services straight away for any sign of a stroke, even if it goes away: sudden dizziness with unsteadiness or falling over, a face that droops on one side, an arm you cannot lift or keep up, slurred or muddled speech, weakness or numbness on one side of your body or face, sudden blurred vision, double vision or loss of sight, or a sudden severe headache.
The thumb joints are more swollen, hot or sore for hours after the session.
Since the fracture or cast, the hand is getting more painful rather than less, the skin becomes very sensitive to light touch, or the hand changes color, temperature, swelling or sweating compared with the other one, or looks shiny. See your doctor or physio as soon as you can, within a few days at most, as this can be complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and early treatment may help.

From the clinic

Therapy putty is sold in grades from very soft to firm. Begin with the softest and only move up when every press stays smooth. Wash your hands before and after, keep the putty in its closed container between sessions, and keep it off carpets and clothes, where it sticks. Small pieces of putty can be swallowed or choked on, so store it out of reach of young children and pets. Do not use it over a cut or an open wound, and stop if your skin turns red or itchy where it touches the putty.

Pressing against putty is resistance work, which usually follows plain thumb movement in hand rehab. After a broken wrist, hand or forearm, or surgery on any of them such as a tendon repair, start only when your doctor, surgeon, physio or hand therapist says the bone or repair is ready for this, and follow their plan for how much to do. After a stroke or a nerve injury, your occupational therapist or physio decides the level, putty grade included. With arthritis at the base of your thumb, or rheumatoid arthritis in your hands, ask your physio before you start, as a side pinch presses hard through that joint.

For thumb control without resistance, try picking up small objects, which uses a tip-to-tip pinch. The clothespin pinch is another way to build pinch strength.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-26.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Key grip with putty