I often get asked how long finger floggers should be.

My answer is always that your floggers should be exactly as long as you want them to be. Because it really is a matter of personal preference.

Having said that, there are certain moves I teach that are far easier to execute when your floggers are of a certain length. And so, this post is for you if you are interested in pulling off buzzsaws and redirects.

With these two moves, you want your floggers to be a certain length at maximum. Because if they’re too long, you’ll hit yourself (buzzsaws), or you’ll wrap your floggers around your own arms (redirects). So … also hitting yourself.

Here’s how you can measure for this maximum length:

First, get a tape measure and hold the end between the two fingers you use when finger flogging. This is going to be a rough measurement, so don’t worry too much about where exactly on your fingers you should hold the tape measure.

Next, extend your arm straight out, so that your hand is directly in front of the center of your chest. Point your fingers inward. Then pull the tape measure to the part of your body that sticks out the furthest. Depending on your features and posture, this could be your nose, your chin, your chest, your belly, or maybe even your gigantic wiener, so you may want to move the tape measure up and down to figure that out.

Once you’ve measured the distance from your fingers to the most prominent part of your body, decide how long you feel comfortable having your finger floggers be, so that you can spin smoothly without hitting yourself. Depending on your confidence level, you may want to subtract anywhere between 1 and 4 inches from your fingers-to-body measurement.

Also consider how straight you keep your wrists when flogging. If you tend to bend them at a sharp angle, you may want to subtract another inch or two off your fingers-to-body measurement.

For example, my fingers-to-body measurement is a little over 21 inches, so I go for finger floggers that are no more than 20 inches from the end of the finger loops to the end of the tails.

At this length, I can spin the floggers comfortably in a buzzsaw. And when I do redirects, they’re a good length to bounce quickly off my arms.

As a sidenote: M is shorter than me, so she swaps out the chain finger loops in these photos for a shorter set when she wants to use the same floggers for buzzsaws. This is why we’ve amassed quite the collection of chain finger loops since we began our impact play journey (see this page for more information on finger loops and flogger construction).

If you’re getting a set of finger floggers custom-built, I recommend that you subtract however many inches you want from your fingers-to-body measurement, and then inform the flogger maker that you want your floggers to be this length from the end of the finger loops to the end of the tails.

I don’t recommend just specifying tail and/or chain length, because the length of the finger loops, size of the trigger snap, size of the ring, and size of the hilt/handle/knot can all vary from maker to maker. And definitely don’t just give them a desired “flogger length,” because every maker takes that to be a different measurement. Some consider “flogger length” to be the length of the tails up to the knot, some measure from the tips of the tails to the ring, and so on.

Then again, if your floggers end up being too long, you can always take a nice pair of scissors and cut the tails down to the exact length you want them to be.

And that’s it! Again, though, these instructions are only for if you want to easily execute buzzsaws and redirects. You may love your long flowy floggers, and that is totally fine! In that case, please ignore these recommendations, and you do you.

*The chain finger floggers shown in this post were made by ARC Impact Leather.