We’re spoilt for features in gaming mice these days. Flawless sensors, optical switches, and barely there lightweight chassis are the name of the game and these features never cease to impress me when I open a new gaming mouse box.

But as fancy as they are, there’s only one key feature that I look for time and time again, and if a mouse doesn’t have it, it’s a big disappointment.

What is it? It’s a tall hump on the back of the mouse. Let me explain why this feature is so important.

The main benefit here is support for the hand and the wrist. In a nutshell the hump supports the hand and prevents friction between your wrist and the tabletop.

But it also aids performance. The hump comes in most contact with your palm, so it becomes the central point through which you can drive the mouse’s movement. Because of that, mice with humps usually allow for ultra-fine precision control. You can move and counter-move without moving your hand much at all.

Where the hump is located is crucial to get right when it comes to the different types of mouse grips, though. If the hump is in the wrong position, you risk getting a sore wrist.

Mice with humps towards their back end like the Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 and Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro favor palm grippers. These mice provide wrists with plenty of lift off of a tabletop allowing you to swipe and glide with minimal friction. Because your wrist is elevated, it’s less likely to get sore.

Mice with more centrally located humps, however, are better suited to claw grippers who curl their hands over the front end. You can find this kind of hump in mice like the Alienware Pro Wireless and Corsair M75 Air Wireless. In these mice the back end falls away more steeply, which isn’t suitable for palm grippers, but fine for claw grippers that have most contact with the front half of the mouse.

Avoiding injury, therefore, is about getting a mouse with a hump in the right place for your grip type — a hump towards the back end for palm grippers and a hump more centrally located for claw grippers.

That’s mice with humps covered. There are gaming mice without large humps and quite flat designs. These mice lack the central spot to drive movement and require more hand contact for control. That means the precision control isn’t there.

Without support there’s more contact between your wrist and the tabletop which can lead to a sore wrist, too. Because of that, you’ll want to avoid these mice at all costs.

So, if you’re after a new gaming mouse, do yourself a favor and get one with a large hump on the back. Your wrist will thank you for the extra support and your gaming will be better for it.

Related content

• Ergonomic mice feel great, but are they any good for gaming?
• Why most pro gamers use a claw grip with gaming mice
• How to tell if a gaming mouse will give you a sore wrist

Author: Dominic Bayley, Australian Editor, PCWorld