Not sure what technique you use. I wrap my fingers around the pump and hook my thumb over the tire. This kind of stabilizes everything and I feel that I can get more pressure in the tire. I just realized I'm putting everything in present tense. I haven't used one in a few years. They worked well back then though, except when I would manage to depress the valve head with the pump head by squeezing too hard. It would instantly send 100 PSI into the pump and shoot half of the pump across the room. Funny when I look back at it. I think that would qualify as as a technique that leads to breakage.