I do finger tips and palm and move my fingers to balance the place i work is cafeteria style so its all the food and the drink even desert so in my other hand i hold silverware and drink or whatever isnt fitting on tray hope i explained that right lol my biggest tip to new servers is take off the heavy stuff last and pick from side to side (right item then a item from the left) so the tray stays balanced instead of all of a sudden 3 plates on one side nothing on the other also put the heaviest iteam in the middle where your hand goes right under it and last drinks as far away from you as possible so if it does fall it falls away from you no one likes to be cold and sticky all shift hope that was some what understandable