And if I’m counting backwards, it’s 5, lower thumb 4, lower pinky 3, lower ring finger 2, lower index finger 1
Hi, Phil! 
Well, if I know I am going to go on to five, I will, definitely every time, start with the thumb, not in the middle somewhere. Think about it: you will have to raise the thumb sooner or later anyway.
So I would say “one” is always the thumb (except for freaks like @solost… 
)
I used to use the 3 middle fingers until I learned the sign language version and then I switched to that.
But at a sporting event, everyone can see I’m clearly saying ‘We’re #1!’
You, on the other hand (heh), who knows… ‘good luck’?..‘can I catch a ride after the game’? 
I voted.
Slight Hijack, Mods can spoiler if you want…
My High School Geography/History teacher was the football coach. A real knucklehead.
His entire summation of World War Two was, “Don’t get near the tanks! Everybody likes to shoot at the tanks!”
And the rest of the period was spent on how to order beers in Germany. Exactly like this poll. I don’t think he ever figured it out.
You are not alone. Me two. 
FYI, Chinese and Japanese have a whole different way of finger counting to 10. AND, these two Asian countries are not the same.
I mis-answered (wrong button) but I use my index, middle, ring fingers to indicate, but thumb, index and middle (and more) to count. I very rarely count with my fingers.
Thumb, index, middle for me. Holding index, middle, ring up feels more awkward to me. I also do two with thumb and index finger. “One” I usually do as index, not thumb (which thumb-starting counting systems would do.)
Index, driving, and ring fingers. That’s how I used to do it. My hands have become pretty arthritic and it’s hard to get more than two fingers to form into anything but a claw or a fist.
I’ve been in Switzerland for more than 20 years. Sometime after Inglourious Basterds came out in 2009 I started counting with my thumb.
It’s interesting to see my Chinese colleagues use their fingers for keeping track while counting.
Can you teach me how to do this? I think it will be useful when driving.
(Bolding mine) I’ve never heard of the middle finger referred to as the ‘driving’ finger. Is that a regional thing? Or just you maybe? Anybody else call that finger their driving finger, or heard of it? I’m always curious about regionalisms and colloquialisms.
Three little birds, flipped in my car window… 
You two had better be careful of that, you don’t want to be accused of being a white supremacist.
It’s just a joke. First indirect reference I recall was someone saying “I broke my middle finger and couldn’t drive for 3 weeks.” I’ve used it here on the board before and in real life.
Oh, durrrr. I can’t believe I didn’t pick up on that, especially since in the very same post I commented on Cheesesteak’s middle finger driving joke.
starting with left hand
1: thumb
2:thumb+ index
3: idem+middle
4: idem+ring
5: idem + pinkie
6: idem +thumb right hand
and so on…
Yup. I’m starting back up reffing football this year, but well before I got into it myself, my dad taught me this way when I was a kid. He was a football umpire for decades.
I don’t use a closed fist for “4” off the field, though.