Perhaps fewer than 10% of women achieve orgasm during intercourse. 

In the 1980s, a sex therapist named Edward Eichel decided this just wasn’t fair.  So he came up with a new sex technique for couples who were regularly having intercourse together to enjoy female orgasm during lovemaking. And he called it, as you may know, “The Coital Alignment Technique” (or CAT for short).

If the CAT can help more women achieve orgasm during lovemaking, that has to be good for everyone! But what does it mean?

The coital alignment technique is designed to ensure that a woman reaches orgasm during lovemaking without any direct stimulation of her clitoris with fingers, toys or tongue. The movements of the couple’s bodies alone can bring her to orgasm. And even better, a couple can experience simultaneous orgasm this way. Here’s how…

How A Woman Can Orgasm During Intercourse

In the normal missionary or man on top sexual position there is no contact between the penis and the clitoris during thrusting. This means the amount of clitoral stimulation a woman receives during intercourse is just not enough to bring her to orgasm. The coital alignment technique overcomes this with co-ordinated movements of the man and woman’s bodies. These movements put pressure on her clitoris and can make her orgasm – hands free!

How To Make Love With The Coital Alignment Technique

1. The first step in making love using the coital alignment technique is for a couple to arrange themselves in the correct starting position.

The alignment method is a variation of the missionary or man on top sex position. So you won’t be surprised to hear that the CAT starts with the man positioning himself over his lover as if they were going to enjoy intercourse in the normal man on top position.

2. When he’s inside her, the man shifts his body forward on the woman so that he is “higher” up her body than in the conventional man on top position.

This is called “riding high” – it means the man’s pelvis is at least as high, and possibly higher, than the woman’s. In this context “higher” means further up her body, not elevated vertically.

This makes the shaft of his penis press up against his partner’s mons veneris or pubic mound.

Another perhaps slightly surprising requirement of the coital alignment position is that the man rests the full weight of his body on his partner. He’s not propping up his torso on his elbows.

As Eichel put it in his original description, “the weight of his torso gravitates forward towards her shoulders and head; he should not slide backwards, which causes his pelvis to slip down under hers. The woman’s legs are wrapped around the man’s thighs with her ankles resting on his calves. Her thighs are bent at an angle not to exceed 45 degrees because her pelvis becomes immobilized if her knees are raised at an angle perpendicular to her torso.”

3. Next, the coital alignment technique requires sexual movement from the pelvis by both man and the woman.

Even so, neither the man nor woman will use any kind of leverage from pushing, pulling or bracing with their arms and legs. Indeed, Eichel made the point that any movement of any other part of the body would spoil the movement in the genital area which was essential for this technique.

Sexual intercourse is often an activity in which the man enters the woman and then thrusts until he ejaculates, while she lies passively.

There are vast amounts of erotica on the Internet which show how a woman can move her pelvis in synchrony with the man during sexual activity. But this doesn’t seem to have changed the way most couples make love. The woman passive, the man active. Thrust – thrust – thrust – ejaculate. Sex over.

Against this background, it might be difficult for some couples using the coital alignment technique to establish the correct rhythm and synchrony of sexual movement.

4. Then the couple start moving in synchrony, with the same rhythm and the same pace.

Once again, to quote Eichel: “the woman leads in the upward stroke of sexual movement forcing the pelvis of the man backward; he allows his pelvis to move backward while providing a resistant counter pressure against the woman’s clitoris. As the woman’s pelvis moves forward and upward, the vagina engulfs the male penis more deeply. In the downward stroke of sexual movement, the process reverses with the male forcing the female pelvis backward. The woman provides a resistant counter pressure by pressing her clitoris against the external base of the man’s penis. As the woman’s pelvis moves backward and downward, the penis shaft rocks forward against the female mons, sliding to a shallow position in the vagina.”

5. Next, the couple adjust the pressure they exert during intercourse as they move together.

The force exerted by the person who is initiating the forward thrust pelvic movement and the force offered by the person who is providing resistance should be in approximately a 60% to 40% ratio.

6. Finally, man and woman adjust their movements so they are subtle and comfortable. 

A couple aren’t expected to make big movements during lovemaking in the coital alignment position. They move only to the extent that the natural interplay of penis and vagina will allow them.

It seems that one of the effects of moving in this way is that the spine of the partner who is responding to the initiating partner extends in elongation rather than in an arching movement.

Couple making love using the coital alignment technique.

A Note On Why Women Don’t Usually Reach Orgasm During Intercourse

Basically, it’s because most women reach orgasm because of clitoral stimulation, not vaginal stimulation. And there isn’t much stimulation of the clitoris during in-out thrusting.

However, when the distance between a woman’s clitoris and her vagina is shorter than average, research has shown a woman is more likely to reach orgasm during intercourse.

This is because her clitoris is stimulated by the man’s penis as it thrusts in and out of her vagina, or because the man’s body presses on her clitoris as they make love.  Whatever, we know that women whose clitoris is comparatively closer to the vagina have more orgasms during intercourse than women where the clitoris and vagina are further apart. And another factor that helps a woman reach orgasm during intercourse is the distance between her urethral opening and her clitoris. 

Using The Coital Alignment Technique

You can imagine that those instructions are not the easiest guide to lovemaking! Although you see the coital alignment technique described in many places, none of them really seem to explain it very clearly.

But the basic principles are these:

• While the penis is in the vagina, there’s obviously sexual contact between partners.
• In addition, the penis is moving in such a way that the base of the shaft, or that general area, makes contact with the clitoris, or that general area.
• Basically the penile shaft is pressing up against the place which would represent 12 o’clock if the opening to the vagina was marked with a clockface.
• This means that the base of the penis shaft on the top surface comes into close contact the clitoris, or at least is positioned up against it. (Just make this clear, as a man stands with his looking down onto his erection, that would be the top surface in this context.)

Eichel’s theory was that this contact between penis and clitoris could remain constant and steady during intercourse because of the pressure and counter pressure which was exerted by both partners throughout intercourse.

As he put it, “the penile clitoral connection is held intact and rocked upward and downward in a small, even-paced, lever-like motion in sexual movement.”

If it helps you to imagine what this motion might be like, Eichel described it as similar to the beam of the balance oscillating on its pivot.

And yes, this is indeed a very different form of movement to the conventional thrusting of the penis in and out of the vagina, where there is very little clitoral stimulation or contact.

In essence, when a couple have mastered the coital alignment technique, the sensation that the clitoris receives is much more one of vibration, or rhythmic repetitive stimulation.

Reaching Orgasm

Eichel pointed out that for his technique to work, both partners must be equally physically active during coitus (intercourse).

They must also make sure that their movements do not overextend or underextend, and they must achieve perfect timing, and a continuous rhythm.

Apparently in conventional intercourse, most couples find the man speeds up as he approaches orgasm, moving harder and faster. At the same time, the woman slows down and even stops moving. She has to do this because the man’s vigorous thrusting can become uncomfortable for her.

The coital alignment technique requires that both partners maintain a steady and even pace of movement. In particular, when either of them is approaching orgasm, neither of them must speed up or slow down, and neither must they tense their muscles.

Reaching orgasm successfully depends on both partners moving in a regular and steady rhythm. This allows, so Eichel claimed, a reflexive and involuntary movement during orgasm which allows stimulation to continue, perhaps deepening the orgasm as it does so. And for those who like to make a noise, it’s good to hear that Eichel encouraged a couple to be noisy. He said giving voice to your pleasure make your orgasm deeper and more enjoyable orgasms!