For most women, the key to orgasm is clitoral stimulation. One way of overcoming the lack of clitoral stimulation is to use the coital alignment technique. Instead of entering her straight on when using the missionary position, the man "rides high," so that his pubic bone (the hard surface just above the shaft of his penis) is applying pressure directly to her mons (the rounded protuberance above her vagina, beneath which lies the clitoris). By settling into a gentle, mutual rhythm in which he rocks his pubic bone back and forth over her clitoris, rather than focusing so much on thrusting in and out, she gets stimulated just where she needs it.

Women who've learned the coital alignment technique are able to reach orgasm more often and more pleasurably and are more likely to climax simultaneously with their partner, researchers say.

It's important to keep continuous, steady pressure on the clitoris, say researchers who have studied the benefits of this position. As the man bears down, the woman should apply counterpressure by pushing up with her pelvis. Also, both partners should establish a sexual rhythm that's identical in pattern and pace. Get a slow, steady, even rhythm going, each in sync with the other, and try to keep it up. There's a natural tendency for the man, as he approaches orgasm, to speed up at the same time the woman slows down or even stops. But you need to overcome this tendency and keep moving and thrusting at the same pace as your partner, the researchers say.

The man should rest the full weight of his body on the woman and not prop himself up on his elbows. The woman's legs should be wrapped around the man's thighs, with her ankles resting on his calves (bending her knees any more than that is uncomfortable and tends to immobilize her pelvis, they say).