Guitarhands GYM....

willem
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Sat Jan 23, 2010 4:49 am

Question to you guy's and girls,,,,do you with your hands a kind of gym otherwise then playing warm/ups at your guitar..

I ask that on the teacher that i had years a go.... he had some tips..

Take a double page from a newspaper and go with your hand to the centre and then frummel it with your fingers to a ball...

Haggle in a stress/ball..

cheeeeeeeessssseeeeeeee..


tom18
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Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:18 am

Willem
I started using a Prohands Gripmaster while getting physical therapy on my hand. You can buy them from Amazon.com or at most large sporting stores in the US. It definitely helps strengthen hands. I'm unsure about availability in the Netherlands.
Tom



Image


wrench
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Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:34 am

Planet Waves sells a similar device called Vari Grip, and I found it very effective for not only strengthening, but also to break the affinity of adjacent fingers.

My hand surgeon told me playing guitar is excellent therapy for troubled hands, and he loves these Vari Grip types of devices.

Dan


haoli25
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Sun Jan 24, 2010 12:20 am

Thanks for starting this thread Willem because I've been having problems too. I can not make my pinky finger behave.

What a great idea for a hand exerciser. I checked out the link at amazon, and lo and behold the hand squeezer Gripmaster thing will help my softball game too.

I'm also having trouble keeping my fingers down in position when I reach for the next fret up. They always end up twisted to the sides because my fingers don't want to spread widely apart to reach all three frets in the first position while keeping pressure on all three individual fingers. Any tricks of the trade for helping fingers to spread out better?


cosmicmechanic
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Sun Jan 24, 2010 12:47 am

missy_megs wrote:
Thanks for starting this thread Willem because I've been having problems too. I can not make my pinky finger behave.

What a great idea for a hand exerciser. I checked out the link at amazon, and lo and behold the hand squeezer Gripmaster thing will help my softball game too.

I'm also having trouble keeping my fingers down in position when I reach for the next fret up. They always end up twisted to the sides because my fingers don't want to spread widely apart to reach all three frets in the first position while keeping pressure on all three individual fingers. Any tricks of the trade for helping fingers to spread out better?
Hi missy

Your post reminded me how not so long ago I was irritated by my pinky finger that seemed to suddenly not want to bend on cue, and stay kinda stiff. I see now that this was a sign of fatigue, but hard to identify since it occurred after a very short time playing and the finger did not feel tired. The finger performed OK for a little bit, but then went rigid.

If it's any consolation, it just went away after playing more often ... now I've got other symptoms I can also get over with practice.

Thanks for reminding me ... it encourages me, and I hope this may also encourage you to keep it up !

Pierre


jim56
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Sun Jan 24, 2010 12:58 am

cosmicmechanic wrote:
Your post reminded me how not so long ago I was irritated by my pinky finger that seemed to suddenly not want to bend on cue, and stay kinda stiff. I see now that this was a sign of fatigue, but hard to identify since it occurred after a very short time playing and the finger did not feel tired. The finger performed OK for a little bit, but then went rigid.

Pierre
Thanks for the feedback! I was actually getting frustrated because I would manage to hit the chord I was trying once or twice at the beginning of practicing and then couldn't hit it again to save my life and working at it just seemed to make it worse. Fatigue makes so much sense. Thanks for pointing that out.


cosmicmechanic
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Sun Jan 24, 2010 1:12 am

missy,

I should add that (withing reason) fatigue is not the reason to stop trying to actually practice the chord that is being sabotaged by your pinky or whatever finger. The extra effort, even if unsuccessful, is what causes extra endurance and ability to develop. My general guideline is that any sign of uncontrollable bleeding is time to consider a pause :P


wrench
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Sun Jan 24, 2010 9:13 am

missy_megs wrote:
Thanks for starting this thread Willem because I've been having problems too. I can not make my pinky finger behave.

What a great idea for a hand exerciser. I checked out the link at amazon, and lo and behold the hand squeezer Gripmaster thing will help my softball game too.

I'm also having trouble keeping my fingers down in position when I reach for the next fret up. They always end up twisted to the sides because my fingers don't want to spread widely apart to reach all three frets in the first position while keeping pressure on all three individual fingers. Any tricks of the trade for helping fingers to spread out better?
missy_megs,

The grip devices do very well in strengthening individual fingers and getting independent control of the fingers. For maximizing the spread, I use a toy rubber football. Squeeze a portion of the ball and jam it between your fingers then let it expand. I also exercise moving individual fingers laterally on the football. You may be surprised to find that when you can independently apply force with your ring finger, you still can't independently move it laterally. Do the football stretching BEFORE playing and the strength exercise on the VariGrip or Gripmaster AFTER playing. I know you're pretty young, and if you don't have hand problems, you will see good results in just a few days. Your first clues will be your new ability to span one additional fret, and certain chords that are difficult to you now will suddenly become easier.

Dan


haoli25
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Sun Jan 24, 2010 10:31 pm

wrench wrote:
For maximizing the spread, I use a toy rubber football. Squeeze a portion of the ball and jam it between your fingers then let it expand. I also exercise moving individual fingers laterally on the football.

Dan
Ouch! but that sounds like a great idea. Having something to squeeze *between* my fingers makes a lot of sense for improving control. Even more so when you add a hyperextension in there from the ball expansion.

I can move my fingers laterally independently when they're straight (thanks to being determined to learn the Vulcan ta'al as a kid *blush*), but once I curl them up into guitar playing position, all that lateral movement disappears. My hands are confused!

Thanks for the great hand workout tips. I'm sure that'll help :)


willem
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Mon Jan 25, 2010 1:42 pm

Dan (wrench) can you make a vid and demostrate what you do with the toy ball???


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