PAIN

capilano-gypsy

i've been getting some mild pain in my wrist. keeping the angle required for the picking is making it sore. i do my best to relax but the extended practicing is slowly catching up.

what can i change in my technique to prevent this? i must be doing something wrong... i know i'm not tensing up. i'm very careful with that.

Kcox

I'm no doctor, but I used to get a slow dull pain from the angle as well. It's hard to describe what I did, but I kind of turned the meat of my hand (the palm, essentially) inwards a bit more, so it was ever so much more in line with the front of the guitar. The change in my hand position was tiny, barely even perceptible to others, but the resulting change in tone on the guitar (as well as the loss of pain in my wrist after long practice) was immediate. It felt awkward at first, but I got used to it quickly and I think it helped my pompe as well.

Good luck,

Kevin

capilano-gypsy

wouldn't that change the angle that your pick strikes to a more perpendicular angle? something you'd want to avoid right?

Kcox

Oddly enough it actually changed it from a flatter striking profile to a more 45 degree angle...you could also maybe tyhink of it as pulling your pinky in a bit...it involved an ever so slight rotation of the wrist so that the motion you end up with seems more like what you'd do when, say, casting a fishing rod.

Please be advised, I'm not an expert, I'm just sharing how I solved my own personal pain issue.

Kevin

MichaelHorowitz

Sounds to me like you might be bending your wrist the wrong way. One of the big no nos of technique is bending the wrist left or right. It should be perfectly straight and then bend down to create an arch. If you bend it left or right it will limit your movement, create tension, and probably lead to injury.

I hope that helps!

'm

capilano-gypsy

thanks for the help!

i just hope i won't have to take a hiatus from injury... the pain is gradually getting worse...

RKatz

Stop playing imediately, until your hand feels normal again then start again and change your technique. I have had some bad experiances with prolonged injury, please take care, I wouldn't wish the fustration, depression and discomfort on anyone, belive me a week off and a visit to a phisiotherapist is an investment for years of great playing.

All the best.

guit_box

"Sounds to me like you might be bending your wrist the wrong way. One of the big no nos of technique is bending the wrist left or right. It should be perfectly straight and then bend down to create an arch. If you bend it left or right it will limit your movement, create tension, and probably lead to injury."

The picture on page 10 of GP has a wrist position that I would call bent to the extreme right. Could you ellaborate on what you mean by a perfectly straight wrist?

capilano-gypsy

i think he means straight, as in if you looked at yourself in the mirror, your wrist won't be making an angle up or down, but towards you.

chap

Funny you should mention the mirror. After watching bireli video clips I started playing in the mirror and really focusing on my hand postion trying to get it to move like Bireli's. It radically improved my tone and speed and helped very much with sweeping arpeggios.

As for the pain--I had a real problem switching to a 670mm scale, but it was the index finger of my LEFT hand. I took it easy and at times played through it. Took about 5 mos. The doctor had me on the Vioxx for a while! It had no effect. Good luck.

djangology

hey Michael, that is a really good observation about the wrist angle... a very suttle thing to notice.

i hope that your wrist gets better Allin. :-) whenever I am in pain from playing, that is when I sit down to a good music theory book. you dont have to actually hold the guitar to improve... you can play smarter by studying or even doing something like learning to read music, which is low impact.