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GMC Forum _ PRACTICE ROOM _ Left hand flexibility / wrist exercises?

Posted by: n0x Nov 25 2006, 11:38 PM

I just sat down to practice some and noticed that my left wrist feels rather strange as if its almost out of place. I was improvising along Jam Tracks from this site a couple hours ago before I slept, and my wrist seemed fine I think. Anyway, my joints aren't flexible at all, and Im wondering if there is anyway to fix this. or maintain / increase comfort while playing. I play sitting down.. Perhaps it might be a "sitting down while playing guitar" posture problem??

//Edit : I realized that when I solo on higher strings (d,g,b,e) my wrist feels almost fine, however when i curl it to reach the E and A strings it feels as if extra stress is pressured on my wrist bone (the bone sticking out on the left;P)

any ideas? Ive never encountered this problem before really, and thats probably because ive never sat down and tried to "practice" using proper methods before. help would be much appreciated

Posted by: n0x Nov 26 2006, 10:01 PM

guys?

Posted by: Tank Nov 26 2006, 10:20 PM

Check that you haven't stressed your wrist. You might be over stretching, for your current levels, but it will improve.
Aikido has very good sets of stretching exercises for wrists, (you get thrown by the wrist, and pressure locks, so they need to develop some strength). I'd personally advise googling for aikido wrist exercises, if you feel that the issue is to do with your wrist not being supple enough.

As always though, if there you are feeling any pain in your normal scope of wrist movements, it could very well be stressed, and you might need to rest it for a while, or speak to a physio.

/T

Posted by: n0x Nov 27 2006, 11:06 AM

Cheers mate. I will try and rest it for a few days and see how it goes, and I'll try Akido aswell.

Rock on

Posted by: Crazy_Diamond Nov 28 2006, 11:05 PM

I have a couple of tips for you ...

It is important to never hurt yourself be carefull while playing ...
You could also strech your wrist, fingers,thumbs and shoulders before playing ...

I also have a small exercice that I've learned from John Petrucci
It might seems stupid but its really hard ...
Wath out with this exercise ... doesn't matter if you can't do it the firts time...

--------------13------------------13-----------------------9------------------9------------------
----------12-----------------11------------------------11----------------12----------------------
------11-----------------12------------------------12---------------11---------------------------
--10-----------------10------------------------13---------------13-------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Move down the neck

You can pick it or strum it doesn't matter, doesn't sound good ether.. But i'm telling you this exercise is pretty good. I'v been using it for a while. You play these four patterns and you move down one fret... By the time you'll reach the first one you'll be strecth... You can also distance your fingers if you're good.

I'm telling you doesn't matter if you can't play it the first time(Remember don't push yourself)
You'll get it ..

Rock on!!!

Posted by: n0x Nov 29 2006, 03:36 PM

Cheers alot mate, I'll give this a try and I'll let u know how it goes ;]. Thanks again, much appreciated!