Left hand feels slippery
I play traditional grip and I've recently noticed a problem with my left hand technique:
I've noticed that once I start playing bounce strokes, the angle of decent of the stick gets increasingly unstable. How can I control this more? My thumb is decently tight on the stick.
When I do really slow bounce strokes with a focus on keeping my fulcrum, I notice my hand opens a very little bit, as if I'm throwing something down. Is this a problem?
Does anyone have any experience with this? Are there any exercises or tips I could use? The next two weeks I will be very focused on technique because I'll have a lot of free time and no access to a kit.
Posted Jul 25, 2016, 6:28 AM UTC
14
Your thumb shouldn't be gripping too tightly, doing that can lead to injuries. You should keep your hand loose and relaxed as possible (without the stick flying out of your hand obviously).
No. Almost every pro that uses trad does this from what I've seen. Here's Dave Weckl demonstrating traditional grip. See how he almost opens his fingers completely. Also notice how his hand is pretty much completely relaxed and his thumb isn't tightly gripped around the stick.
Thanks for the advice!
I was going to say this too. If you grip too tightly, your hand gets tired and the stick slips. The friction in your skin on the stick should keep it in place. If you want to ensure your technique is on point, pick up a copy of Jojo Mayer's Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer dvd.
I've watched that whole thing, only a long time ago. It's so helpful for basically everything technique-wise. I'm thinking of cleaning it off and rewatching it when I have the time
Thanks for reminding me!