Picking wrist fatigue

[John Flynn]

I did a search on this and while similar issues have been discussed, I did not find one that directly hits this problem. I can play old time fiddle tunes I know well at fast tempos accuarately and cleanly, but what happens after about a minute at warp speed is I get painful fatigue in my picking wrist. It is not a sharp pain, but just a dull fatigue kind of pain. I usually have to switch to rhythm for a couple of go-arounds.

I am an intermediate player of a about 15 years. I play a fair amount, but not hours and hours a day, so I would not think there is an overuse issue. I don't post my fingers or my wrist. I broke myself of that years ago. I keep a loose pick grip and generally my arm is relaxed, but the wrist seems to tense up when the speed goes up.

I have heard the analogies of "the wrist should be like a dish rag" and "the wrist motion should be like shaking out a match." That is exactly what I would like to go for, but I am having a hard time getting there. Does anyone have any tips/drills I can incorporate into my practice for improving this?

[Ken Sager]

Practicing to the point of pain is learning to feel pain. Take it down a notch from there, don't practice at your pain threshold.

One way to get there is by documenting the speeds where this happens. Using a metronome find the speed/pain barrier. If it's comfortable at 150, let's say, but 155 causes you to stiffen up, or feel pain, keep practicing at 150 for awhile and try 155 after a couple weeks. Faithful and steady practice within your comfort range will help raise that threshold over time. Assuming you're getting the tone you want to hear at 150, as well as it staying comfortable and pain free, keep doing it.

Some of the best drills I've used for right hand are Mike Compton's right hand exercises that vary the emphasis of certain strokes in time. (caps mean emphasis) DuduDuduDuduDudu, DudUduDudUdu, DuDuDuDu, DudDudDudDud, you get the idea. Do these within your comfort range and your comfort range is likely to expand. It's always helpful to practice them very slowly, too, to help with timing, but too fast will only exacerbate your problem.

All the best,
Ken

[Any Day Now]

Are you playing with a completely loose wrist? You don't want to only use your wrist muscles, you can kind of swing your hand like a dishrag, you shouldnt have any tense muscles in your hand.

If you play completely loose then your wrist will never get tired, your arm might though haha.

[John Flynn]

Are you playing with a completely loose wrist?

No, that's the problem. I can only play slowly with a loose wrist. When things speed up, the wrist tightens up involuntarily. In practice, I can just slow down. But in a fast jam, I can't keep up on melody without the wrist tensing up. Its like when things get fast, I can no longer "will" my wrist to loosen up.

[swinginmandolins]

If you don't/haven't I would suggest practicing the rest stroke. Picking through the string and stopping at the next lower/higher string. This will allow you to get more volume out of a stroke. Economy of motion is key. Any tension will cause the feeling you describe. I had the problem of tensing and found it was mostly me trying to get more volume out of the stroke and the rest stroke has help me in that reguards. A slight pick angle also seems to help rid some of the resistance of the strings.

[earthsave]

Drink more before you play... it'll loosen up the wrist and you wont care as much.

I have the same issue with tensing up on a fast break. Most of the tension is due to me tensing up cause I know we are playing fast and I am worried I'm gonna flub and some is probably lack of muscle memory. In other words, most is in my head.

Probably not much help, other than a little empathy.

[Jonathan Reinhardt]

Terry said it nice -
also pay attention to your elbow - a little more out away from the insrument creates a different angle for the wrist to work with.
all our bodies are different, and it is a challenge to get this technique to a level that works well.

rasa
Jonathan Reinhardt

[John Flynn]

All good ideas, thanks! I will follow up on all of them. Here is a related question that may make a difference also. What is the group's opinion on whether the wrist motion should be more of a rotation, (like striking a stick match on a flat surface) or more side-to-side (like erasing a pencil mark on a piece of paper with an eraser)?

[swinginmandolins]

[QUOTE]What is the group's opinion on whether the wrist motion should be more of a rotation, (like striking a stick match on a flat surface) or more side-to-side (like erasing a pencil mark on a piece of paper with an eraser)?

I think that the striking a match works best for me. I tried working with the eraser motion, and it just didn't work for me. I could never get a loose motion. I keep my arm pretty much on my tailpiece and my right wrist ends up being at an angle, which seems to work better. I still revert back to lightly resting my palm on my bridge when playing faster, but noticed recently if I get the slight angle on my wrist I don't touch the instrument with anything other than my arm and I have a better flow. Recently too I have taken my strap off and use my right arm to control the mandolin and that seems to have helped me find a more natural position and things are feeling better lately. I play sitting down all the time so if you stand while playing this may not work, but it may be something you can experiment with just to find a more natural position.

[Ken Sager]

More rotation at times, more side-to-side at times. Strike a balance that works for you and gives you the speed and looseness you strive for.

I found out the reason my wrist was tightening was I was clenching my pinky, ring and middle fingers into a tight fist as I played faster. I didn't even realize I was doing it. I wasn't holding the pick tighter. Tight fist = tight wrist.

Try this experiment: Shake your hand around with your fingers open. Then make a fist and shake it around. When those tendons are tight the wrist is tight.