Wrist Support

[Nichols]

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Gosh, Andrew, thanks for the plug. It's not gonna change your test scores, 
y'know! <G>

Matthew,
    After almost 30 years, I finally got around to making a bonker. I've 
made several, and a few are "out there" being tested. Our good friend Fred 
Yonley has started advertising one in the classifieds, I noticed.

I'm sold. In my case, it wasn't so much the wrist as the fingers. The 
bonker eliminates that problem. My massage therapist has noticed quite an 
improvement, also.

My favorite bonker is about the size of tall pistol grip, has a strap for 
around the back of the hand (to allow for interval playing without setting 
down and piking up), and a chunk of hammer felt about 3/8" tall by 3/8" 
wide by 1" long. I try to hold it at an angle that is most "natural" to my 
forearm. I can just grip, or use my thumb on top. I don't have to pound as 
much, because the tool allows for one "heavy" bonk in the set of strikes, 
as opposed to several "hard" strikes with the fingers. The whole subject of 
bonker technique, pro-and-con, etc., is for another time.

The weight-lifting section of anywhere (except the evil Wal-Mart) has 
gloves with wrist straps. Consider these for many activities besides tuning.

Strengthen your forearms. Flexors and extensors can be beefed-up easily, 
minutes a day. Strength really matters. Those tuners with dainty arms and 
great technique will argue that, and I respect their position. Strong arms 
aren't mandatory, I just know that good muscle tone in the arms, lats, and 
shoulders reduces fatigue, increases control, and speeds-up my tuning. I 
can almost guarantee that if you spend 10 minutes a day, every other day, 
strength training your forearms, you will notice a difference in just 10 
days. After three weeks, I bet you can see it on the clock. 
(yeahyeahyeah..... all youse guys that know that my forearms are as big as 
your thighs..... ease up!<G>)

Massage is another key, I believe, and I highly recommend regular sessions. 
It's every two weeks for me.

Mr. Davies' series on trigger-point self massage was one of the best series 
to ever hit the Journal.

During prep for the NAMM show, it was interesting to watch other tuners. 
Lots of different techniques, including several "Karate chop" styles. Oh, 
my aching pinky! A couple of super soft, but mainly good hard test blows.

Off to work,
Guy





At 08:13 AM 2/1/2005 -0700, you wrote:
>Matthew,
>Guy Nichols made a wood, buckskin strap & hammer felt contraption that he 
>holds in his hand (fist) and plays the keys that way.  Ask him for a 
>picture.  Another individual made one that will play octaves horizontally 
>or a single note vertically, I believe that was in the journal some months 
>back.
>
>Andrew
>At 08:38 PM 1/31/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>>Dear List,
>>
>>I am contemplating getting some type of support brace for my pounding 
>>hand and was wondering what any of you 4-5 tunings-a-day people use to 
>>reduce wear and tear on your hand(s).
>>
>>One way I've been able to reduce pounding damage is by learning to tune 
>>with my opposite hand: not only does it reduce stress on my limbs but it 
>>also increases my tuning speed so that I don't have to shift position at 
>>either end of a grand; I just switch hands if I need to. I've also gotten 
>>a more ergonomic tuning lever.
>>
>>Even by doing that I still feel discomfort in my hands, especially after 
>>a heavy day of tuning. If anyone has any suggestions, a brand name to try 
>>or if it's better to see a specialist about this sort of thing, I eagerly 
>>await your post.
>>
>>Matthew Lavender
>>
>>

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