[CAUT] hand and wrist position

[Otto Keyes]

One has to look down the line 30 years to see what long-term results a
particular action will bring.  This position assumes a shorter tuner, as
most tall ones will incur lower back problems, sometimes in pretty short
order, standing at a piano to tune.  The angle of attack on the key tends to
less wrist flex, resulting in more force being transferred into the  joints
themselves.  A firmly planted elbow will result in damage to the ulnar nerve
over time, with resultant problems in the wrist, hand & fingers, as well as
the elbow itself.

A few years, or perhaps even a few months, of steady tuning forces anyone to
find a stance & style that involves the least stress, or face the
consequences down the road.

There are other impact hammers out there that are considerably cheaper that
can be adapted to fit the hand better.  Impacts are great to use, but even
they must be used properly to minimize wear & tear to the body.

Otto

----- Original Message -----
From: "Cy Shuster" <741662027@theshusters.org>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2005 1:06 AM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] hand and wrist position


> They teach us here to plant an elbow firmly on top of uprights, put the
> handle up, extend the fingers to grab the handle (thumb up), then squeeze
> the hand closed to make a fine adjustment.
>
> Dean Reyburn's going to show us his impact hammer next week, and I'm eager
> to try it.
>
> --Cy--
> www.nbss.org
> Class of '06