Thumb placement for french grip on the ride

[paulegavin]

I'm getting some pain in my right thumb and I think it may be from my thumb placement on the stick, perhaps. My thumb is normally flat against the stick and moves as the stick moves. Any ideas?

[crash]

You could be gripping the stick too tightly. If you are, the only thing that will help is learning to play with a relaxed grip. It took me a while to learn to play relaxed, but it really helps.

[Brenzig]

Before I just spit advice, how long have you been doing this technique? Where is it being applied (kit, marching, timpani), and what speeds are you getting up to?

[paulegavin]

I use it on timpani but haven't played timpani a few months.

I've been using the french for a very long time on the ride, but recently I've been watching a lot of Keith Carlock and Nate Smith videos and emulating what they do on the ride cymbal. I'm able to get to 16ths at q=120 pretty easily with my right hand.

There's no pain in my left, thanks very much.