INJURIES

I have started to get a sort of tennis elbow (maybe golfers elbow) when playing. I'm not sure if it is down to my technique or due to not stretching before playing maybe? Has anyone experienced the same or does anybody have any tips?

Probably a technique issue. Are you sitting too low? Cymbals too high? Too far away from the set? Hitting too hard, or from the wrong angle? Playing drums should be fairly comfortable, and if it isn't, there is a problem.

are you playing with any tension? that's almost always bad and can lead to issues like tendinitis. i used to have a pretty bad problem with tendinitis in my right shoulder until i finally learned to play in a more relaxed style.

dairyairman,


have your symptoms completely gone away?

defregano said:

dairyairman,


have your symptoms completely gone away?

Click to expand...

yeah, for the most part they have. sometimes they'll come back if i slip back into my old habit of playing with tension, like if i have a very fast ride pattern to play for a long period or something like that. i'm ok as long as i force myself to relax. then i don't get sore.

it used to be pretty bad though. it hurt so much and was so persistent it looked like i was going to have to give up drumming. it was affecting my other activities too, like surfing. i love to surf but i couldn't paddle because my shoulder hurt so much. playing without tension was basically a cure-all for me. once i started relaxing the pain went away almost completely.

cool...this gives me some hope...thanks. Im at the point where its either let go of all tension or give up the drums. A scary place to be. Its been a slow undoing of bad habits for me but im playing looser than ever right now.

i hope it works for you as well as it did for me. completely relaxing improves your drumming too. when you play with tension it makes the music sound tense. i could actually hear it in the recordings of my band. it's not pleasant sounding and made me feel tense just listening to myself.

Do some searching here on the forums - this topic comes up at least 2 or 3 times, every week. There are literally volumes here, that you can read from and learn about drumming injuries.

My guess it's more set up than technique. My biggest problem is my right hand falling asleep if my ride is not the right height.

well i have recently changed my set up, this is not something i had considered! i have raised my seat, i think it gradually slipped down lately and it is feeling a great deal better. cheers for the help guys!