Working the weak hand

Ayotte44

Junior Member
Hey all,

New to the forums and thought I'd ask a question about the (my) weak hand (left for me)..

Recently I ve really started focusing on my left and figured I'd start doing normal tasks using this weak hand. Brushing teeth, opening doors etc....in doing this, I'm amazed at how little strength and dexterity I have in this hand. For example; brushing my teeth the first week was very difficult... Having said all this, has anyone else done this and did they see any result at all that helped? Am I just wasting my time?

I'm sure there's been a million threads about the weak hand but couldn't specifically find something about daily usage..

Thanks


-Mark
 
Hi Mark, welcome to the forum!

Indeed, there's tons of threads on the left hand, how to improve it etc. What you mentioned is brought up in those threads, too - but not all the time. I just did a search and couldn't find any specific thread on daily use of one's left hand but well, what could that be? Get creative ;-)

What I recently did was starting to use my mouse left-handed, but only for certain tasks. I've been trying this in the past but it felt too awkward to continue doing so. But lately it was much easier - that awkward feeling went away within a week or so. One thing I took up years ago - for the sake of enhancing my left hand awareness but from a guitarist's point of view - was brushing my teeth with my left hand. It felt completely normal after some time, I stopped thinking about it years ago.

It has become second nature for me to learn/practice every rudiment/pattern with my left side leading. I think if you focus on practicing 50% of your rudiment/motion oriented routine with your left hand/foot leading that would already be a major improvement. While this has helped me a lot I still feel that my right hand is way stronger than my left and also much better in terms of control. I wouldn't focus on doing everyday tasks with my left hand too much - 'just' practice L hand lead much more and it should pay off.

One option for more left hand workout is to isolate your left hand and practice it while doing something different. E.g. I would browse the net, read something or do some work while practicing my left hand on a pad placed on my PC workdesk (I'm working at home), often times with trad grip. Those extra sessions help and have some accumulative effect. Think multi tasking.
 
I've tried making myself ambidextrous by using my left hand for everyday, mundane things and it just didn't work. I've found that simply making my left hand work a double shift when I'm practicing on the pad or kit has really helped. Learning to lead with the weak hand was huge.
 
Same here. I started brushing my teeth with my left hand about 9 months ago, and dont even think about it now. Has it helped my drumming left hand? not that I can feel. Working on the kit a lot more with the left hand has really helped though. Keep at it.
 
I agree with the idea of practicing your rudiments alternating the lead. Funny I started brushing my teeth and brushing my hair at the same time months ago. But it is always brushing teeth with my right hand. Now I have to try to switch it!
 
Playing a beat and riding with your left hand is beneficial.
 
Thanks guys...I've been playing for the past 27 years and I've never thought to lead my rudiments with weak hand, I'm going to start doing that.

It's funny because over the past 2 months I've really stepped up my daily practice time to a little under 2 hours a day and I've noticed that with the increased practice pad work, my right hand is becoming very fast, loose and flexible...which I think is the reason I'm noticing the weakness of my left hand more...or it could be in my mind. I've never noticed in the past how weak my left hand actually was up until a couple months ago so it there has to be some correlation..
 
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when i was learning hebrew i would sit in the class and write the alphabet over and over just to drill it into my head. i started doing it left handed because hebrew goes from right to left. definitely improved over time but still looked like a kids handwriting.
concerning drums i think the only thing is giving more time to the weak hand.
the problem is really in the brain. i have thought about just not bothering. let each hand do what it does and improve that. why waste time trying to play a flam with a left lead when the right lead executes a great flam with no hassle.
i am a guitar player and with guitar each hand does different things. left hand frets, right hand strums...no need for both hands to be good at both things. but yeah, drumming needs more balance between right and left even if 100% ambidexterity seems impossible.
the problem REALLY is in the brain. firstly getting the brain to assign an action to the weak hand, even just once, when it is so used to going to the strong hand. and secondly getting the discipline to make the brain repeat the action enough times so as to permanently open up the channels to the weak hand. the best way is repetition, repetition, repetition.
 
You've pretty much said it - do the simple things with your weak hand - in your case the left hand. Swap over the kit and play the weak hand as the lead. Practice and play with it for a while like that. It's amazing what a difference it makes!

All the best

TJ

www.britchops.co.uk
 
Playing a beat and riding with your left hand is beneficial.

for the last year i've been trying to think of how to word a post regarding just this type of thing.

my question to the more experienced was / is can / does anyone Left Handed Spang-A-Lang.

but i always stopped when i thought: Sure...they all can.
 
I think I must be different than most folks. Although I am not completely ambidextrous (my left-hand writing is practically non-existent), I can do a lot with my left hand. Throughout my life I have discovered that I do many little things 'left-handed', e.g. buckle a belt, cut/eat food, etc. Also, I've never understood the term "weak" hand. For me, at least, it is ONLY a question of coordination and control. My left hand/arm is absolutely as strong as my right.
 
I think I must be different than most folks. Although I am not completely ambidextrous (my left-hand writing is practically non-existent), I can do a lot with my left hand. Throughout my life I have discovered that I do many little things 'left-handed', e.g. buckle a belt, cut/eat food, etc. Also, I've never understood the term "weak" hand. For me, at least, it is ONLY a question of coordination and control. My left hand/arm is absolutely as strong as my right.

are you able to turn a key in a door lock with your left hand ?

i find this awfully difficult.
 
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What I do to help my left hand is set the metronome and just play to that. If you do that for 10 minutes a day you WILL see improvement in the left hand. You could also try purchasing a rudiments book and do those.
 
Open-handed playing has been a great help for me.

I generally practice basic grooves like paradiddles, for example, and play all of the 16th note bass drum permutations underneath without stopping. Also grooves like the half-time shuffle can be interesting played open-handed.

It's very tricky to coordinate in the beginning, but pays off ten-fold in the end. You'll gain left hand confidence and also new awareness when going back to a right-handed mindset.

I also found that dexterity exercises, such as finger and hand opening/closing to be beneficial. Have you ever tried to "flip someone the bird" with your ring finger on the weak hand? I bet for most people it's hard to do with the weak hand, but fairly easy with the lead hand. Food for thought and an example of the typical strong/weak hand dilemma. Again, I took time (and still do) doing exercises opening and closing each finger on each hand without moving the others.

Lastly, around fifteen years ago I started learning how to throw left-handed. I simply took a tennis ball and threw it against a brick wall for 30 minutes a day. It took around a year but eventually I was able to throw equally as hard and controlled as my right arm. This was a huge help for me.
 
for the last year i've been trying to think of how to word a post regarding just this type of thing.

my question to the more experienced was / is can / does anyone Left Handed Spang-A-Lang.

but i always stopped when i thought: Sure...they all can.

Left hand shuffle is a more intense workout. For a real killer, add an accented backbeat on 2 and 4. Unison spang-a langs is a good way to work up to that.
 
Left hand shuffle is a more intense workout. For a real killer, add an accented backbeat on 2 and 4. Unison spang-a langs is a good way to work up to that.

ahhh Unison Spang-a-Langs !!!!

excellent idea. i'll start there.

that Left Handed Shuffle sounds kinda hard.
 
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