Maple sticks and wrist pain?

brady

Platinum Member
Has anyone ever experienced this?

I don't think it's a technique issue. It started about a month or so ago when I switched to VF SD4 maple sticks. I started experiencing a slight soreness in my right wrist.

I injured this wrist a few years ago but I haven't had any real issues with it, since I let it heal properly; no rushing back into playing, heavy lifting, etc.

I have heard that maple sticks don't absorb shock like hickory does, and I felt that, especially when playing a cross stick. I felt a jarring in my knuckles that I never had before.

I have tried many, many sticks over the years and thought I had finally found my stick but the wrist issue became too much. I switched back to the VF 7A and within a couple days, there is hardly any issue at all. However, now the 7A feels heavy and sluggish compared to the SD4. The search is on again for my stick.

I just played the Vater 7As and really liked them. They are my first pair of Vaters and they seem really nice. They are definitely weighted differently than VFs. Not band, just different. I found them to be much better than the VF 7A.
 
Most of the Maple sticks I've used are lite and require me to change the way, I feel the stick coming off of the drum or cymbal I'm playing and the SD4's are light stix, perhaps the stick weight completely changes the way the stick comes off the cymbals or drums. Perhaps this is the cause of you're wrist pain.
 
I've used Hickory Promark 747s for years and while I've never used Maple sticks I did try out their Oak version of the 747s a while back.

I experienced similar problems to those you describe. It got so bad I was skipping days of practice because my hands hurt so much. Then I switched back to Hickory.

Problem solved! I had never thought about it before but it makes sense that the density of the stick material would have a direct effect on the shock waves transferred back to our hands through the sticks.

I hope your hands feel better!
 
I've used Hickory Promark 747s for years and while I've never used Maple sticks I did try out their Oak version of the 747s a while back.

I experienced similar problems to those you describe. It got so bad I was skipping days of practice because my hands hurt so much. Then I switched back to Hickory.

Problem solved! I had never thought about it before but it makes sense that the density of the stick material would have a direct effect on the shock waves transferred back to our hands through the sticks.

I hope your hands feel better!

Thanks guys. Yes, they feel better every day; hardly a twinge at all now.

I have gone back to the VF 7As. The Vaters just didn't do it for me.

As a side note, I am the worst stick junkie ever. I really think I have a problem... I have at least 20 different pairs of sticks lying around the practice room.
 
Hickory does have to absorb the shock of baseballs, and does it well. But on a cold day, or contact in the wrong spot, sting travels fast through hickory. But it's very hard.

I have used maple sticks for 15 years (actually birch for the last 10 or more) and just can't deal with the feel of hickory anymore. Too hard. I notice the feel in the other direction. I find it much more of a shock absorber to play maple or birch. Softer wood, less shock or vibration, I guess. Of course, most players who go from hickory to maple generally get a thicker stick, too, dealing with the weight difference. I like being able to hold a beefier stick and not have the extra weight.

Strange you are experiencing this.

" I have at least 20 different pairs of sticks lying around the practice room."

LOL. I have a 5 gal bucket filled with all kind of sticks. Plus they are in other containers, too. Always looking for "the one."
 
Vic Firth makes a hickory version of the SD4, called the HD4. If you like the design but maple's not working for you, give it a try.
 
Vic Firth makes a hickory version of the SD4, called the HD4. If you like the design but maple's not working for you, give it a try.

That was actually one of the first sticks that I tried as a substitute. It didn't rebound at all like the SD4 did.

It ended up being between the old 7As or the Steve Gadd signature stick. I really liked the Gadd stick but didn't like the idea of getting black paint on my stuff.
 
Maple makes for a nice shell but is crap for sticks because the grain splits cleanly and easily. They definitely feel different to play. I tended to drop them too. I never had a maple stick last long, they always cleaved along the grain like someone cutting a diamond, leaving a fairly dangerous puncture device. I can't say I had wrist pain with them, but then I never used them for any length of time.
 
Maple makes for a nice shell but is crap for sticks because the grain splits cleanly and easily. They definitely feel different to play. I tended to drop them too. I never had a maple stick last long, they always cleaved along the grain like someone cutting a diamond, leaving a fairly dangerous puncture device. I can't say I had wrist pain with them, but then I never used them for any length of time.

Hickory is both harder and more dense than maple, thus the lack of durability you have with a maple stick. Their grain structures are somewhat similar. Personally, I will take maple and hickory any day over oak sticks.
 
That was actually one of the first sticks that I tried as a substitute. It didn't rebound at all like the SD4 did.

If you dig the Firth 7A's but want more rebound, check out their American Jazz 4's (aka AJ4).

It's my current stick, and I have many many different stick sets that I've tried.

They are on the light side, they have amazing rebound, and they sound killer on ride.
 
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