Fore arm pain is this a technique problem

Spiney

Member
during my last gig on Saturday I got a lot of pain in my forearm. I'm a lefty so I'm hitting the ride with my left arm and that's where the pain was. I'm not a hard hitter. We were playing a couple of faster 60's rock/dance tunes in a row. A lot of repetitive 1/8 notes on the ride. Is this an indication of holding too tight? something else I can watch this weekend? I do have to reach up slightly to hit the ride, should I lower it? Thanks, Spiney/Dave
 
Sounds like you are not playing relaxed and/or gripping the stick too tight. When playing fast sixteenth or eighth notes, the tendency is too lock up your muscles to keep up the pace--and that will produce that tingling or numbing pain in the forearm.

It is a matter of technique. Learning to use rebound and a bit of the Moeller technique will help you to loosen up your grip and not expend a lot of energy.

John Riley and Tommy Igoe both have videos on this site and YouTube where they discuss how to use rebound in a relaxed grip in order to avoid arm fatigue and injury.
 
Sounds like you are not playing relaxed and/or gripping the stick too tight. When playing fast sixteenth or eighth notes, the tendency is too lock up your muscles to keep up the pace--and that will produce that tingling or numbing pain in the forearm.

It is a matter of technique. Learning to use rebound and a bit of the Moeller technique will help you to loosen up your grip and not expend a lot of energy.

John Riley and Tommy Igoe both have videos on this site and YouTube where they discuss how to use rebound in a relaxed grip in order to avoid arm fatigue and injury.

+1...
When I first started playing "live" back in 91, I had problems with arm muscles getting "tight" to the point of pain.
I took a while for me to learn to relax while I was playing and now at age 58, the only problem I have is playing straight 16th notes on the kick drum.. Even when asked to play the song "Wipeout" several times a night....why I don't know.....my arms don't tense up like they used to years ago.
So relax your grip and let the sticks do the work.
 
Yeah, i would definately say to try and grip the stick a bit more loosely and use a little more rebound, but experimenting with the ride adjustments couldnt hurt either.
 
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