Hand blisters - Is this normal?

I use 5a pro-mark sticks and I have atleast 20 minutes of fast paced loud playing a day.

Okay, I just wanted to see if you were using the metal based Ahead sticks or something like that where you had a more coarse surface rubbing against your hands.

I would really try breaking your technique down for a couple of days and make sure that you have all of your fingers loosely wrapped around the stick and are able to distribute the shock throughout your hands and arms while utilizing rebound.
 
Clearly not. As I said, I've never seen a drummer with hands that callused before :)

Now I know that Neal Peart and Joeysnare have also been that callused. Funny thing is that nothing I saw in Mason's video looked as though it would be so rough on his hands. I'm either missing something or the vid isn't typical.

Hey Joey, isn't that Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer and not the other war around? Not easy to be a "secret drummer" unless you're playing brushes to a ballad in a bomb shelter :)

well considering the callouses the "modern weapon" would be jergens lotion, and yes "secret", i dont want anyone watching.
 
Ive been drumming for 2 years and 4 months. I Play for atleast 1-2 hours a day somtimes even 4-6 on a weekened. Im obsessed :D. I used to get these killer blisters from playing that hurt like a bitch. It didnt stop me from drumming but I've now built up some crazy callouses. is this normal? :s

That's...messed up. Yeah, definitely get a teacher to help you with technique.
 
I definately can't play with anything bigger than 5a or it still hurts a bit after about a year of active playing. I used to get some really bad ones that hurt a lot, occasionally even bigger than yours but not as many. My first solution was using surgeons tape which let me actually keep playing, and I started to develop a better technique. Lighter sticks also helped a lot.
 
"secret", i dont want anyone watching.

I so relate to that ... nothing has put me more off drum practice, and inhibited my practice sessions when I do it, than the paranoia that someone will be able to hear me.

I keep imagining people thinking "Oh no, she keeps playing that thing over and over" and "Wow, that's just terrible" ...

It was okay when I was young because 1) After playing for a few months I thought I was fantastic and the people around me couldn't fail to be impressed by my brilliance [sic].

Once reality, with subsequent paranoia set in, I got more into trying to find the right mental state to drum instead of practising, inspired by those great non-practisers - Ringo and Keith. That also ensured that I would have lovely, soft hands haha

As for the thread, I sometimes got blisters on my thumbs when gigging in the old days but later found out that I didn't have to hit nearly as hard as I did to get the same intensity and volume. I was hitting so hard that I was choking the drums' resonance and actually sounding softer than if I chilled a bit more. Also, I found that, even in crazy intense songs you don't have to play at 11 all the time, just some of the time ...
 
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