Practice pad, sore hands, warm ups

Found My Wings

Junior Member
Hi everyone!

To help with the issue of my son not wanting me to reposition his drums to my size (of which I respect) I bought myself a practice pad.

I have only had it for one day and today my knuckles are sore! I am assuming this is normal because the surface is different than a snare drum (harder).

What do you do to warm up your hands before practicing to prevent the soreness?
 
You shouldn't have pain from using a practice pad.
Take it easy and don't grip so tight and hit so hard.
Use the pad to work your chops gently.
I use one for about a half an hour every day with no ill effects.
I can never go as fast on my pad as I can on a drum.
 
When you say son I'm going to guess you are older, not as old as me, but not a youngster and the hands will take a beating. Practice pads are not as forgiving or give as much as heads, with less bounce. I have run my hands under hot water to warm them up a bit before I play. Play a little softer and you should be ok.
 
Thanks for the replies!

Yeah, you got me I was holding them too tight.

Gruntersdad, you are correct, I am 38 and always have had poor circulation in my hands, I ran my hands and wrists under warm water yesterday each time I picked up my sticks, loosened my grip and had a fantastic day of drumming!

I was working on the multiple bounce roll for the first time yesterday and I was extrememly impressed! It took a while trying to figure out how to hold the sticks correctly to achieve a good structured bounce, but I do beleive I got it going well! The snare was singing!

My hands are not as sore as they were yesterday even though I went from the pad to the snare multiple times yesterday.

Thanks you two!
 
Try this before you begin practicing. Works great for all of us old timers...back of the hands only! Ha!
 

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Another alternative is to practise on a pillow, cushion - softer surface to absorb the stick impact. Begin with rudiments: singles, doubles, paradiddles. You will develop flexibility, endurance, stick control and hand coordination as soon as you move to the drum-set.

It called my attention that you are 38 years old. Holy Christ! I am 40 and still have enough lead in my pencil....;-)

Cheers,
 
I imagine the main problem is technique. If he's choking the stick, that could cause all sorts of problems.
 
I would agree with Jeff on this one. The only thing that should be experiencing pain at this point in your drumming "career" would be your listening audience. JK...loosen the grip, start by warming up slowly to a good metronome, and increase your tempo as your abilities increase. Like I used to say when I went to the gym a lot, "no pain, no pain"! Correct your technique and you should be fine. Good luck...
 
It called my attention that you are 38 years old. Holy Christ! I am 40 and still have enough lead in my pencil....;-)

Cheers,

Well, if I had a pencil, I can assure you there would plenty of lead in it!

Seroiuosly though, thanks guys.

I am pleased to report that after 2 days of practicing, way more on Sunday than Monday though, my knuckles are not sore. I have loosened the grip nicely and went slower and softer on the practice pad. I do alot of crocheting and I find that I have held my crochet hook too tightly before too, so I need to remember keep it loose, keep it loose, keep it loose!
 
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