Well today I did some practicing while adapting maybe not Tony's exact grip, but something a little different. In doing so I realized a few things about how I was playing before that while it was correct technique, wasn't working as good as it could be for me personally. Using double strokes as an example:
1. I tended to not involve my wrist/hand as much as I could, instead I relied on using fingers only to gain speed.
2. I tended to play with the front part of my hand, with most of my finger control coming from my middle finger only. The ring finger played a minor part, and while the pinky stayed in position, it didn't do much of anything.
3. When using fingers I had a tendency to not keep them as close as possible to the stick, thus causing me to lose speed and control because it was taking just a hair longer for my fingers to manipulate the stick. My finger motions also seemed to be exaggerated more than I realized.
So, taking what inspiration I could get from what Tony was doing I:
1. Started using my wrist/hand for most of my strokes. When you watch Tony play, even with fast singles, he seems to be all wrist.
2. When adding in fingers for more control I started playing more with the back of my hand, feeling the control more with my pinky and involving the ring finger even more. Now, my middle finger is still involved, but not all that much.
3. My fingers stay on the stick at all times (or as much as I can) and the movement is subtle in combination with my wrist movements.
4. This one is difficult to do, but I am trying to keep my index finger extended slightly vs. being wrapped around the stick. This frees up movement a bit and relaxes my hand.
So basically I realized that before, my hand had two different guys working at the company: The wrist, and the fingers, each having different roles. Now they both work together, with the wrist taking over more of the responsibility, and the fingers lending a very slight hand (pun intended) when needed.
*edit* I forgot...before I seemed to grib either at the first index knuckle or in between the first and second. Now I grip all the way back at the second.
