Keeping the wrist healthy

Teacher's Lounge
#21

So the “blues” or three-quarter position for the thumb (i.e. planting it between the skunk stripe and edge of neck) seems to help keep the wrist straighter, which is healthier. Anyone got a soft-V (Clapton-style) neck profile? Is the idea there to encourage/facilitate the blues position? (If so, that’s something to think about in my case…)

#22

For my kid’s sake, as well as anyone else in pain who finds their way here, I’ll sum up most of the advice so far from this thread:

  1. Pain is usually no gain
    If it hurts at all, stop. Think. Experiment. Don’t just ‘play through it’. (Not talking about fingertip calluses; that discomfort’s to be expected. Talking the wrist or other joints.)

  2. Check out trigger point therapy

  3. Do the 25% test periodically
    Saw this from a teacher (justin?): fret a chord cleanly. Feel it; remember the feeling before releasing. Now do it again with so little pressure that the strings just buzz; slowly, slowly apply more pressure just until you get a clean chord. Think 25% of the force your used the first time. Feel that. Feel a difference between the two? It’ll take time, but the second one’s what you’re shooting for.

  4. T & 2
    With all fingers down on adjacent frets, shoot for your thumb to be roughly under finger 2. Too far in either direction = tension = potential for injury.

  5. Flat wrist
    Very important. Watch for:
    -guitar slung low on strap (forces a sharp wrist angle; not good)
    -angling the fretboard so you can see it better (also forces a sharp wrist angle; not good)
    -any chance to use the “blues” thumb. I.e. position thumb not on the skunk stripe/center of neck, nor hung over the edge, but somewhere in between.

  6. Capo
    My own thought here, in combination with @Drew’s point… Using a capo, especially around fret 5 or higher, will a) make it easier to fret (the force required to press down strings near the nut is much greater than when you’re instead near a capo), and b) get you onto the slightly thicker, higher part of the neck, which cuts down on wrist tension. [Stretches will also be easier, though at least one classical guitar pedagogue thinks your hand is actually stronger and more dexterious in larger stretches.]

  7. Start back small
    Play as little as 5 minutes a day if you’re coming back from a minor injury (not so minor - see a doctor) - using all the above pointers.

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