Bent right wrist..?? ***?

[cire113]

How do so many ppl i see play bass with that super bent right wrist position and not having any type of wrist/nerve/hand problems?

usually this happens from resting the forearm on the bass causing the wrist to bend

[Anonymatt]

I do it when I wanna look cool.

[Fergie Fulton]

Originally Posted by cire113

How do so many ppl i see play bass with that super bent right wrist position and not having any type of wrist/nerve/hand problems?

usually this happens from resting the forearm on the bass causing the wrist to bend

Well for one, who says the don't and secondly how would you know?

Fact of the matter, and purely from a medical point of view, they will?
It's not the action, its how often and the lengh of time the action is used.
So once a week for five minutes is not going to produce the same results as 3 hours a day, 7 days a week for 5 years.......but you can be sure it will produce or compound problems in later life.

Remember, smoking a ciggarette is not the problem, it is how often and the length of time that does the damage.

[KimGT99]

I have bend my wrist not full 90 degrees, but I'm probably closer to it than I should.

Here's my issue: if I place my bass lower, I'll bend my left wrist too much, so that I'll have health issues then.
I'd say that not every human beeing is built the same. Sure, there are "global approved" positions which will work for most people. But one or the other will have to adjust his playing position, which means that he has to move away from that global approved position.
That's what I experienced for me when I switched to 6 string bass. But I may have to readjust again in order to find my perfect playing position.

[diegobxr]

I started playing bass only a year ago and I struggle with this too.

I never had a problem until now, when I started playing 3+ hours everyday and started feeling pain. I try to lift my elbow but it feels akward.

It sucks, and I also wonder when I look at pro's, playing with their wrists bent.. how the **** do they do it????

[Emibass]

I think taking breaks after no more than half an hour is key. When my hand starts to feel strange (I don´t wait till it hurts) I take a break and relax, and than continue.

I´ve tried diferent positions but it feels strange.

Playing standing up it´s better as the angle of the wrist is not so accentuated.

[Clef_de_fa]

I get rid of that very horrid position by looking at classical guitar player and from Double bass. A more upright position with floating thumb. for an idea of what it looks like ... just think of Alain Caron when he plays his fretless.


Many self educated rocker have that weird bending in the pickinghand and the "thumb over the neck" fretting hand position ... many slapper also have that position. To me it is really poor technic and always wondered how anyone could play like that.

[dmrogers]

I have found that my bass position, when standing, being more and more like Robert DeLeo from STP. If you think about it, the position of his bass puts less stress on the wrist. Check out some photos of him on the web.

When sitting, I am trying to play with the bass in a position that does not cause extreme bends in the wrist.

[Jay2U]

Originally Posted by dmrogers

...When sitting, I am trying to play with the bass in a position that does not cause extreme bends in the wrist.

+1 So do I. I like to have the bass hanging low. If I bend my wrists they almost instantly start to feel uncomfortable. I see this as a warning signal, so I don't bend them.
In this video you can see what I mean: Me doing a short blues tune

[hrodbert696]

I call it the "vulture claw." Don't use it, but I think I did when I first started playing, then I learned to start keeping my wrist straighter.

Some people do it their whole career and never have a problem. Just lucky, I guess. If I kept my hand in that position for long I'd have all kinds of pain starting.

[Schmorgy]

Originally Posted by hrodbert696

Some people do it their whole career and never have a problem. Just lucky, I guess. If I kept my hand in that position for long I'd have all kinds of pain starting.

You can also smoke your whole life and never get cancer, but that doesn't mean it's any safer on the whole.

[halfjackson]

I'd definitely recommend not resting your forearm on the bass while bending your wrist at a 90(+/-) degree angle. Not only could it result in wrist/hand problems, it adds unnecessary weight to your bass, which gets transferred directly to your opposing shoulder.

[Luv2Pla4U]

This player apparently has no problems from extreme wrist angles... Just sayin'

[mcglyph]

Spent three hours with Adam Small one day. Among other things, he stresses complete relaxation of hand and fingers. He plays with a bent wrist, hand resting on bass, only without tension. He told me when he was younger he had mad wrist problems, lost almost a year of playing time, went to the doctor, etc, had to look very closely at his mechanics. You who are practicing and experiencing pain with this technique may want to get back to moving slowly gradually working up to fast with much more stress control. It is FULLY possible you are not able to get to where this technique will work for you. And if you don't do it with relaxation as a main focus, the chances are there's pain a' comin. Or not.

[henry2513]

Bent wrist forced me to stop playing bass for many years and derailed my friends career for a few years which really sucked he was already a world class bass player in high school.

[Metaldood19]

I always had very upright wrist position drilled in my head by my instructor. So much so that I can't play with my forearm resting on the body. I can imagine a heap of wrist problems developing from bent position, however I've seen many well versed bassists play with a bent wrist and still have no idea how they can play a set like that without feeling some pain or at the least some discomfort

[Hot Pocket]

I recently adopted Todd Johnson's floating thumb technique primarily to mute 5 and 6 string basses. The unexpected benefit of this technique is that it automatically flattens out the angle of approach of the right hand and corrects any 90 degree wrist concerns. The technique is awkward at first but now it is second nature and my wrist is never bent either (and looks cool and relaxed). ALL the girls ask me how do I get my wrist so flat song after song. Now you know.

[PlungerModerno]

Originally Posted by Hot Pocket

I recently adopted Todd Johnson's floating thumb technique primarily to mute 5 and 6 string basses. The unexpected benefit of this technique is that it automatically flattens out the angle of approach of the right hand and corrects any 90 degree wrist concerns. The technique is awkward at first but now it is second nature and my wrist is never bent either (and looks cool and relaxed). ALL the girls ask me how do I get my wrist so flat song after song. Now you know.

Floating thumb FTW - really works. Now if only I could get as relaxed on my frettin' hand!

Check it oooot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVMBPmrblU

[fearceol]

Originally Posted by Luv2Pla4U

This player apparently has no problems from extreme wrist angles...

......YET !!

She looks fairly young, so she may encounter trouble at a later stage.

[Epitaph04]

Well how much higher could she even shoulder that bass?