| Slapping with a straight thumb...any thoughts?
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Folks--
I've of course seen Victor W. play on the Tube and live a few times. I've also seen Oteil Burbridge, Ray Riendeau, and others who are slap monsters.
Most all of these guys have 90-degree "hitchhiker's" thumbs. My thumbs are dead straight. Any ideas on ergonomics and technique for my situation?
Usually, guys slap with their thumbs more or less perpendicular to the string, and that's where the problem lies.
I can't do things the same way as the 90-degree guys. For instance, I've seen guys who have a "claw" type of right hand posture, where the first joint of their thumb is parallel to the side of their hand, and the tip of their thumb (because of the bend) is perpendicular to the string. This close hand spacing allows their fingers to be close to the other strings, meaning real economy of motion.
But if I'm going to slap and then pop, I have to have my thumb extended somewhat to slap, and then I must move my hand up to pop (because my fingers were too low with my thumb extended and slapping a string).
Hope I'm making sense here, and I hope some of you with similar situations have some thoughts. Thanks. | 
