Sports and playing bass

quotidian · #1 05-31-2006, 01:36 AM

Aloha,

I injured the pinky on my right hand today playing basketball. I fret with my left hand, so it doesn't affect my playing too much. But it made me think.

Here's what ran through my mind on the court:

1. I'm glad I didn't injure a digit on my fretting hand.
2. Damn, I'm too old to be playing basketball; perhaps I should take up a safer sport such as lawn darts.
3. (While looking at my fingers . . .) These are my babies, I better take better care of them.

I'm curious to know how many of you play sports and the precautions you take to protect your hands.

I don't play bass professionally, but the ability to play on a daily basis is essential to me staying sane and happy.

Peace,

Dean

clockworkwar · #2 05-31-2006, 02:23 AM

I play Rugby, it dont see it as anything i worry about actually, if an accident happens and you loose the tops of your fingers, go like Tony Iommi and put little plastic ends on.

Britsie · #3 05-31-2006, 04:34 AM

I once cut my left-middle finger washing the dishes. In the afternoon we were going to record a demo with our band. I managed without my middle finger (it was in a punk-band).

Point of the story: accidents happen, so don't stop doing what you like because you might get injured. Unless you are a pro and then you take insurance against such accidents. (and I stopped doing the dishes before a gig

)

Pruitt · #4 05-31-2006, 10:08 AM

I'm a volleyball fanatic. Finger injuries are commen when blocking. Usually just sprains. But I have had a couple of semi-serious injuries to my digits over the years. I split the webbing between my pinky and ring finger about 5-6 years back while blocking on my fretting hand during a doubles tournament. You could see all the way into my hand. T'was no fun (and at the time, we were beating the team that won the tournament!! lol...). I also detached a tendon at the first knuckle on my middle finger about a year later, but that was on my plucking hand. It's still hangs a little bit. lol...

But it's fun, so I keep doing it. The same reason I keep playing bass. You only go around once, might as well have fun doing it.

Have Fun!

morf · #5 05-31-2006, 10:13 AM

I box everyday. Fingers are sore afterwards but after 15 minutes of dipping in hot water they're good to go. It has never affected my playing much.

Gyoon · #6 05-31-2006, 10:22 AM

Boxing sounds very tough. I saw an interview with Billy Joel where he gave up a career as a semi-pro boxer because it was taking a toll on this hands.

I'm a bass teacher and I have noticed that, freqently, my best students are also serious athletes. They seem to possess more coordination and are more "coachable". Anyone else notice this?

Glenn

#7 05-31-2006, 10:30 AM

I'm not a premier athelete, but I still have two permanently jammed fingers on my plucking hand from pickup basketball games. If there was either a streetballer or someone off the school team playing and wasn't on my side, I was usually the one defending him and going for his rebounds, so my index and pinky fingers kept getting jammed repeatedly until they lost full movement. That said, it hasn't affected the plucking abilities of my index finger (though I'm mostly a pick player these days), and muting with my pinky finger on the plucking hand hasn't been hindered either.

Also, I've busted open knuckles practicing punches. Depending on the location of the resultant scab, that can hurt for a few days.

jenderfazz · #8 05-31-2006, 10:39 AM

I've recently picked up skateboarding again, and while my fingers aren't really at risk, my arms and especially my wrists are. It does make me think twice about it, but I won't stop all physical activity for it. Weightlifting is the same - I've dropped weights on my fingers, strained muscles, etc.

phillys · #9 05-31-2006, 10:45 AM

Just recently I injured my right index finger while playing water polo and to make things worse, I had to play in a gig that very night. Somehow I managed to get through the night

JOHNNY CHINGAS · #10 05-31-2006, 04:03 PM

I do both because I love them both. Its like choosing between kids. How can you give up one over the other. When I was palying football in high school (let the Al Bundy jokes begin) I all but stopped playing. But after my football career was over my music was still there. There is an ebb and flow to everything. I too play basketball your fingers get better, and somehow the body always manages to compensate.

d8g3jdh · #11 05-31-2006, 05:22 PM

The sports I play do not endanger my hands. But if a squash ball takes out an eye, it sure would suck.

Minger · #12 05-31-2006, 06:24 PM

I pole vault.

Basically, since I've stopped slipping on the pole, I've stopped ripping up my fingertips and some parts of skin on my hands that are in contact with the pole.

I don't relaly do anything as a precaution.

tplyons · #13 05-31-2006, 07:50 PM

I wear gloves for everthing physical: biking, lifting, working in a lumberyard... Gotta save the hands...

quotidian · #14 05-31-2006, 09:25 PM

Aloha everyone,

Thanks for all of your replies.

Tired_Thumb, sounds like you're the kind of b-ball player I'd want on my team. I hyper-extended my pinky twice yesterday during the game of 3-on-3; going for a rebound and then getting hacked by my friend. Both times I had to ask him to pull my finger back into place. But I kept playing.

Had an X-ray today and the doc said it was fractured. He wants me to see an orthopedic surgeon on Friday for a second opinion. He put a splint on my finger and wrapped it in an Ace bandage.

I'm still able to play, so all is well.

Peace,

Dean

B-NoteCowboy · #15 05-31-2006, 10:30 PM

I dislocated the pinky on my left (fretting hand) about 17 years ago. Over time, the gristle that keeps your fingers from bending backwards stretched to the point that it's totally detached now and my pinky finger can bend nearly 90 degrees backwards and is totally useless to fret with as it locks up when I reack for a fret and if I try to fret in that position I have no control on it and it could bend backwards. It actually works perfectly fine to grip though.

Fortunately for me, I've only played bass for 15 years so it's never been a problem. It was something I worked around as I learned and my wrist style makes up for the lack of being able to use it. One of those things that you don't miss cuz you never used it to begin with.

eots · #16 06-01-2006, 04:51 PM

I play basketball once or twice a week. I have jammed a finger before blocking a pass or something and while it can bother my bass playing, I make due with other fingers. I also tend to wear gloves more now when doing jobs to protect my hands. Working on the car,raking leaves etc. The saftey kick at work has kept me more aware of protecting myself.
I was helping a friend roof a house the other day and he commented on my using gloves while laying shingles w/ a pouch of nails. I mentioned that I make my living with my hands and like keeping them protected. He, at the same time, had recently got something jammed up his fingernail while working without gloves and caused severe discomfort because he couldn't get it completely removed. Go figure.
I play sports in general because I'm competetive by nature and it's a fun way to get exercise. My bass playing doesn't keep my weight under control. I like to eat too.
I keep one of those spring hand gripper things in the car to excersize my hand with while driving. One, because I work 3rd shift and it helps get the blood flowing when I get sleepy driving home and to strengthen my grip for extended practices and gigs since my hand(s) had been gettin fatigued.

devoblue · #17 06-01-2006, 05:11 PM

The hands are particularly prone to forming scar tissue inside when injured. This can interfere with the sliding of the tendons and therefore affect the movement of the fingers. If you get an injury, visiting a physiotherapist, particularly one that specializes in hands, following the excercises they give you and making sure you go back for followups is a good idea regardless of whether you play proffessionally or not.

#18 06-01-2006, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quotidian

Tired_Thumb, sounds like you're the kind of b-ball player I'd want on my team. I hyper-extended my pinky twice yesterday during the game of 3-on-3; going for a rebound and then getting hacked by my friend. Both times I had to ask him to pull my finger back into place. But I kept playing.

That you don't want. I have no offensive game beyond the post and shoot way too many wild shots from downtown.

Jeff Martinez · #19 06-01-2006, 11:38 PM

Ironically, the last time I injured my fretting hand, it was during a photoshoot for the band the day before a gig. We were taking pictures at Daniel's Park, and I got the bright idea to have the photog snap one of me jumping off a rock outcropping. The pics turned out great. When I landed, I had way too much forward momentum and fell forward off the edge of another rock, landing right on my hands. Three of my fretting finger-tips were shredded. We got pics of my bloody fingers. My fretboard was coveres in blood by the end of the gig the next night...and I was playing with band-aids on my tips. Good thing the venue had very dim lights on the stage.

NV43345 · #20 06-02-2006, 12:32 PM

I started playing Bass when i was 10. i was always careful not to hurt my hands. My main summer sport when i was a kid was Baseball and i never had any injuries. I played Hockey in the Winter and did not have any injuries from that either.
I was never much into B-Ball or Football or Soccer. If it was raining i was in the weight room at school.