Left Hand

[Nikk]

After years of using traditional grip, I'm now beginning to go back and examine the left hand. I've found that I've really had a very weak fulcrum without even realizing it for however many years. As a result, I've been practicing squeezing the stick a little tighter so that the stupid thing will stop constantly slipping all over the place. It's frustrating because there seems to be such a fine line with squeezing it too hard (resulting in pain the next day) and just hard enough so that the grip facilitates rebound and the stick won't slip. Anyone have experience with this in a developmental sense?

[mja61]

I started to focus on traditional grip about 10 - 12 years ago, but I think I?ve only been playing it somewhat ?correctly? for about three years. Weckl?s new Evolution videos really helped me solve some problems with that grip.

Until I saw the video, I emulated Weckl's "old" left hand grip where the thumb sort of ?behind? the stick. With this grip, the stick was always sliding out of my hand, no matter how hard I gripped it. I didn?t care, though, my goal was just to try to look as cool as Dave!!!

The improvement for me involved some new concepts from the Evolution videos: the "cradle" position, the "lock" between the thumb and the palm, and the idea of having the thumb "over" the stick rather than "behind" it. It?s kind of difficult to explain in words, but I thought he did a great job of conveying the ideas in that video.

Even after a few years, I still can't believe how these simple changes have improved my grip in the left hand. Even if the sticks are slick or have a lacquer finish (like Weckl's Evolution stick), I still don't have to grip very tightly at all. I?ve never had pain in the left hand (traditional or matched grip). However, I do sometimes get what I think it tendonitis on top of my right hand when trying to play one-handed 16-ths on the hi-hat, a la Jeff Porcaro.

The next challenge for me with the traditional grip is something Louie pointed out (from his lesson with Thomas Lang). I was over-doing the ?thumb-only? aspect of the left hand. This is great for big backbeats, but it?s a lot of work to get the stick to cooperate when you are moving quickly around the toms. I need to get the first two fingers to control the stick more (like a ?claw? as Louie pointed out). Carl Allen told me the same thing a few years ago in a lesson, but I didn?t really get what he was saying at the time?..I guess I overdosed on the Gruber approach!!

[Nikk]

Thanks Mja. I've been trying to grasp what Weckl means by "on top of the stick" for a while now. I still don't get it. Can you or anyone else illustrate the whole "behind" and "on top of the stick" concept a tad further?