Hi Ausartisan,

I have to correct you there and state that as a second year Colm is in fact at Limerick with me! LOL!
I did give Colm some of the exercises I plan putting up on site. I also got some good ones from Tommy Hayes last year.

I'd have to add also that any exercises or advice given on site are not a substitute for medical advice. If you are experiencing pain or discomfort whilst playing you should stop and seek the advice of a medical professional.

Many of the exercises I would have are just for warm up/down routines. I don't always follow this routine myself but the more often I do the easier I find playing. Particularly when trying out rhythms, playing styles and grips.

Mike

Leonard had some poor experiences that were caused by multiple factors - warming up would definitely have helped

Linked thread wrist pain in a single night

Hey Mike
not having too much trouble myself, but still looking forward to the stuff you will provide! Thanks in advance
Rolf

Mike, I'm really looking forward to your listing the exercises you mentioned, and I assume your talking about hand stretching/manipulating type exercises and not drum specific exercises. I have been having a bit of difficulty with the right hand of late, especially stiffness. I'm not sure if that's related to age (I'm 58)or some wrist related condition. I've been playing drums most of my life and the"wee" drum for almost 30 years, although over the last 18 years I've been playing more kit drum than bodhran. I think the interesting thing about playing bodhran is that the actual movements involved seem to be not movements that you would encounter naturally in life, where as I think the movements for playing snare/ kit drums would be more natural, consequently I'm wondering if the bodhran arm/wrist movements would be more prone to developing conditions and need more of a warm up routine. I wonder too if snare drumming might tighten the wrist, and make it more difficult to loosen, which seems to be imperative for bodhran playing, especially the "Kerry" style.(any comments here Paul?)The other thing I'm wondering is if the "kerry" style might be more prone to develop carpal tunnell/ repetitive motion syndromes. I remember sitting through a lecture on Carpal tunnell syndrome, and one of the trigger points was bending the wrist as that increases the pressure in the tunnel which carries the nerves to the hand. I don't think I'm experiencing the symptoms typical of CTS, but there is some discomfort there. Probably just getting old, perhaps a total wrist replacement, then there's probably other body parts that could use replacement as well. But thanks for the thread, and I'm looking forward to the exercises.
Steve Brown

Hi Steve

I'm 57 and have been playing for 5 or 6 years. I play once a week in a sometimes fairly large accoustic session. I used to play Kerry style using a 16" x 5" double skin drum and most times my arm and wrist were quite sore. Sometimes for a day or so.

Quite recently I started using an 18" x 8" single skinned curragh style drum using a single end technique. The change in style plus the added volume from my deeper drum means that my arm and wrist are in a lot better shape after a 3 hour session.

If you follow Paul and Kim's videos and threads for single ended play it shouldn't take you too long to become recently proficient. Once you have the basics change styles for a session and see if there is any difference.

Regards, WW

Thanks, WW, I'm thinking seriously of going the single ended route, at least some modified version, but your experience is interesting. I hadn't thought much about the size of the drum, I'm playing 15" Mike Quinlan. Thanks again, Steve Brown