I've been practicing power chords for a few months now, and today while watching a video I suddenly noticed for the first time that my hand position seems a bit off
[br]I've tried straightnening the wrist but it just defaults to this bent position, as it is the most comfortable for me
[br]What do you think?
Everyone has their own style of playing. The goal is to find a position that doesn't put undue strain on the wrist/hand/arm/shoulder and allows you to play in a comfortable position. If you're concerned about the strain you could try moving the position of the neck; for instance, pulling it in closer to your body or tilting it up more or some combination of those things.
However, if everything feels good and you're hitting the chords then why change?
Shadee,
I am an example of the potential problems of bending your wrist. After 25+ years of rabid guitar playing, I had to give up guitar for years as a result of chronic wrist pain. I finally got a good Physical Theripist and I slowly worked my way back to playing. One of the things that she told me to change was how much I bent my wrist . Her thinking was that bends in the wrist place more strain on your tendons and ligiments than a straight wrist. This added strain can lead to problems with you wrist. In your photos you can easily see how your conective tissue has to bend around your wrist, this is what she had me change. I followed her advice and I was able to return to playing the guitar.
To accomplish this end, I had to raise the position where I wore the guitar (as Davem suggested) by shortening my strap. A guitar worn down low may have looked cool on album covers and press photos, but it increased the bend (and resulting strain) in my wrist. I had to work on straightening my wrist as I played. I spent a lot of time practicing in front of a mirror to work on this. This process took time, but it allowed me to start playing again.
There are guitar techniques that do require some bend in the wrist, but they are the exception. I would advise you to continue working on keeping your wrist as straight as you can. It will not always be possible, but (like learning to form chords or play lead) the more you work at it the more you can do it.
Looking at the pictures you sent, it is easy to see the bend in your wrist. According to my PT that bend increases the friction on your conective tissues and thus it makes your tissue work harder to accomplish the same thing. Economy of motion is a critical as you evolve as a guitarist. Wasted energy needs to be minimized to maximize you efficency in playing. This is a good place to start developing that basic skill, not only to save you body from wear and tear, but also to increase your speed and accuracy of playing.
Trust me... It is easier and cheaper to fix now, than it will be if you develop chronic pain. It will also make you faster and more accurate in your musicianship.
Captcha is a total pain in the........
Originally Posted by: Shadee92[br]I've tried straightnening the wrist but it just defaults to this bent position, as it is the most comfortable for me
As snojones mentioned too much bend in your wrist is potential source of problems.
I've seen many players & students have that much of a bend in their wrist & not have problems, but I think it only works if they have a very loose & relaxed grip otherwise.
Normally I would suggest to angle the neck up a bit (at least on barre chords like you are playing in that image) in order to lessen the angle of your wrist. If what you are doing works, that's fine. But be aware that you might be looking at causing long term problems for yourself.
I cover proper posture in this video.
https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=13958
In this video I discuss the basic mechanics of barre chords. Notice that I have my wrist bent a little bit because I'm holding the neck lower than I usually do in order to make it parallel with the camera frame. But it's still less of an angle than you are using in your image.
https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=11253
Hope that helps!
