Fingering Speed.. YEAH

[mrpreggers]

So my right hand has always given me problems. It's slower and it has less stamina than my left hand. Guess I got bored and noticed that when I'm moving my index and middle fingers really fast, my left ring finger straightens out and rises higher than any of my other fingers. The right ring finger is pretty much anchored to my middle finger. I don't know if that's why my right hand ALWAYS feels stiff, but I'm gonna assume that it is. Anyone have any tips on how to loosen my fingers up? ANYTHING JUST TELL ME.

[j-rodd123]

idk tho play dumpfiles ?_?

[gold stinger]

someone was bound to make this joke into a thread...

Wrap a couple of elastic bands around your hand and stretch as much as possible on ur hands? idk.

I remember seeing something in that movie Hot Fuzz that helps you loosen fingers up, but I forget the name of it, the scene where Sergeant Angel just finished rounding up all those kids near the beginning and does a bunch of paperwork :L

[The_Toymaker]

Happens to me on both hands, I don't think it really affects anything.

[Wayward Vagabond]

finger stretches

watch all the videos. what you need to do is make your fingers independent. doing these videos you will end up doing that

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRF4EICO2G0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzPZbv1g3MI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVLJs6ttPUc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWV6aQLXRcQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60frM4Pw9hk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot33MUlHfhQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9gFgWCCo2k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKVUiVWkk_s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6_NH1ESJeM

[blindreper1179]

Da fuq, how do you know of these things. O_o

[alloyus]

My left hands also better than my right, but my ring finger stays curved on the left but straight on the right :P

[Wayward Vagabond]

i like gloving and i was looking for finger practice tutorials a while ago and came across those. they really helped both with gloving and ffr/sm

[icontrolyourworld]

relax your fingers more and curl them as if you were playing the piano

[Dynam0]

I've found that I lose a tremendous amount of speed/stamina if I'm tense. It's extremely important to find a balance between effort and relaxation, I've become a better player from working on this.

In terms of the ring finger stiffening problem I think that's more of a technique issue than a flexibility one. It may sound silly but I would try playing a little bit of solo or at the very least semi-pettanko for a while (ring and middle fingers for 4-key spread). That might help keep your ring finger from stiffening up while your middle finger is working overtime.

Through watching leonid's vids, I can honestly say that the pinky stiffening up or even dislocating while playing doesn't seem to affect the rest of the fingers

[Xiz]

EDIT:

For reals though, rub your hands, like rub one finger at a time, get the blood flowing. Cool stress reliever as well.

[i love you]

Get a stress ball and squeeze until your grip starts shaking a bit. Apply a few more times and your muscles should be relaxed. From there, do what icyworld said by curling your fingers up while you are playing. Also, try to relax while you're playing. Being too tense can make you play worse.

As a bonus, go to a gym and actually work on your body. It makes a huge difference.

[Rebirth0]

I'm assuming you're right handed.

I've noticed that many people's dominant (right) hands end up being slower than their non dominant hands. This is due to a lack of muscle in the other hand/arm. Thus you will be able to move more fluidly with this non dominant hand.

This applies to me. I can do one handed trills much smoother and faster on my left hand than my right. It's kinda weird

[LongGone]

Making your fingers independent helps alot, though this is more important with solo than singles. Do finger trills to warm up, you wanna loosen em up. (in some other finger activities I even heard people dipping their hands in warm water for 10mins but thats a little....uh)

Other things to think about:
Is your posture right?
The height of the table/chair you're playing on?
The angle your arms/hands make against the keyboard?
How spread out/near is your keysetup?
Flat or bulky keyboard?
Are your palms parallel or angled along the surface of the keyboard?

No kidding they all do add up and make a difference (at least to me, especially for 6/7k gameplay)

[Cardman.]

Originally Posted by Wayward Vagabond

i like gloving and i was looking for finger practice tutorials a while ago and came across those. they really helped both with gloving and ffr/sm

Greg Irwin is one of the best in his field. I am familiar with his work because of what I do with cards. Above all, I recommend finger folds the most. You can go for stretch in the beginning and then go for speed later on. If you do not know what finger folds are, you can see them in the very beginning of my video here:

[Velayne]

Originally Posted by i love you

Get a stress ball and squeeze until your grip starts shaking a bit. Apply a few more times and your muscles should be relaxed. From there, do what icyworld said by curling your fingers up while you are playing. Also, try to relax while you're playing. Being too tense can make you play worse.

As a bonus, go to a gym and actually work on your body. It makes a huge difference.

Hehe stress ball idea came from me I think

Get a stress ball that isnt too hard to grip, but at the same time not too easy because you want some muscles in your wrists involved too while gripping.

at the same time try air trilling as it relaxes your muscles around the knuckle area too.

[Duplica]

this has got to be the most disappointing thread title

[Wayward Vagabond]

Finger independence actually helps even for singles. Specifically it helps with trilling

[mrpreggers]

Originally Posted by Duplica

this has got to be the most disappointing thread title

u look like shit thanks to everyone who offered suggestions.. I'll try them out when I get home. I'm hoping it won't take more than a few weeks for all of this stuff to work.