for sure......trust me.....it works......i can go like 9" high.....if i keep stretching it eventually it will be near vertical......hehe..make sure to stop at any sign of pain though

if, and whne i use traditional grip, i use what is used in Rudimental Logic, and it has worked for me, better than most i've tried

and what exactly is that technique?? can u describe it for s since not all of us own that book.

i hold my left stick in my elbow like Ivan Pacheo.

"Same lick, with the elbow..."

ive forgotten about pacheco...

I have gotten it vertical now.....There was a 2 week period though where i had a weird feeling in my wrist and i thought i was getting like tendonitis/carpal tunnel or something similar. But, now it's gone and I'm enjoying playing exercises really high.

I dont know about the stretch thing mentioned by skyhawkdrummer but I found that letting the elbow rock back and forth allows the stick to reach a greater angle and to answer an earlier q, 2-3 inches is good distance between body and elbow because itll give your elbow room to move, if your elbow is jammed into your body it restricts your rotation and causes an inward slice and keeping it too far away also restricts the rotation.

Hey all,
I was having a problem playing in my trad grip and I wanted to make sure I wasn't doing anything invorrectly. My thumb is sore and tender right in between the base and the knuckle. I use it heavily when I play traditional grip. I have been playing a lot more so that may be the culbrit, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong. Is there anything else that could be responsible for that tenderness?

Experiment with drumming off of the index/middle fingers, applying little to no pressure to the thumb. This will allow more of the mass of your hand to become part of the stroke, and will produce a more full sound that is conducive to balancing the right hand.

Also be sure to maintain the connection to your ring finger, since most of the mass of your left hand is actually located under the stick, and this is your one and only connection point under the stick.

ok so here's my left hand, my instructor constatly rags on me about it she says i need to keep my pinky and ring finger in more is she right? i don't have much trouble with stick height or anything of the sort other than the normal problems. i also need to impromve my left to match my right duh but is ther anything major wrong with it.

As a side note what do think of the stick color? It's our school's color and Im trying to get the director to let me do it next year.