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How To Play Wrist Technique

The human body is not made to play drums

But with a bit of practice you can hack into its natural movements and exploit them for your own ends. Namely, drumming.

Take that inefficient human body!

In this post I will show you a great hack for improving your hand speed, power and sound.

The Hack

Try this:Find a table and place your forearm flat on it so that the pads of your fingers, palm of your hand, underside of your forearm and your elbow are on the table. Now move your arm so that your fingers and the palm of your hand are off the table. Done that? If you relax your wrist and hand it will flop down, your fingers will extend and point to the ground. When you pull your hand up with your wrist, your fingers will curl into the palm of your hand.

This is the main movement of this technique. Wrist up, fingers curl. Wrist down, fingers extend. Your shoulder, upper arm and forearm won't be moving much during this technique.

This is such a natural movement that once you get the hang of it and work it into your playing, your drumming will become almost effortless. However, even though we're taking advantage of a natural movement, it will feel awkward at first if you've never tried it out in your drumming before. Especially if you've spent many years playing poor technique. But there's hope: you can do it. I did. Watch the video to see what wrist technique looks like.

The Basics

The idea is to push the stick quickly (but not forcefully) at the pad, let go of it at the moment of impact, follow it as it bounces back to where it started and catch it again at the top. The best way to describe it is that you should feel like you are throwing and catching a small ball. Try this:

Starting Position
1. Start with your arm hanging loosely at your side.
2. Bend your elbow until forearm flattens out and is at 90 degrees to your upper arm.
3. Your hand should be flat with the palm facing the ground.
4. Now extend your wrist so that the back of your hand is pointing at your upper arm.
5. Your fingers will naturally curl into your hand.

The Throw

As you throw the ball or stick at the pad just let your wrist drop. If you are relaxed you'll notice that your fingers will open up. This is a natural movement of your hand and you need to take advantage of it. When you throw a ball you have to let it go right? Same with your stick. When it hits the pad, ideally your fingers and hand should not be touching it. Very difficult to achieve if you've never tried it before, but it can be done!

The Catch

All that's left is to let the stick bounce. It will bounce back to where you threw it down from. Keep practising until it does. When you get used to the stick bouncing, just move your wrist back to the starting position. If you remember, your fingers close into your hand naturally when in this position. And voilà, as if by magic, you have caught the stick back in the 90 degree position.

Thats all there is to wrist technique but its going to take you a long time to master it. Even when you think you've got it, you probably don't. I still practise this.

Why you should let go of the stick when it hits the drum

The stick bounces higher

You get a fuller sound

You get less tired

You can play faster

You will stop getting blisters

Your bones take less of a beating

You will amaze your friends

Sound good? Then get practising!

What do you think? Got any tips to add to this article? Do you want to see more of my butler Jarvis drumming?

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