Even though my playing is improving, Mike Marshall still tells me he’s seeing too much of my motion coming from my right arm. He really wants me to take a step back and even just do RH single string exercises for a while to train myself out of this bad habit before it gets too much more ingrained.
I totally agree with MM’s diagnosis and prescription, but I wish there were a device or a training aid I could rig up that would force me to use only right wrist and just take the arm out of the equation — allowing me to burn that feeling of all-wrist into my muscle memory that much faster until it becomes comfortable and habitual.
I could just do MM’s drills and watch my arm in the mirror, but I think I’d get there faster if I could also FORCE myself to use more wrist instead of just trying to will that arm into submission.
In golf, there’s an entire industry devoted to selling golfers some gizmo designed to help them keep a flat left wrist, transfer their weight, or any of the other mechanical aspects that help produce a good swing. Some of the best ones are free and can be improvised from household objects — holding a beach ball between your elbows, for example — and they really do work to help you feel the concept you’re trying to learn and ingrain. And when used properly, they can really speed up the learning curve.
Back in my mando beginner days, I even borrowed a left wrist flattening brace from my golf gear and used it successfully for a little while to make my left hand stop palming the neck. Never had that problem again.
So, has anyone ever contrived a successful home-made mandolin playing aid to immobilise the right arm? Maybe there’s some way to rig a belt or something around the back of my chair, but I haven’t quite figured out what to use and how to rig it. Thought I’d ask here in case someone already has tried it and has a sincere suggestion (please, no jokes!)
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