Hey folks, quick technique question: I have hypermobile joints in both hands, but more exaggerated in my fretting hand. All of my fingers bend backward (see pics). I’ve been able to compensate for it in most instances, but my one weakness at them moment is the pinky finger roll. My pinky likes to invert at the second joint which makes me have to put more pressure on it to maintain pressure on the strings. This leads to some pretty bad fatigue when doing the B2B workouts such as Pretty Pink Ribbon and Red Clay. Any advice from some more seasoned players with similar problems? Thanks!
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I have hypermobility in my hands as well as them being quite small. When you are fretting especially with your pinky are you trying to arch to play with the tip of your finger? Or do you play with it more flat using the pad?
For me I keep my fingers quite flat since it extends my reach, mutes strings, and for pinky rolls in particular I tend to roll from the crease to the pad rather than from the pad to the tip. I also tend to use slightly more to the outside of my pinky pad judging by the callouses. I think this helps for me to offset the 2nd joint inversion. I spent a lot of time practicing octaves which I think also overall helped enormously in building up more muscle and stability.
Ultimately though if trying to do pinky rolls is causing too much joint instability I wouldn’t try to force it since there are workarounds for playing.
Hope that helps a little bit!
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