Spirit fingers! rah rah...you get the picture! =p

[Maladee]

Howdy y'all! I have a question on finger strength. I broke my pinky badly enough to require a cast up to my elbow many years ago. Needless to say, it's quite a bit weaker than the rest of my fingers and I need a bit more "physical therapy" than I'm guessing is normal.

I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on using the grip gadgets you sometimes see at guitar stores. You know...these things:

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/stringsandbeyond_2003_10925760


Is using one of these buggers going to help or hurt my chording? The disembodied hand isn't exactly mashing those buttons with his fingertips, so I'm concerned that while it might help with strength, it may encourage some poor posture (if you can use that word in regards to fingering). It may help with strength on barre-type chords, but it rather looks more like the hand is playing a trumpet that has 4 valves! :p


Has anyone used one of these? Pros? Cons? Ideas? Random thoughts?


Thanks in advance for your opinions and suggestions!

[screamin eagle]

I have not used one of these, however I have given these types of devices some serious thought. I do think that it would significantly help with strength, however, I don't think it will do much for your dexterity that some chords require. Yes there is the potential for 'bad posture' but if you are spending time with the guitar on a regular basis, than I don't think that you would ingrain anything.

And I do think that the 'pinky' issue most have is a strength thing, so I don't think it would hurt.

[barockeva]

I've got one of those buggers. It seems to help a little bit.

[ez-one]

I have one and if used regulary really helps strengthen your fingers, also since you can focus on individual fingers with it (instand of those whole hand exersizers) you can spend more time working on your weaker fingers. Its not designed to teach your fingers good posture for playing guitar, just strengthening them. The techniue part you will have to use your guitar for. Baseball players lift weights not to help them with the techquie of catching flys or hitting pitches but to improve their body strength so that when they do hit they can hit harder. Same thing with Gripmasters. Grip masters also come in different strengths so you might want to start out with a lighter version. Another thing that it seems to help me with was finger isolation, since I would focus on trying to push down only one finger at a time. Its a good product, I noticed that after using one for a few weeks, my barr chords were cleaner and I was holding chords better

[custom24]

I have one as well, and they do help build strength which in turn helps dexterity. But buy the Light one not the medium or heavy, if you've had a hand injury, and when you can use that one comfortably for some time, move up to the medium. I'm your average guy and the medium one was almost too much at first, but after a few days it was easy. Don't overdo it though, I made my finger joints really sore for a couple weeks and couldn't really play. I'm fine now, but just take it easy.

[Leviskardsen]

I can also vouch for these. I started with the yellow (extra light) and now I use the blue (light) one. It really will help with your dexterity. Also, use it on your pick hand too, mainly the thumb exercises. My pick would slip every now and then until I started using one of these.

[Tommy D]

I too have one of these and think its well worth the minimal investment. I started with the medium and continue to use it. I even use it sideways to help with barre chords. I would highly recommend getting the ruff caps that snap onto the GripMaster, these will really help harden your finger tips, making it easier to play. The caps can easily be snapped on and off and only cost 5 bucks.

[Alias]

Thanks guys, I too have been wondering if these were any good or just a gimmick. With your positive input I’ll go ahead and order one.

Instead of wondering I should have just asked here and would have already gotten an answer.

Thanks again,
Alias