Stick technique w/o hurting yourself

Hey folks I'm wondering how people here practice their stick use in a way that doesn't lead to pain. I know taking a 5 min break from stick use every 30 min. What are some things other people have done to prevent injury?

 

I tend to leave breaks after each fight. For some reason during each fight my heart always feels like its in my throat where it thumps so hard and where I injured my right thumb through an accident many years ago, it tends to get stiff quite quick especially when I'm playing the jp style of the G+P+K positioning (on a HORI stick im guessing that would be A/X+B/Sq+X/Tri)

It may sound sad aand silly to some, but what I do after each fight is pretend i'm squeezing the air followed by a good shake of the wrist and fingers and just relax myself.

I been playing with a fight stick seriously now for over a year and a bit and so far this has worked for me.

 

Are we only talking button hand, here? That's the only area that ever gets uncomfrtably stiff, and taking a little stretchy-shaky break is all it takes to keep it going.

 

My joystick hand is the one that gets the most work.

 

Sometimes I do a guitar stretch if I get cramp. You have your hand on your thigh or anything flatish with the fingers pointing down then you just push down gently/firmly untill your palm is flat and your fingers are splayed out, then I give my hand a lil shake. Kinda similar to megaman85s method tbh.

 

I tend to shake my hands between fight's sometimes between rounds and it work for me pretty well. While I played on pad i had a lot of problem with relaxing my muscles near thumb so sticking to stick was good choice for me

 

honestly i don't have any problem playing a long session with my TE :| your problem guys all sounds new to me. I have just some issues if i play like 6 hours without any pause. Maybe it's becuase i don't really grab the stick, i just have my hand on the ball top waiting the next move to do.

 

I'm wondering if at major events there should be a rule where a player can't have two fights back to back within a 30 minute time period without a 5 minute break in between. Some folks don't have injuries to worry about, some do, and some might develop one.

 

That sounds really restrictive. Maybe ten fights in as much time could be problematic, but I'd be pissed if I was barred from jumping into a second fight right away.

We all know our own limits and should be able to take responsibility for our own stiffness/injury prevention.

 

What I mean by two fights is having to fight two different opponents back to back without a break leading up to like possibly an hour of constant playing. Normally once you finish fighting one guy you have a few minutes before your next fight.

We for sure need to watch our own health, but as a community we can run events in such a way to also promote healthy playing techniques.

 

Well, at least you shouldn't have to play another set (a new opponent) directly after a previous one if you have been playing non stop for 30 mins. You should have the opportunity for a short break, and your opponent must accept this. Shouldn't be too long though obviously, but enough for some stretching excercises and a walk.

I don't think this would be too much to ask either. Most of the time you would get breaks between matches anyway, since a lot of tournaments don't require longer sets but instead use ft2 rules.

 

This is my mindset exactly and is what I'm proposing. During Finals is when stuff can get long especially if it's a close match. Pools aren't really too big an issue since it's normally 15 min max.

 

I use a BrawlStick for my needs. I used to use my thumb for G, index for P and middle for K, but my right wrist used to get cramped beyond belief. The Vewlix layout tends to have me favoring my index on Guard, middle on Punch and ring on Kick. It allows me to straighten out my wrist enough so that it resembles how I rest my hands as if using a computer keyboard (place fingers on J, I and O keys).