Playing Bass drum...Will that ruin my playing?

[instromp]

I have recently started playing  bass drum for my school's marching band,(haha yeah band geek..hehe ) but playing the bass makes my fingers sore at the joint,where my finger connects to my hand.And it gets swollen a little also from playing so long, well from the practice sessions we do which is about 4 hours, from 9am-1pm.Is this bad for my piano playing?? Will it effect my "growing" technique in any way? Comments on help will be very appreciated  .Thanks

Instromp

[nolan]

It can be so tiring to play in a marching band. Especially percussion...first of all the drums aren't exactly light to carry around. Plus your hands get sore pretty quickly. I played cymbals last year in marching band. Having the stupid things strapped around your wrists (even with gloves) and having to hold them up for long rehearsals wasn't so fun. I'm sure carrying the bass drum isn't a walk in the park either, so I see where you are coming from. It is definitely a challenge.

I suggest that if you are having a lot of pain, talk to your percussion instructor. You may be holding excess tension in your arms when playing and if there is such a problem, playing hours on end will only magnify it.

The only way I can see it being bad for your piano playing is if you do damage to your hands or arms. Definitely try and minimize tension when playing. This may sound strange, but stretching out your wrists and massaging your hands before playing and during breaks may help.

[instromp]

It can be so tiring to play in a marching band. Especially percussion...first of all the drums aren't exactly light to carry around. Plus your hands get sore pretty quickly. I played cymbals last year in marching band. Having the stupid things strapped around your wrists (even with gloves) and having to hold them up for long rehearsals wasn't so fun. I'm sure carrying the bass drum isn't a walk in the park either, so I see where you are coming from. It is definitely a challenge.

I suggest that if you are having a lot of pain, talk to your percussion instructor. You may be holding excess tension in your arms when playing and if there is such a problem, playing hours on end will only magnify it.

The only way I can see it being bad for your piano playing is if you do damage to your hands or arms. Definitely try and minimize tension when playing. This may sound strange, but stretching out your wrists and massaging your hands before playing and during breaks may help.

Oh that's good to hear you played in one too .We don't carry the drums just yet,that's next week when we start practicing marchiing in this dreadful summer heat . the teacher even said that my hands are going to get tired, he even said he still gets blisters from time to time playing it.I asked everyone else if there hands were hurting they all told me a little,not like mines though.Maybe i am being tense, but its so hard to hold the drum mallet after awhile because my hands sweat from holding it so long and i grip it tighter,that may be my problem.But the bass instructor said to hold it with a "deathgrip", no clue what that is, but the bass leader sometimes comes around and hit are sticks to see if we are holding it hard enough.And if we're not and it knocks out of our hand, that automatically pushups,what? But i guess thats the way things are done.I soaked them in warm water and epsom salt, it eased most of the soreness, i think i will do that until my hands are used to the tight grip