Teaching piano to a former wrestler

[makivka]

Dear teachers,

Did you have any students who used to wrestle? One student mentioned that the hand position feels tight or weird or that it's hard to relax. I guess wrestlers are used to clench.

What are some things I have to tell the student, or keep in mind while teaching?

[lostinidlewonder]

I taught a competitive body builder and a high level boxer before. I found their hands quite tense even when just performing normal actions. It is not that the tension even causes them discomfort too which makes it even more problematic because their dexterity at the piano suffers. I rarely take students hands into my own and move it at the piano but with these situations I found the only way for them to feel relaxed was for me to actually ask them to totally completely relax their hand and allow me to move it for them. It is not an ideal way but at least they can experience what it feels like. Even when completely relaxing I found their hands rather unyielding.

The body builder had huge hands so we found playing pieces with larger intervals helped him a lot. When we played small scale positions his fingers felt very cramped and that is problematic because so much beginner music on the piano usually very small positions. We tended to play pieces with large LH arpeggios vs RH melodic lines which tended towards octave playing. It was more difficult starting with higher level pieces but physically felt a lot better for him. So sometimes considering repertoire that might be difficult but actually fits the larger hand can be something to consider.

[ego0720]

I grappled a little bit. Mainly judo. I know that it helped strengthen my grip so if anything it helped avoid the piano clinic where some pianist get carpel tunnel or problems.

I imagine wrestlers have similar grips with their clinch. Part of the muscle mechanism is that it exist in pairs. The part they have to find balance is learning to relax. Stretching the fingers will be important because I remember my fingers naturally curl up and shorten when I was on the mat. In my practice I always stretched the fingers (opposite of the direction where you form the fist - it’s hard to explain in writing).

Short: stretch the five fingers. They probably aren’t use to the finer motor skills so that may feel funny against what they know about the larger muscle training.

[lelle]

I rarely take students hands into my own and move it at the piano but with these situations I found the only way for them to feel relaxed was for me to actually ask them to totally completely relax their hand and allow me to move it for them. It is not an ideal way but at least they can experience what it feels like.

Honestly I think this approach is pretty effective and underrated. I've found it quite effective when teaching, more effective than trying to explain just with words. I wish more teachers did this - with the consent of the student and appropriate touch, of course.

[bryfarr]

If you are an athlete then you already know the answer to this:  stretching.  All serious athletes (especially if working with a coach) stretch, ideally before and after a workout.
As I've grown older, continue exercising at the gym, and playing demanding etudes, I've learned moves to resolve tension/tightness in my arms/wrists/hands.  Fortunately I've taken a lot of Tai Chi and Yoga over the years, and it was easy for me to develop specific moves that address the tightness.  I made a video on this but not sure I'm ready to make it public.  It's fairly intuitive once you start trying things out.  Also, there's plenty of yoga videos about wrists stretches.

good luck to your athletic piano students