You probably caught the video a couple of weeks ago about “why we drop sticks” and how to avoid it. I started thinking, though, about some additional tips that I didn’t mention…

Have you ever dealt with thumb fatigue?

…that kind of pain in your thumb joint that often results from squeezing too tightly on the sticks when you play? This was something that I began to realize I was facing regularly. One time it got so bad that my hands ached for two days after a gig. I knew I had to do something…but what? I began to find some solutions, some mental and some physical. I made a video about this last summer, which I encourage you to check out if you haven’t seen it. (I’ll throw a link down below!)

If you feel like there’s a grip issue behind your dropping sticks, one of the thumb-fatigue solutions might help.

I noticed that the only time I had bad thumb pain while playing was when my hands were cold or dry. If they...