Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Piston Valve Spring Tension


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Posted by Rick Denney on February 12, 2004 at 12:01:10:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Piston Valve Spring Tension posted by Ha ha on February 11, 2004 at 20:50:40:

Don't confuse dexterity with strength and stamina.

As a former ultra-distance triathlete, I trained constantly and know exactly what it feels like to run our of strength when strength is needed, and out of stamina when stamina is needed. When both are lacking, you feel a burn in your muscles. I've never felt that burn in the muscles of my hands and forearms that control my finger movements. I've never felt that my little finger was insufficiently strong to push down the valve button. But I have frequently wished for greater dexterity, which I define as the ability to move the finger exactly to where it should be, exactly when I want to, with the minimum possible effort.

Pianists spend a huge amount of time learning dexterity. They make sure they press the piano keys with the precisely correct velocity no matter which finger they are using. I can pretty easily bang a piano key with my little finger right now--with no special training at all--so that the note is about as loud as I can achieve with bigger fingers. Of course, I cannot finely grade that movement in ways that give me dynamic control, but then I'm not a pianist. Uniform dexterity is a goal, but adding strength is not the path to achieving that goal.

I've seen trumpet players fool around with those spring exercisers, and I think they are wasting their time. No athlete of which I'm aware learns dexterity by using the same training technique as those they use for building strength and endurance.

The biggest dexterity problem I have with my pinky fingers is that they don't want to move independently of the the other fingers the way they need to. That problem is in my brain.

Rick "who has never seen a normal human struggle to push a valve down unless it was jammed" Denney


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