A rapid fix for buckling joints

I think a word of caution is due here. what you are talking about is good, but only for a "normal" hand. If the person has "lax" ligaments, no amount of exercise will keep the knuckles from collapsing--either with or without resistance. Yes, you are right. I have come to realize that "healthy knee joints" of the fingers are crucial for success, even more so than the healthy knuckle bridge in the hand. Paul

I know I said that no exercise will help if the ligaments are lax. What I meant by that is over-exercise of any ligament will cause more harm than good. A small amount of exercise to tighten healthy ligaments is good but for laxity the amount that can be done has to be measured carefully. And if you notice the "swan neck" syndrome it is prudent to have the condition evaluated by a hand surgeon before proceeding. When the joint collapses because of an injury, such as a sprain (jammed finger) or surgery, an "Oval 8" splint can be worn to retrain the finger so it assumes the natural arch. This splint holds the finger in alignment, with correct arch and does not allow it to collapse. It is light weight and made of plastic, maybe worn at any time, even while practicing. They come in different sizes, may be shaped to the need of the individual and are available on the internet. However, they are a medical devices and should be fitted by a doctor or physical hand-therapist.

I think a word of caution is due here. what you are talking about is good, but only for a "normal" hand. If the person has "lax" ligaments, no amount of exercise will keep the knuckles from collapsing--either with or without resistance. It is a congenital problem--do a google/bing search for "Swan Neck deformity." Struggling against the way a person's hand/body is made may cause further injury. I speak from experience. I have laxity in my ligaments but never equated that with collapsing knuckles, especially in my case, the 5th finger. As a child, I used to walk or run and would fall because the ankles would collapse inward. Or as an adult, have my knee cap slide to the side because too much weight caused the ligaments to slip. I never knew why these things happened--just thought joints were weak and needed more exercise. Wrong! As a pianist, I noticed my pinky would collapse. I exacerbated the collapse by Hyper-extension to reach more than an octave (small hands). By extending, more than was prudent, I stressed the ligaments further than they could safely go. There is a ligament on each side of the finger that keeps the knuckles in line and holds the entire structure together. Exercise is good but only when the structure can withstand it. If the ligaments are over-taxed, or in some cases fingers extended without any stretch, there can be problems. The only cure for this is surgery, which I don't recommend, but in some cases it becomes necessary. So, please make sure you are not doing exercises that will cause lax ligaments to stretch even more. I can't really follow your point here, if made in relation to the initial post? In no way is it about exercising in expectation of greater strength or endurance. It's really the absolute opposite to anything like that. I intended it as the antidote to such dubious approaches. I tried the exercises detailed on students with hypermobile joints that double back exceedingly far past the point of being straight. It was specifically because such students were actually perfectly capable of finding a coordination that doesn't prompt collapse (purely via changing the intentions and without trying to build any strength over time) that I wrote the post. I can't give a 100 percent guarantee that literally any student will be able to avoid collapse with the action detailed, but I can say with what I'd consider near certainty that they'll be less prone to jolting collapse with the movement described than when attempting to curl the finger. Even with swan neck, the collapse should be less violent, I believe, compared to when trying to curl up. The only issue would be if there is notable downward arm pressure, to accompany the finger lengthening. Also, when I speak of opening knuckles out, I'm talking about subtle opening between fingers- not reaching out to full stretch from thumb to fifth. Even in that situation, the problematic manner of stretching is typically based on leaning on the side and bringing the fifth finger IN towards the fourth finger knuckle, rather than opening it out away from the fourth. This was a mistake I made for years. It's a superficial way to open a wider stretch but causes real problems unless you learn to feel the fifth both opening out to the side from the fourth and getting pushed up, rather than ever allow the knuckle to droop down or fall inwards. Ultimate the only way to be entirely sure of safety is to walk away from the piano altogether. The post is about understanding the safest way to avoid collapsing joints for anyone who does not wish to do that- not any kind of futile programme that purports to build stronger ligaments. Whether or not extremely mobile ligaments can be improved, those who start at a disadvantage can reduce the ill effects if they have the right model for movement. PS my fifths behave in the Swan neck manner. My middle joint always lengthens out fully. It doesn't cause me any direct problems I'm aware of, although it may not be quite as sharp a collapse as some people have.

I wasn't trying to attack the idea of exercising to strengthen, just saying that caution is prudent for ligaments that are already lax. Instead of giving support, further exercise can cause more laxity. Then when any weight is put behind it, the joint can jam, and in a worst case the volar plate be torn. Exercise with correct alignment is definitely the way to go to help collapse. Quite often it is a simple matter of retraining to the proper shape. I thought the articles were informative and helpful. Sometimes though, regardless of what is tried, the joints will collapse--that is what was going wrong with me. I open the 8va to the side, as you describe. In fact with a fully open hand, my thumb and 5th are at 180 degrees. But my little finger would become jammed in the collapsed position. When that happened it was useless for playing. the only way to get it out was to physically lift the knuckle with the other hand. That was not only discouraging--because it was past my physical ability to keep the joints aligned--but also painful.

I wasn't trying to attack the idea of exercising to strengthen, just saying that caution is prudent for ligaments that are already lax. Instead of giving support, further exercise can cause more laxity. Then when any weight is put behind it, the joint can jam, and in a worst case the volar plate be torn. Exercise with correct alignment is definitely the way to go to help collapse. Quite often it is a simple matter of retraining to the proper shape. I thought the articles were informative and helpful. Sometimes though, regardless of what is tried, the joints will collapse--that is what was going wrong with me. I open the 8va to the side, as you describe. In fact with a fully open hand, my thumb and 5th are at 180 degrees. But my little finger would become jammed in the collapsed position. When that happened it was useless for playing. the only way to get it out was to physically lift the knuckle with the other hand. That was not only discouraging--because it was past my physical ability to keep the joints aligned--but also painful. I agree with most of what you write but I don't really view it as advising any further exercise than that which exists in playing the piano. If someone with joint problems is not getting it right during playing, the exercise should stop them straining against their ligaments and should thus help prevent them getting even looser, during the time at the instrument. The idea is to move in a way where it is not the range of movement in ligaments that defines the position, but rather the alignments of the bones and how each transmits movement through to the next. In the exercise there shouldn't be a single moment where the range of motion in a joint is being pushed to its limit. Once you get that, the ligaments are no longer being strained against and you can begin to get the same in real playing. Some caution is always wise, but all the exercises in the post ought to be vastly lower in exertion than even the most gentle regular piano playing and should actively go on to prevent truly harmful things happening during practising. I wouldn't take the idea that it's necessarily impossible to keep the joints aligned for granted. Often there's something that can be changed in the action which will have a totally different effect. I know that I assumed for years that there was nothing to improve my poor span between two and five. Despite reaching an 11th, I couldn't align my fifth right in chords of a mere octave. However, using the style of action described has totally changed the space between knuckles and I can now align way better for basic shapes. The style of movement (with less dependence on use of ligaments) changed the ease of keeping the knuckle up altogether. Although I'm sure that being able to fall back on tighter ligaments makes for a safety net, I'm not convinced that it's a safety net than comes into use all that often. I limited myself for a long time by assuming that my hand was physically incapable of things rather than searching for a means to change what it could do. In my case that was only about the drooping 5th finger knuckle, but I firmly believe that there are also solutions to those whose smaller finger joints buckle- in which ligament strength does not matter.

i agree. we just have to be careful to recognize the difference between congenital problems and proper joint alignment. Good joint alinement is a must to play piano successfully.

Absolutely- but I'd just stress that if it is a congenital problem then you must either keep striving to find the particular quality of movement that offers plenty of possibility without straining your physical limits, or resign yourself to the choice of causing strain at the keyboard / playing with a very limited range of musical options, for physical safety. Doing everything possible to learn the quality of movement that creates possibilities without pushing your limits of movement is surely a given as being the best approach? In that respect, I don't think that the manner of work should be notably different. Ultimately, if congenital problems cause joints to be forced towards their limits in regular playing, I'd say it only becomes more important to work on exploring appropriate exercises for prevention- so you better understand what prevents jolting collapse. The only thing I'd say differently for hypermobile joints is that gripping in from all joints is not only really poor foundation for movement, if used as a default but should virtually be limited in its use altogether. Stronger ligaments make it much easier to get away with this movement without violent collapse. Other than that, I wouldn't personally differentiate much on any other factors - because I really don't believe that a hand with either regular or looser ligaments should generally be forcing them to their limit. Maybe some hands really can't do some standard pianistic actions as well, but my experience with the case of hypermobile joints was that it's much more about the style of action than about actually needing a tight ligament to limit potential collapse.

I believe we are pretty much in agreement. Any type of clenching is undesirable and very bad technique. just the thought makes my hands ache. Want to talk about hyper-mobility? one time I was changing a flat-tire on my car. while pushing on the wrench to get off a stubborn lug nut, there was sudden pain. Looking at my hand, instead of my thumb pointing forward or to the side, it was pointing backwards--completed dislocation--Ouch! (ha). Now, I know better to not apply too much pressure. this is a good thread. thanks.

Ouch, sounds very unpleasant! Actually, it does make me realise that the thumb is one of the few places where I do sometimes depend on the ligaments to prevent extremes of motion. After reading the exercises in craft of piano where you lean against a wall and try to get the thumb aligned, I'd initially been striving for a very precise balance. However, when getting lessons with Alan I noticed that he basically lengthens his thumb straight out much of the time (to the point where tip would sometimes go past the point of being straight, if I recall rightly)- rather than necessarily be looking for the more intricate alignment where joints retain a mild curve. I think this is one of the few exceptions where I don't necessarily worry about occasionally depending on my ligaments at the end of the joint's range, over a more precise muscular balance. However, I remember all too well how unpleasant the results can be when you collapse a finger and press against it, so I try to limit this to the thumb alone (and still take care not to really force it against the limit of how far it can open out).