This game killllls my wrist. Any advice?

[Shadoninja]

I have been playing this game since February and I am developing some solid soreness in the tendons in my wrist (only in my right arm). I have played video games competitively my whole life, and Melee is undoubtedly the most physically demanding game I have ever dedicated time to. Any tips out there to keep my hands healthy?

 

[-ACE-]

Take a break and stretch. Don't stop playing completely. Stretch often. Hopefully it's not chronic and just a minor strain.

 

[EPsilon933]

Who do you main? Could you try a less technical character? Wrist excercises might help

 

[Comet7]

sometimes this happens because people hold their controllers too firmly. you should make sure that you aren't doing this.

 

[20YY SS | Saiblade]

Try hand exercises, googling them will come up with several really good results.

 

[Dolla Pills]

Make sure your hands are in a comfortable position when playing and I suggest warming up with other characters if you play a technical one. I play Fox and Falco and I find my hands do better when I start with Falcon or Marth (my Marth blows though lol) or someone else

Also try not to play too much and don't play through the pain

 

[KinGly]

I fiand that when I have hand pain while playing it usually has less to do with how many buttons I'm hitting and more to do with how I'm holding the controller.

Usually when I'm playing super fast (ie try hard spacies) I end up holding the controller way too tight, and this causes the wrist pain rather than the movement of my thumb/forefinger

 

[Mc.Rad]

I have been playing this game since February and I am developing some solid soreness in the tendons in my wrist (only in my right arm). I have played video games competitively my whole life, and Melee is undoubtedly the most physically demanding game I have ever dedicated time to. Any tips out there to keep my hands healthy?

Shed your human skin and use your new reptilian hand

But seriously though, you need to train on your hands so you can be more fluent in your hand gestures.

Try practicing with something like typing or playing the piano or guitar so you can build up hand dexterity

 

[Shadoninja]

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

[hunterlittle]

for a person with carpal tunnel (me) I found many ways to help not cause so much pain in my wrist and my hands cramping up

1. stretch your hands after every round that you play. This helps the hands not stay in a uncomfortable position the entire time you play
   
2. the grip of your controller. Playing with a semi loose grip helps with me not have so much pain in my wrist.

I hope this helped you a lot! have fun and play on my friend!

 

[Magellan]

I have a wacky solution. Most will disagree, but I had the same trouble. I decided to commit to learning claw grip to be faster and have more control. People said it hurts more, but I wasn't able to find a lot of information about it and I feel like people don't do it right. When you play standard grip, you have to rush your thumb from button to button. You can often develop a rolling motion of the wrist and it's just rough on the thumb. With claw grip (thumb for C-stick and B, index on y, middle on Z, ring on R), you just gently press the button you want. You have to find a comfortable position. It will feel weird at first and may hurt. You have to commit, eventually it becomes natural and you'll find the most comfortable position. Even when I do ridiculous shine tech, my hand never hurts. It's just like I am gently typing. No matter your character, claw grip is also objectively faster and gives you a larger range of control.

But just in general, don't play so much, bro. REST. Don't play for thirty minutes to an hour straight. Stand up. Stretch your hands. Put 'em under warm running water. Take it EZ.

 

[Massive]

Be careful, the dudes who switch to claw grip are the ones who end up with hand damage later.

It's no secret that M2K and Hax have hand trouble, and both of them use claw in many situations.

 

[Dandy_here]

I get this problem from time to time, I usually do 5 minutes of stretches, take breaks, and switch off spacies if I start hurting mid set.

 

[Magellan]

People who use standard grip also have hand trouble. It would be more logical to assume their hand trouble comes from playing for so long and for extended periods of time without rest. No matter what you do to fix it, if you change your grip to something more that hurts less, it will not magically hurt you more at a later date. The first few ways I tried to claw did hurt, but eventually I found an extremely comfortable position and my hands never feel rushed. I have the ability to press buttons so quickly because of the easy placement of my hands that even when I am in the middle of multi-shine pressure and hounding down my opponent, my hand feels calm.

Hope you can solve your hand issues. Again, the biggest thing is to take breaks, stretch (PROPER stretches, there's a lot of crap stretches out there that can hurt you more), and just be wise with your hands. You only have good health for so long, don't wreck it in a short period of time because of a sport (one you're not likely to retire on).

 

[XxSmashM4sterxX]

FFS M2K, go to the doctor already.

 

[johannJK]

-Hand exercises
-Take a break
-Warm up
-Play a less technical character?
-DON'T PLAY THROUGH THE PAIN
If you are experiencing actual pain (rather than soreness) it is your body's way of telling you something is wrong and that you need to stop. if it persists after you try any of the above, see a doctor.

 

[Elyssa Xey Hexen]

How long are you possibly playing for?

 

[Codey]

FFS M2K, go to the doctor already.

He just got insurance, ok?!

Seriously though a loose grip is what helps me. As soon as I started doing technical stuff I started playing claw, and it was comfortable to me. So a friend of mine switched too, but was complaining it was painful. I watched him play and his hand was painful for me to look at lol. He had his hand in a horribly disfigured looking position, and I believe(d) that to be the source of his pain.