Ive been trying to pick this bass thing back up again over the last few weeks.
Ive been trying different methods of exercising my hands and watching a few people on online. While practicing and exercising Ive noticed a few things. There are different positions you can put your hand in while playing. Some of them seem to lean toward injury but some of it is that you just need to exercise your hand. I was looking into those baoding balls( I used golf balls instead) and there is some benefit but it seems like the most beneficial have been hand exercises. I found simple hand exercises by Greg Irwn on youtube.
is a good start. I used some of the more simple exercises. I believe makes a big difference when you warm up your hands verses just playing without it.
Ive also figured out that when you position you hand to do certain finger style picking its better to use the very tip of your fingers and not just the flat part of your finger. You have to use that first joint from your finger tips in order to do this. Keeping my fingers closer to the fretboard was the next big thing. It takes a little getting used to but you will use less effort when you do that. I also see that sometimes I can play faster with my picking hand by using the tip of my fingers when playing certain scales. It seems the the key to both hands is to use little effort and little movement. You can tell when you are doing this by tapping your fingers on a desk like you are playing piano real fast tapping from the thumbs out to the pinkys back and forth. If you notice it takes little effort to do this. There is no tension in your hand. It appears that if you can position your hands and play bass with that same ease you will find it easier to play what you already know.
I guess the more advanced players can verify if this it true. When you relax your body and both your hands you can play faster and practice longer without injury. It all boils down to using your hands in their natural curve.
