TromboneChat

Hi, I have a problem that get worse everyday.

Even if when I practice I make lots of small pauses, put the trombone on the ground, my left shoulder get tired pretty quick, like 30 minutes, even if I broke my practice time into 30 minutes sessions spread on the day.

It's like if at a moment my shoulder get so weak I can barely hold the trombone.
It feel weak and sleepy, not so painfull.

What I've discovered is that my hands are so small that putting my index touching the mouthpiece shank make my hand spread so much that the three fingers who normally support the trombone weight can't fully close and have no strenght for making a fist like, so I always have the sensation that the trombone slip from my hand and compensate with the arm.

Is it possible that it's my small hand that cause shoulder pain ?

Yes. My hands aren't particularly large, and on my bass trombone I definitely can't hold the horn with the index finger over the receiver. It had a ring under the receiver, but that was uncomfortable as well. I ended up taking that off (when I had the lead pipe pulled), and then soldered a hook on the other side of that support. That, together with a Bullet Brace, makes the horn actually comfortable to hold. But even on my little '47 Olds horn, I don't feel comfortable with the finger over the receiver.

I'd look into adding some other finger support that is in better range for your hand. Make the trombone fit you instead of trying to make your hand fit it (which won't work). This is not hard to do (or have done), and could make a huge difference.

But you also have to be sure you're holding your left arm/elbow in the correct way (close to the body/rib cage). If you're holding it away from the body, you're putting a lot of strain on things. Then there's always the possibility that you have some shoulder problem, like arthritis (I've got that too).

However, the symptoms you describe are exactly the ones I was having before I modified the horn so it was comfortable in my hand and I could hold it without constantly clenching my hand/fingers in order to support it.