I am a new student to the tabla. Very often when I play, I have noticed that my wrist bends downwards, especially when playing "Ta". I have pretty long fingers and a long hand, and so I have had trouble keeping my wrist up when I play. Somebody told me that this would reduce my speed once I start playing faster. After watching others play, I notice that most keep their wrists up. Has anybody else experienced such a problem? Is there a way that I can practice in particular so that I rid myself of this habit? Any advice or suggestions you could offer would be much appreciated.
Sorry for my lack of clarity. When I said that I have a habit of keeping my wrist "down", I meant that my fingers are above the puri (obviously), and my wrist falls below it. Others whom I have observed keep their wrists above the puri. I have heard that keeping one's wrist above the puri when playing allows for one's speed to increase naturally, whereas my current habit of keeping my below it, will slow me down in the future. Do you have any comments/suggestions regarding this issue?
Well when you play your tabla should be angled foward away from you. My teacher has taught me to keep my hand back far enough to have my thumb away from the gajara. Then when playing Ta my wrist sort of rises above the rim of the head and then goes slightly below. Check out Davids streaming video for a visual of the hand movement im talking about.
