Rick Walker Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 I am thinking of the things I want to pursue once I have closed the BBE. Tearing a tennis ball in half is one of them. Now-the actual act of tearing the ball isnt hard-the act of driving the fingers into the ball IS. Today-I cut a small hole in 3 different new tennis balls and was able to easily finish them off. How do I develope the strength in the index and middle fingers to drive them into a tennis ball or potatoe?? Any suggestions? Rick Walker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGuy Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Rick, have you tried the potato feat of driving your fingers into it until it breaks apart? I am able to do it having very stiff fingers. I cannot however crush a potato by squeezing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmmicklabs Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Sharp pointy fingernails maybe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Walker Posted March 11, 2003 Author Share Posted March 11, 2003 EEEEKSSSS! Fingernails would be a BAD idea. If they snapped off-you would be in serious pain Oldguy-I have tried the potatoe thing-and no, I cannot drive my fingers into one. I can do it on an apple until it splits but I have yet to do a potatoe. How do you thnk one can train for this-besides attempting to drive your fingers into a potatoe day after day? I have heard of some closing their #1 with just their fingertips? That seems like it would work? Of course-if the gripper slipped-you would probably lose your finger nails COMPLETELY I would think if you could split a potatoe-you should be able to puncture a tennis ball at the seam? Have you tried it? Rick Walker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGuy Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Rick how rigid are you fingers? Mine are so stiff they might as well have no joints!. Maybe finger tip pushups would help, or plate curls. The potato trick is painful, but not as much as nailbending is to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan McMillan Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 Rick, as old guy suggested plate curls hit the fingers. There's an old post I read here or on the old grip board...can't recall where I saw it. But the idea was to slightly boil a potato then crush that. The next time boil it a little less, etc. ,etc. Never tried it but it sounded like a good idea. I've split raw white potatoes on several occasions by driving my fingers through them, I find the pressure isn't so much on the finger tips but on the first joint, tremdendous pressure. I'm hoping to eventually build up my crushing strength so that i can actually crush the halves after splitting the spud. Jon@han Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrannosaurus Dave Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 Rim lifting (lifting weight using only the lips of the plates, facing outwards) is pretty hard on the fingers. I worked at it until I could chin myself on a door frame. Seems like the same position as what you want to do, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sybersnott Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 Rick, Just how big is that "small hole" that you poke into the tennis ball in order to get it to tear? And what type of tennis balls are you using? In Brookfield's MOHS, he said that this feat was difficult, if not impossible. You are breaking some new ground here if you can do what you describe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the swiss Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 Sybersnott, in Brookfield's new book, he says the hard part is driving the fingers through the ball. tearing the ball along the joint sounds feasible to me. Anyway, Rick, I'd suggest you toughen your fingertips. I don't think strength is the biggestn issue here. pain resistance is. try fingertip pushups (not on finger tip "palms"!), plate curls sound good, but curl your fingers under the plate so that the actual tip is in contact with the plate. You could also try chins on a thin edge, but on the tip (NOT climbing style) A very impressive feat, this tennis ball tearing. I'd love to do it one day. Can you crush a can yet? train hard david Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammyg Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 Finger Walking (with a sledgehammer or shovel) Finger Tip Pushups (on cement) The best finger exercises IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wells Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 Remember Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom... Remember the scene where the mad priest takes out a beating heart from a sacrificed human... Strong fingers no doubt... Went right through bone and skin like tissue paper... You need to get a hold of that bad guy's grip training routine! Just kidding... Seriously now, you might think about doing ‘Nan-Kung’ (a.k.a. ‘Iron Palm’) training to strengthen your fingers and hands. Drive your fingers into a box/bag/container of dried beans…then work your way up to sand and then to small smooth pebbles like the ones for fish tanks. Wetting and packing the sand down will make it even harder to pierce. I have even seen WuShu practitioners driving their hand into bags of glass marbles as well. Maybe you could even try a ‘Dahl-Lyeon-Pahn’, ‘Makiwara’, or ‘hitting board’. I knew a jazz pianist that could crush unopened cans of beer. He had small hands but his fingers were long and the strongest I have ever felt. I couldn't even bend (with both hands) his pinkie finger at the knuckle! He was always tapping his finger tips on a table top or the piano cabinet keyboard cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Walker Posted March 12, 2003 Author Share Posted March 12, 2003 Snot- The balls were Wilsons-3 to a tube. The hole I poked into thew was small enough that I had to force 1 finger into it to initially widen it. The actual tearing of the ball is not hard. Swiss is right-puncturing the ball with your fingers is what makes this a World Class feat! Once I man handle the BBE using KTA-I will be changing up my routine. Finger pushups and plate wrist curls will be in it. I want to tear one easily by Jan. 1 2004. I might also try that Iron Palm stuff as well. Thanks guys- Rick Walker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeff Roark Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 Rick, Something that I have doen before and really notice that it works the heck out of the tips of my fingers along with hurting, is doing farmers walks while grabbing just enough of the canvas fabric to get a hold. Grab it so you are makeing a complete fist when you have the canvas in your hand. This hurts the hell out of my fingers and if one did much of it his fingers would get tough in a hurry. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Steve Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 My finger tips are getting really hard lately ripping cards and working out on the "jewel" Tommy invented has been a blessing. I ripped cards this morning 1/2s then into 1/4s. It was like pulling bread apart. God is good to me!!!! They were Aviators cards. The kids at the school I was at loved it, a real crowd pleaser. I will try the corner off the cards soon. Then work up to two decks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGuy Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 What is the "jewel"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Walker Posted March 13, 2003 Author Share Posted March 13, 2003 I was laying in bed last night reading (while my wife was doing her daily cross word puzzle ) and I found the answer for my own question. I was reading Brookfield's new book-and found my answer in Chapter 2-Sand Blasting. Dont know why I missed that the first time around-but his progression of finger strengthening sounds just right: 1. finger tip push ups-once these are mastered onto 2. hops on finger tips-once these are easy onto 3. driving your hand into dried beans-once this is matered onto 4. driving into sand and finally- 5. driving into steel shot. Who knows how long these progressions will take me but I will enjoy the journey. Thanks to all who responded- The tennis ball is MINE-and Bill will get exclusive video Rick Walker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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