Watches/jewellery on fretting hand

Now, whenever I pick up my guitar i remove my watch.
Wearing a watch impedes my ability to shape my hand/wrist for:
Chord shapes
Barre chords
Finger stretching for scales etc.
I guess the reason is because the watch is wrapped around the area of the carpel tunnel?
I have shared this as I have seldom seen any advice/recommendations to remove these items before playing.
Of course it might be just me :smile::guitar:

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I have a watch and a wedding ring on my fretting hand/wrist and have never even thought about them. They cause me no difficulty whatsoever.

I wear watch with no issue although I wonder if I wear mine slightly further up my wrist because I can see how if I wore it lower then it would be a problem when contorting my wrist to play chords. I think the main reason I wear mine where I do is because itā€™s a Garmin and it seems like the best place for the heart rate sensor - any lower down my wrist and then thereā€™s a gap under it.

I wear a watch plus a bunch of leather bands that cover around a third of my forearm from my wrist up. Never cause me any trouble. You probably havenā€™t seen any recommendations because there are noneā€¦ itā€™s about doing whatever is most comfortable for you.

I do the same when playing. I either loosen or take off my watch. I definitely have better hand flexibility with it off.

I wish I hadnā€™t read this thread. Now, the next time I play, Iā€™ll be thinking about my watch and whether itā€™s interfering with me instead of paying attention to my playing! :rofl:

But it does give me something to blame my ineptitude on!

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I donā€™t wear a watch, but I do have my wedding ring on my fretting hand. 90% of the time I remove it before playing- not because it interferes, but because Iā€™m paranoid that I might scratch up the guitar neck on accident :laughing: there are times that I forget that I have it on and have played with it just fine, but I just prefer to play with no rings/jewelry in general.

I actually am the same way with some belts or jackets with big zippers while playing. I donā€™t want to scuff my precious guitars. Iā€™m probably a little overly paranoid :wink:

I donā€™t wear any rings, but I do wear a watch. Iā€™ve never considered removing it to play, but, I donā€™t think it impedes my movement much at all. It is a Garmin activity/fitness tracker, so I wear it at all times. It has a very rubbery band, though, so it moves with my wrist fairly well.

I always have a wedding ring, watch and belt on, but not found any issues hope this post doesnā€™t make me too aware of the issue. :grinning:
Michael

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Yeah, do what feels the best for you. These guys werenā€™t bothered by them:

image

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I donā€™t mind wear on my guitars, people pay extra for that.

But sure, my chunky wedding ring is totally why I canā€™t play wellā€¦

Which I just donā€™t understand. Why do people want their guitars to look like somebody took a belt sander to them?

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That I canā€™t answer!

I can see developing that as you progress on a much loved instrument but faking it on a brand new one I donā€™t understand

I think as you develop the less things are disturbing to you. I can play with a wedding ring and a watch, although my ring is probably 10% of a size Rob put a picture of :laughing: and I have a smartwatch with elastic strip so itā€™s quite flexible in general

For a guitarist I have great hands for bricklayingā€¦ :joy:

I do think its easier to ignore distractions as your skills develop in any thing really

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Yeah, the same with some of our ā€œidolsā€ having played live when they were not 100% sober and still played good. With rock-solid skills a lot of things just wonā€™t distract you, or if they do you will be able to find a way to accommodate them.

A point well illustrated :smile: Thanks.

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Donā€™t they use one of those to play slide guitar Rob? :wink:

I remove my watch, donā€™t know why. I should maybe try playing with it on.