hand exercises while not able to be with my guitar

Hi all,
I have a desk job that keeps my left hand pretty free. I was wondering is there any exercises I can do while not with my guitar to start building hand strength and flexibility. I was plan on starting to carry a racket ball in my coat pocket and start squeezing it to build strength. I started curing my finger and squeezing them with my left hand then stretching the back to loosened up the muscles. This all feels like the right thing to start doing or am I way off base?

I'm such a newbie:)

thanks
Mike

There's the shred neck, which I really haven't used personally:

http://www.shredneck.com/

And then there's products like these, which I haven't used either:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation/finger-fitness?N=100001+201726&Ntk=All&Ntt=finger&Nty=1

I'd suggest getting finger strength and dexterity the old fashioned way as much as possible. Perhaps you could bring your guitar with you to work and just fret notes with your left hand?

-Bryan

Thanks Bryan.
The shred neck looks very interesting.

Originally Posted by: UltraMike105
I was wondering is there any exercises I can do while not with my guitar to start building hand strength and flexibility.

One of the forum regulars (and a fine guitarist!), Superhuman had some good advice about this in a recent thread:

http://guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?p=229246

And right under it I offered a word of warning, which I will build on here. Over the years, I've seen lots of products and methods aimed at improving finger dexterity and strength (etc.) for guitarists. I've seen lots of people try lots of these devices, methods, etc.

By far, the best thing to do in order to improve your skill at playing the guitar is to simply play the guitar. Finger exercises, squeezing tennis balls, goofing around with those springloaded contraptions will never substitute for hours of actual playing time.

As a beginner using non-musical devices, you could benefit from some basic strength building and basic coordination and dexterity. But at a certain point you aren't actually training your hands and fingers to play guitar, but instead to squeeze a racketball. And worse, you could wind up doing damage.

Obviously, while driving (or other certain activities) it is not possible to practice guitar. But if you can take it to work, then why not?! It might be the perfect time to run scale exercises. Or any other type of guitar fingering workout that doesn't necessarily require your full attention.

But remember, there is no substitute for effective, productive hours logged on your machine of choice.

Also, in this thread I respond to issues of stretching for beginners:

http://guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28016

Hope this helps!

Just as a post script to what was said above, getting finger strength from alternate means for the sake of thinking it will improve your playing is not, I think, gonna net the result you want. Yes, your fingers will get stronger but part of finger strength is not how 'muscular' they are. You won't be lifting weight with them...but that you're trying to build muscle memory over actual strength. Sure, stronger fingers are useful in a way but it's dexterity and fluidity of motion that will win the day. You want the right muscles to be improved and I think that is best served by playing. A stronger finger won't make you more fluid. That your fingers have a comfort on the fretboard and the strength build from those motions will be most useful for you.