Yeah, I hear ya, William. I'm no spring chick either.
I reread the thread because when you posted the original message, I too was having a hell of a time bending without nearly ripping my nails off. And now the technique seems quite natural. Yet, I don't recall ever directly addressing whatever the original problem was. I apparently just kept doing it and got very lucky that it evolved into decent technique rather than another bad habit (as far as I can tell).
How's the bending going for you now?
Sascha
Well its a bit of a funny story. I take lessons from a local player and I asked him for tips on bending. "Practice" was his only reply. He was right. Just keep practicing and the sun will shine. I bend pretty easily now, even on my acoustic with 11s.
That post was made in March and I had just started in January of that year. I remember that post and how much trouble I was having with everything! Wow. Nowadays my focus in on ear training. And my instructor, once again has some simple advice: put a song on, try and pick out the notes and jam to it without looking up tabs on the internet 😒. Old fashioned hands on stuff. It actually works...
Glad to hear you got bending licked as well.
This year the diet is definitely gonna stick!
