ABSTRACT
Outside the joint covering there are stronger tissues known as ligaments, which strengthen it and restrict certain movements partially or completely. If the ligaments are more fl exible than normal, you may fi nd you can move your joints more than other people can. This is known as hypermobility or double-jointedness – sometimes referred to as hyperlaxity or hyperfl exibility. Although this could be a technical advantage, hypermobile musicians need more muscular effort to control and hold their joints in the correct position, and this could become a health problem if not accurately compensated by muscle work (see page 64).
