I’ve been trying to improve my speed, and I think I’ve found the issue. When I watch videos of other players I can clearly see on the picking hand their index and middle fingers curve under. But as you can see in the video my index finger flys out. My middle finger curves under fine but my index finger is just wild! I’ve been playing banjo about 12 years and I’ve never noticed this before, although I’m sure I’ve doing this the whole time. I’m pretty sure this is what is holding me back but I’m not sure how to address it.
If anyone has advice on how to correct this issue I would really appreciate it. Thank you all, have a blessed day!
Index Finger Flys out!
Hi @Timbis Timothy
I used to have a flying middle finger but after studying @BanjoBen 's picking hand I learned to curb the erratic action. It did take awhile though. Since you have been playing banjo for 12 years chances are it’s going to be hard to break the habit. The fact that you have recognized you have a problem is a good starting point to set a goal to correct this action. The only suggestion I can offer is to hold a credit card in your hand with your fingers curved and imagine you are picking the strings in that position. Whether that is enough to retrain the brain is down to trial and error. Hopefully others can come up with a better solution.
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Thank you for the suggestion, I’ve been trying to pick with just my 2 fingers which does get my index finger curled under, but as soon as I bring in the thumb, my index is flying out again. 
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Change won’t happen overnight. You just have to be patient, practice often and persevere
I think one approach is to find the “thing” that makes your finger fly and break it down as small as possible–sounds like it’s when you bring in your thumb. So, I would work on playing with only thumb/index on some exercises, trying things like single string runs using those 2.
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Now why didn’t I think of that. I have been practicing my single string technique all week trying to play it more cleanly.
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