anyone have any good ideas for warm up exercises to keep your hand from cramping up ,while holding the bachi?
I really like Anne Liljedahl’s routine for wrist stretches as explained here (though I don’t do the full body ones tbh :p):
http://bachido.com/blog/stretching-with-coach-anne
There’s some overlap with stretches used for the martial art aikido in there, and some stretches I don’t think (I could be wrong, it’s been a while since I watched it haha) are mentioned in that video are nikkyo, sankyo, and kotegaeshi:
I’m not sure what it’s called but for the fingers I grab onto them while my palm is up and pull down in a “waterfall” motion, which takes care of that well.
These always loosen up my wrists and hands great 
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In my experience, the best thing to do is sprain your hand really badly; the recovery will leave your fingers uncomfortably flexible.
Honestly, a lot of it is just acclimating to the grip and finding finger placement that works for you. I don’t do any specific stretches or the like, but gripping just gets easier over time.
Thanks, you guys for the reply. It’s funny, that in the beginning the bachi I got kept slipping out of my hand, so I put rubber around the handle to help with that.
I have a different problem than most people: I don’t have to stretch before playing, I have lax ligaments (loose joints) and end up with joint pain if I play too long. I’ve been told by a physical therapist, who I saw for help with a hip issue, that I need to strengthen the muscles that support my joints to protect them from going beyond a safe degree of flexion/extension.
I work for a large-ish group of orthopedic surgeons, some of which are hand and wrist specialists. I’ll have to see if I can get some information on exercises and stretches that I can share here.
OMG a lifesaver!! I always do stretches and work out knots in my hands after playing!