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Handwriting

Holding a bow is not too dissimilar from holding a pen/pencil.  Have you ever thought about how long it takes for handwriting to develop?

Consider the early stages of handwriting.  A two year old child will grab a marker with a fist and scribble all over a page.  It's not until Kindergarden (almost 3-4 years later) that the child is able to draw pictures that remotely resemble something.  And even then a 5 year old's letters look labored and wobbly.

At what point does the handwriting start to look less labored?  Third grade?  Fourth grade?  At which point the child can write sentences and keep them within the lines on a piece of binder paper but their handwriting still looks nowhere near an adult's handwriting.

When does mature handwriting finally settle in?  Seventh grade?  High school even?  And even then the handwriting you had in high school will not look the same as the handwriting you have as an adult.

Also consider how much a child writes in school.  All the time.  Essentially they get non-stop handwriting practice all the way through their schooling and it still takes TEN YEARS for something resembling mature handwriting to appear.

The bow hold requires an equal number of muscles and control.  A beautiful, mature sound will not simply appear after one week of good practicing.  The muscles must be trained and they must be trained constantly.

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