This concept of “strengthening the fingers” is a bit curious.
The muscles that control the fingers are in the forearms, not the fingers. Those little finger-tip weights are pretty silly, IMO.
If you have pencil-thin forearms, do a few wrist curls
http://www.preventdisease.com/fitness/Strength_Exercises_forearms.html#
But as Jos. Smith says, “don’t overdo it”.
After all, if the pipes are forcing you into weight lifting, you’ve got bigger problems that need attention.
Previously mentioned was agility and dexterity - those are indeed key to the repeitive motions. Strap 'em on and play. When you get tired, STOP, for goodness sakes!
eric suggested the excersise similar to what I was going to mention.
I put the rubber bands on a dowel that is just a little longer than the length of the finger holes of my chanter and use 3 screws to stretch the rubber bands across for “weights”.
IMHO, It is more helpful to excercise the “lifting” muscles of the fingers, since that is how you make those tight triplets rather than the “gripping” muscles. It doesn’t take very much strength to cover those holes, it is accuracy in placement and relaxed enough to feel the holes “buzz”. You can shut off the chanter even without the use of your thumbs, BTW.
I am “left” (one-handed things, a righty with two handed things) handed and play a right handed set, but I find it harder to make the tight triplets with my left hand.
The biggest aid, IMHO, in keeping fingers agile is simply keeping your hands and fingers relaxed… If you have a death grip on the chanter, I promise you, your fingers won’t move well and you will cause injury to them.