Drummers: Why do I suck so much at playing kicks?

Erkan

Erkan

mr-walker.bandcamp
Jun 16, 2008
3,305
5
38
Uppsala, Sweden
mr-walker.bandcamp.com
Yeah... massive emo thread coming up!

I have played drums for like 8 years now with the first few years being very chilled and laid back so it wasn't exactly rewarding, and the last 1,5 years have been pretty much the same. Somewhere in the middle there, I used to practise a lot and I had dreams of becoming some extreme death metal drummer... well fuck all that, those days are over now.

Now I'm all about writing some good tunes and shit yo, right? But the fact remains: I SUCK at double kick drumming.

Here is the deal: My right foot sucks more than my left foot for controlled/sustained battering of the kicks. It feels like I have zero control in my right foot when I want to play kick patterns that contain more than 2-3 subsequent notes on the right foot. This problem begins at around 170 BPM, so if I try to play 16th notes at 170 on my kicks, my right foot stutters and just completely locks up. I think it is psychological... I'm somehow blocking my muscles from performing, but it has been that way for yeeeears and I can't get rid of it.

Do you know what I'm talking about? Got anything useful to tell me? I'm going nuts here... I'm not improving the slightest, and I can't even play my own songs and here I am trying to record my next project... what the FUCK.

Cheers.
 
Yeah but why the hell is my left foot better at control/sustain than my right then? My right foot is much better at bursty playing like Meshuggah's Bleed for example. I can play that pattern really really fast just because my right foot is bursty while my left is controlled and Bleed is a perfect example of that. RLR L RLR L and so on, so the right foot is bursting 2 notes all the time while the left is going slow and steady and combined, they make up that "swiss triplet" I believe it is called?

Anyway, yeah I will start practising more again but trust me... I have spent weeks, months, practising purely on kicks and the improvement has been extremely marginal. I just don't know what is wrong with me and it demotivates me more than any demotivational poster :)
 
having listened to clips of you drumming before i'm probably not as good as you haha, but i personally find that for slower double bass, upto 180bpm, and staggered patterns like the bleed riff i use the muscles in my upper legs.
but when it comes to faster, sustained segments i rely soley on my ankles, which means relaxing the muscles in my upper legs.

this is a real ball-ace and i don't have it mastered yet but its the most comfortable way to play, for me at least as i know everybody is different.
perhaps this is of some help? good luck either way!
 
I used to feel the same when I had DW5000 pedals. What do you use and have you tried other pedals/adjustments?
I tend to have my left pedal adjusted slightly different than my right!
 
I feel you man... I've only been drumming for a couple of years but the only aspect of my playing that hasn't improved is my double pedal chops, despite equal amounts of practice between my feet and hands :mad:
 
i second the rudiments notion, but be sure to do it with a metronome(as with any exercise). check out the video links below. its an old video that has been broken up into parts that derek roddy made with an excellent endurance exercise. the 2nd link is just kicks then hands and kicks, but watch the 1st video where he explains the exercise. also, george kollias has some control exercises on his website(or did anyways). something i have done to help strengthen my ankles which is the muscle one should begin utilizing at higher speeds is to play mid-range tempos heels down for a good 5 min. at a time to get a good burn. another exercise you could do is play 8th notes on each foot for a measure or two...not alternating 16ths, but just a measure or 2 of 8ths on the right foot, then the same for the left and repeat. hope some of this helps man.

[


 
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Erkan, I've gone through the same thing as you in the past and I'm only recently getting past it. I'll tell you that it's all in your head! I used to psyche myself out.

For the really fast double bass stuff remember that it comes from your ankles. Think of your legs in the same fashion as your arms. When you play fast snare drum rolls its all in your wrists, not your whole arm. The same concept applies to the bass drum and how you approach it. Once you get that in your head you can focus on practicing the proper technique. With that said, playing with your ankles will feel kind of like that nervous twitch when you bounce your leg while taking a final exam. Remember that!!! With practice you will be able to control it. Don't be discouraged, it'll happen in time.

Hope this helps you out!
 
I don't have the answer for you,but eight years isn't That long,continuing along the path you have chosen the results will come,it's inevitable man.
I have always found that a lot of issues that drummers face stem from poor seating,posture and technique.Not to mention being in the right head space.
Learn to relax focus your practice and break it up. No point in going at it for say 50 min at one time and then 2hrs the next time.
Keep your double bass practice consistent 1hr whatever it is,but I'd suggest taking breaks every 20 min for 5minutes.Walk away have a drink a smoke whatever and get back to it.
Also i highly suggest keeping a practice diary.
Write down your thoughts after each practice,what you felt was good what sucked,what you can potentially do to improve the next practice session and how you plan on challenging yourself to get that evenness or to that goal your aiming for.
It's ongoing man and I'm not saying that what your doing is wrong.
When i used to practice i would do so for 4 hrs each day and sometimes break it down to things like this.
1st hour reading charts
2nd hour just hands
3rd hour just feet
4th combine and either free form playing,or working on specific grooves feels,songs etc.
The other thing i would suggest and i don't know if you do or don't,but avoid playing with heavy soles i.e runners boots.
Hope it's of some help.
Hang in there and don't be discouraged....Plan your practice,Practice your plan and you'll be at a happier place in no time.
 


Thats just fucked up. Check this though... scroll forward:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dblzmPpWMLI&feature=related[/ame]
 
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holy fuck the 16th notes hands + feet all at once in the last video
tighttt
 
coneyis said:
Erkan, I've gone through the same thing as you in the past and I'm only recently getting past it. I'll tell you that it's all in your head! I used to psyche myself out.

For the really fast double bass stuff remember that it comes from your ankles. Think of your legs in the same fashion as your arms. When you play fast snare drum rolls its all in your wrists, not your whole arm. The same concept applies to the bass drum and how you approach it. Once you get that in your head you can focus on practicing the proper technique. With that said, playing with your ankles will feel kind of like that nervous twitch when you bounce your leg while taking a final exam. Remember that!!! With practice you will be able to control it. Don't be discouraged, it'll happen in time.

Hope this helps you out!
Click to expand...

I'm very sure it's in my head. After years and years of fucking analyzing myself and trying to figure out what's wrong with my right foot, I can't find any other reason than it being mental. This is backed up by the fact that I have spent weeks and months of dedicated feet exercise such as Kollias' 16 Week Speed Control which gave me NOTHING that anybody in the world would notice in terms of improvement.

I agree that the legs and feet are much like the arms and hands, and different techniques are used at different speeds. However, since I have extremely bad control over my right foot/ankle, I tend to be able to do a little better at 180+ BPM if I play with full leg motion, much like Derek is doing these days. It still doesn't feel right though, and it is very tiring so I'm not sure if I want to continue practising that technique. I would like to be able to play with ankles just like everybody else. The fact that I can play ankles with my left foot but not my right is just absurd... the right foot is my main damn it!

Anyone else who had this kind of experience with the main limb being worse than your non-main limb? And psychologically blocking your playing and shit?
 
Erkan said:
Yeah but why the hell is my left foot better at control/sustain than my right then? My right foot is much better at bursty playing like Meshuggah's Bleed for example. I can play that pattern really really fast just because my right foot is bursty while my left is controlled and Bleed is a perfect example of that. RLR L RLR L and so on, so the right foot is bursting 2 notes all the time while the left is going slow and steady and combined, they make up that "swiss triplet" I believe it is called?

Anyway, yeah I will start practising more again but trust me... I have spent weeks, months, practising purely on kicks and the improvement has been extremely marginal. I just don't know what is wrong with me and it demotivates me more than any demotivational poster :)
Click to expand...

the more effiicient way to play the pattern is actually...

RLR L LRL R

because then you are switching the speed of the hits back and forth, gaining more muscle stamina...

RLR L RLR L puts too much emphasis on using your R muscle more than the left due to the spacing of the notes

after i post this, the heel toe players will chime and will debunk this
 
joeymusicguy said:
the more effiicient way to play the pattern is actually...

RLR L LRL R

because then you are switching the speed of the hits back and forth, gaining more muscle stamina...
Click to expand...

Disagree, Erkan's way the right foot only plays two 8th notes ever in a row, this way the left foot has to crank out THREE of those quick notes and so does the right foot right after...

Code: 
Joey way...
|-| |---| |---| |---|
------------------------
RLR L LRL R RLR L LRL R

Erkan way...
|-|   |-|   |-|   |-|
------------------------
RLR L RLR L RLR L RLR L

Erkan's way you only ever have to play 2 quick notes in a row at any given time... Debatable I guess because 3 quick, long break, 3 quick, long break might be easier for some drummers then 2 quick, short break, 2 quick, short break but I know I have a harder time hitting those 3 hits that quick even the first time tightly then I do with 2 hits...
 
joeymusicguy said:
the more effiicient way to play the pattern is actually...

RLR L LRL R

because then you are switching the speed of the hits back and forth, gaining more muscle stamina...

RLR L RLR L puts too much emphasis on using your R muscle more than the left due to the spacing of the notes

after i post this, the heel toe players will chime and will debunk this
Click to expand...

Hehe Joey, even though I suck at sustained double kick type of stuff... with the "RLR L RLR L" way, I can keep this pattern going for minutes at a speed that is atleast the same as Bleed itself, if not even a little faster. If it's anything my right foot is good at, it's bursting out 2 notes... fucking goddamn foot!

Well, I'm determined to give this piece of shit foot yet another chance. I set up a couple old ass Pearl P-100 pedals on a wooden board down in the basement and I will practise some slow and steady all ankle type of stuff and just try to get my right foot to fucking understand what the deal is all about.

Oh, just to mention my main pedal, it's Pearl Eliminators. But I know the pedals are not the issue... I can't play fast sustained kicks on the floor either, neither on any other pedal I have tried so the problem is me. I think the classic single chain P-100 will be sufficient enough for practise... I don't think I can blaim them if I keep sucking :)
 
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