What kind of grip does this drummer use?

oob360

Junior Member
I'm very curious because I think he's very good but I've never seen someone play with their hands resting below their wrists. If anyone could tell me the name of the grip he's using I'd appreciate it. I like to put my drum set low like he does, but I end up hitting my legs sometimes with my sticks...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-63Wxkjhjs
 
Don't worry about what he's doing, and especially don't set up your kit just to be like him. Setup your kit in a way that's comfy for you, and see a teacher for a few sessions about your grip questions.

On a related note, what he did several times and you reference looks like a fast-track to tendon and motion-stress issues.
 
The drummer in the vid uses all of them, but is more prone towards the Ameri/French side than the German side.

He's set up the way he is because he is tall and has a long torso.
 
Dr_Watso makes a good point about setting up your kit ergonomically--what's comfortable for you is the best way. However, sometimes your kit won't LET you set things up exactly the way you want. In my case, I like my snare rim to be on the same plane, more or less level with the adjacent toms, and each tom rim level with the toms on either side, except for my 16" floor tom, which has to be quite a bit lower than the 14" tom. This works best for me, because it reduces the amount of unwanted rim hits when doing various fills.

The problem is my toms are all deeper versions of Fusion sizes; 10 x 9, 12 x 10, 14 x 12. My 12" tom's depth means I have to position it higher than what would be perfect, so it won't scuff the bass drum. I'd prefer to have it flatter and lower, but then it wouldn't be level with the 10" or 14" and the snare.

But given the limitations of your kit specs, set things up the way that's most ergonomic for you.
 
The drummer in the video is holding his sticks the same way you hold your knife and fork when you eat.

In about 10 years he will be on this forum asking us for help and complaining about pain in his wrists.

.
 
The drummer in the video is holding his sticks the same way you hold your knife and fork when you eat.

In about 10 years he will be on this forum asking us for help and complaining about pain in his wrists.

.

Yup. It's weird, and just thinking about what his tendons are doing all stretched out like that gives me phantom pains.
 
Hipster grip? more characters
Lulz

I see mostly french, a real loose french grip. His wrist is also bent and his fingers sorta stick out downwards. I think this either a variation of french or a different grip that I forgot the name of. Anyway pretty interesting music, liked it.
 
I see a lot of this kind of technique these days. Because they're not gripping tightly, there's not that much shock on the wrists. It's mostly fulcrum on the middle finger and finger control on the back two. He doesn't have the drums that low, he's sitting pretty high. Very similar to a lot of the gospel chops folks.
 
i think some may be over analysing this. nothing strange here i have seen it many times and know people that play this way, including myself with no pain for over 30 years . i was more taken aback at the horrible tom sounds,
 
Looks like french. Also looks very comfortable and loose to me. Kinda looks similar to Benny Greb's grip.

In relation, Brann Dailor's grip technique intrigues me. It just doesn't work for me but sure as hell does for him!
 
Alright big reply to everyone. Thanks for the comments!

I'll definitely look into French grip in depth. I was taught one grip and not by name (American). Some people were talking about not having another drummer influence me about kit set up and grip. Don't worry, I'm not planning on carbon copying his style, but I see a few benefits in his way of playing and set up that are appealing to me.

There seems to be some disagreement on whether his grip is actually bad for the wrist or not. I'll look into the grip with the fulcrum on the middle finger, sounds interesting.

As for the tom sounds, I actually like them hahaha. Never really liked the huge tom sounds that seem pretty popular now. I like the toms to sound sharp and defined. Off topic though...

Definitely will look into Benny Grib and Brann Dailor!

Once again, thanks for the great responses. They gave me a lot to think about!
 
I'll definitely look into French grip in depth. I was taught one grip and not by name (American). Some people were talking about not having another drummer influence me about kit set up and grip. Don't worry, I'm not planning on carbon copying his style, but I see a few benefits in his way of playing and set up that are appealing to me.

Look into both French and German. The big thing is that you shouldn't just have one grip, you should have all of them and be able to switch between them depending on the material or whatever your mood is. Once you know what the two extremes are, you'll be able to meddle with all the grips in between them.
 
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