Compensating for pedal natural wiggle

5 months, 1 hour a day on average.

Only rudiments at first to learn bases, pad work whenever I'm in front of the tv. Then quickly started incorporating some songs in my practice. I'm also practicing reading score faster to be able to play along better. I learned "when the levee breaks" first, recording myself to identify areas to improve faster. When I was no longer improving fast I added other songs such as "fool in the rain", "teenage dirtbag", "self esteem", "take five", etc. I play all the ones I know every time I play, and I only add one more when the last one I learned is decent enough.

All kinds. Whenever I add a new part to learn I try to pick one that has a different time signature, so as to develop more fluency around the kit.

Not a flesh and bone one. On YouTube I grab whatever free education I can get from the teachers (see attached pic)

I'm sure there are many, I'm learning the scene and going to live shows as much as I can. I'm very grateful to have discovered this forum!

I did! But I'm very very far from Mayer level. There's still tons of basic stuff I need to learn. I will typically watch one of the YouTube videos and practice what is taught until I have it figured out (by listening to my audio recording)
I think I'm going to start recording video too to better identify and correct posture technique etc. Audio is great for noticing errors in tempo accents etc that's probably the best piece of advice I've received. Thanks!
You know, i wouldn’t worry about it too much.

A lot of the old school players, by that I mean guys over 50 who probably grew up playing jazz or big band, or older, classic rock, might think about playing heel up closer to tap dancing rather than mashing on the pedal. Thinking about dynamics and going from softer to louder and having control of the pedal. That’s one way to look at it. Not just the same level all the time.

That might be a little much right now, but definitely something to consider.


A lot of this depends too on how you have your bass drum set up, how much of a front head, how much muffling.

So there’s multiple considerations going on :). Good luck. Have fun !!
 
Ok... I've practiced keeping my foot in contact with the pedal at all times and it's certainly helped... But I still find that at certain tempos that match the pedal wiggle frequency I find I push on the pedal but it's already on the way down because it has bounced under my foot, so by the time I contact the footboard again it's almost completely down, and I only have an inch or so to accelerate the beater to the bass drum head...do you know what I mean? Should I work on keeping my ankles looser so that the footboard bounce is absorbed? I am not sure what to do. Other thoughts are to increase tension to move the wiggle frequency higher and thus have a greater usable pedal tempo range?
Or lower the spring tension a lot, but increase beater weight to make it more resistant to wiggling in general?
This seems like a technique issue rather than a pedal issue. At no point should the pedalboard be launched downward as a projectile away from your foot, nor should you be bringing your foot upward so fast that the pedalboard can't keep up with it. Treat it like a drumstick; you don't throw those downward and out of your hands and catch them on the rebound. Your foot should definitely allow the pedal to rebound, but controlled, with constant contact, as with drumsticks.
 
Sit in a chair and put your feet on the floor. Bounce your kick pedal leg up and down while keeping your toes on the floor. That's heel up. It's not actually lifting with your hip/thigh, but pushing with your calf. Think of doing calf raises, only seated.

Your foot should not leave the footboard of the pedal.

I'm trying to learn double kick and I'm gonna try this!!
 
5 months, 1 hour a day on average.

Only rudiments at first to learn bases, pad work whenever I'm in front of the tv. Then quickly started incorporating some songs in my practice. I'm also practicing reading score faster to be able to play along better. I learned "when the levee breaks" first, recording myself to identify areas to improve faster. When I was no longer improving fast I added other songs such as "fool in the rain", "teenage dirtbag", "self esteem", "take five", etc. I play all the ones I know every time I play, and I only add one more when the last one I learned is decent enough.

All kinds. Whenever I add a new part to learn I try to pick one that has a different time signature, so as to develop more fluency around the kit.

Not a flesh and bone one. On YouTube I grab whatever free education I can get from the teachers (see attached pic)

I'm sure there are many, I'm learning the scene and going to live shows as much as I can. I'm very grateful to have discovered this forum!

I did! But I'm very very far from Mayer level. There's still tons of basic stuff I need to learn. I will typically watch one of the YouTube videos and practice what is taught until I have it figured out (by listening to my audio recording)
I think I'm going to start recording video too to better identify and correct posture technique etc. Audio is great for noticing errors in tempo accents etc that's probably the best piece of advice I've received. Thanks!
A full length mirror that I can rest against my floor tom and see my right foot while I play has been massively helpful for me to diagnose and correct some of my bd technique issues.

It's amazing to see how different what you think your foot is doing compared to what it's actually doing. And I found being able to make adjustments while i play much more useful than recording, watching it back and then trying to make the adjustment without any real reference point.
 
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