3 Reasons Why You Can't Increase Your Bass Drum Speed

Double Bass Drumming!

Almost every drummer struggles with one of these following 3 topics at one point: Balance Issues, Wrong Pedal Settings, Weak Foot Development!

1) Balance Issues

So let's start with balance issues at first.

I'm aware that talking about balance issues while double bass drumming is not a sexy topic like increasing your bass drum speed or endurance.

But it actually is one of those topics that causes the most frustration for drummers out there.

I know that I struggled with this topic for years.

So really simple:

Drummers struggle with staying balanced when playing with both feet at the same time.

We either have to lean forward or back, sometimes even to the side, just to be able to move both feet.



This is frustrating at slow tempos.

It's even more frustrating at mid-tempos.

And it definitely is a nightmare at higher tempos, if you play faster than 230 bpm.

The bigger problem here is that this also has a negative effect on our overall playing.

Because of this our tightness and feel will suffer,

These past couple of years I've tried several exercises to solve this issue for myself and for my students.

I'm talking about getting used to keeping both feet in the air at the same time...



Additional core and balance exercises in the gym, as well as using ankle weights.

And I have to tell you that although all of these options DO help...

They are not following this simple, straight forward approach I like when it comes to drumming.

I don't want to spend additional time at the gym to incorporate balance and core exercises for just minor improvements on the drum kit.

I also don't want to bring my ankle weights with me all the time - just in case I might have some time to work on my foot technique.

And I've seen the same thing with my students in our double bass drumming program.

Most of the drummers that join my coaching program have a full time job and they want results ON the drum kit.

Yes, they have time to practice 3-4 times per week, but they don't want to add additional gym workouts and other complexities to their lives as well.

So here's what has worked best for me and all of my students.

Once I shifted my focus to this framework of playing double bass, all balance issues disappeared right away.

It's really easy - we just have 2 simple guidelines to follow.

Guideline 1: Both feet stay in touch with the footboard at all times.

This works fine for slow, mid and fast double bass drumming.

It's easier to control your pedal this way and I just feel way more centered and relaxed.

Guideline 2: Shifting to just using your calves when playing with your feet while relaxing your upper leg at all times.

This way the weight of your legs is always resting on the pedals.



And that's actually the main reason for balance issues in the first place.

If you lift the weight of your legs off the pedals, you are losing those 2 balance points (your feet) and your upper body has to compensate for that.

That's why we have to lean forward or back.

If you just go the easy, straight forward way of not engaging the muscle groups in your upper leg at all, then you get 2 big benefits:

• The weight of your legs is always resting on your pedals. This way it's easier to just use your calves (and also increase the tempo drastically if you want to)
• And you have 3 balance points available at all times. You sitting on your drum chair, your right foot on your right pedal and your left foot on your left pedal. 

This way you don't need all those extra exercises and tools to stay balanced.

Simple and straightforward.

Now, once I had my balance issues sorted out, I started to face the next challenge.

Finding the right pedal settings!

2) Pedal Settings:

So here's the big mistake I made when I tried to set up my double bass pedals.

I just looked for pedal settings recommendations online and set up my pedals that exact same way.

At first I tried a maximum spring tension, 50 degree beater angle on my axis longboard pedals.

I saw that George Kollias was flying with these settings, so I assumed it would be the same for me.

Oh boy :-)

With these settings I wasn't even able to push the footboard down all the way.

I lost the ability to play tight at slow tempos and speeding up was impossible.

Next I tried to set up my pedals a bit differently after watching a DVD by the band Krisiun.

Their drummer, Max, who is amazing by the way, used the following settings back then.

• Low to medium spring tension
  
• Almost 90 degree beater angle

With these settings I was able to drastically increase my volume when playing at slow tempos.

But at higher tempos I wasn't able to hit the bass drums consistently.

It just felt like the pedal was working against me all the time.

I couldn't control this extreme beaterswing.

This lead to even more frustration.

I started to think that I might not be talented enough.

It was frustrating to fail with pedal settings that worked so well for others.

At that point I decided to go back to the regular factory settings and start from there.

What I found out for myself and my students over the years is that recommending specific pedal settings does not work.

We are all different.

I'm talking about body weight, the weight of our upper and lower leg, strength, technique and so on.

All of these factors are important.

So what worked best for me is to set up my pedals according to my own body weight.

This way the pedal is doing most of the work for me.

When my pedals are set up correctly, I feel like a puppet master who's just controlling those strings.

And although it would take hours to talk about the benefits and effects of each possible setting, I still want to give you a quickstart guide right now.

When first setting up your pedals, you have 3 settings that you want to focus on:

• Spring tension
  
• Beater angle
• Height of your bass drum beater
  

It's important to mention that all these settings are connected.

They all influence each other.

When setting up a new pedal, I always start with the beater angle at first.

I like to start out with a 45 degree beater angle.

Then I decrease the spring tension all the way to the lowest setting possible.

This way it's easy to get a basic feel for the pedal.

Just see how it reacts at different tempos.

At this point I also test different foot positions on the footboard to find the sweet spot of the pedal.

Once I've located the sweet spot I start to increase the spring tension gradually.

I want to get to the point where it's easy for me to push the footboard down while bouncing the beater back and forth.

I don't want my springs to be so tight that I feel like I have to work against the spring.

And I also don't want to feel like I have to work hard to get that beaterswing going.

Once those two settings are dialed in, I focus on the beater height.

If I extend my beater all the way, then I get way more volume.



The downside of this setting is that there's a lot of momentum coming my way after the beater hits the bass drum head.

If I decrease my beater height, then the pedal starts to react quicker.

But the downside is that I lose volume and it's a bit more difficult to control my pedals.

Once I found the right combination of feel and pedal action, I'm basically good to go.

There are other factors that we can't discuss right now like:

• How to find the sweet spot of your pedals
  
• Footboard angle
• Beaterweights
• Differences between chain and direct drive pedals
• and much more...
  

But if you want to dive deeper into this topic, then check out my free Double Bass Pedal Settings Video Guide:

>> Pedal Settings Video Guide <<

This 15 minute tutorial will give you a head-start on how to set up your pedals according to your own bodyweight.

Until now we have discussed how to get rid of balance issues and how to set up your bass drum pedals.

If you fixed those two, then you are already ahead of the game.

But there's one more frustration that we want to get rid of as soon as possible.

I'm talking about our weak foot, holding us back.

3) Weak Foot Development

Maybe this will sound familiar to you.

At one point I had this goal of playing tight double bass at 200 bpm.

Single strokes at 200 bpm for at least 1 minute straight.

And I practiced and practiced for weeks...

I tried my best to push my endurance and speed.

And at one point it just clicked for my strong, right foot.

Suddenly I was able to play at tempos even faster than 200 bpm with my right foot for long periods of time.

Great.

But now it got even more frustrating.

Because for whatever reason, I couldn't do the same things my right foot was doing, with my left foot.

I tried the same exercises, same pedal settings... it just didn't click.

The only thing that is even more devastating when you try to get to 200 bpm with your feet other than failing with both feet...

Is knowing that one foot can already play at that tempo with ease, while the other one can't catch up.

I struggled with this one challenge for months.

I tried to dissect it logically.

So I bought a mirror and placed it right next to me in my rehearsal room.

Then I copied everything my right foot was doing, with my left foot.

I mean literally- everything.

I copied the position of my foot on the footboard, how high I raise my heel, the pedal settings for right and left pedal... just everything.

Still didn't work...

Until one day by accident I found the missing ingredient.

And be aware that although you might use a completely different foot technique than me, this still can be the reason you struggle with your weak foot.

The one thing I missed all these months was muscle group involvement.

With my right foot I was already using the ankle technique.

That means I just used my calves to move my heels up and down as quickly as possible.

My upper leg was relaxed at all times.

With my left foot, I was using my calves but at the same time I used my hip flexor to lift the weight of my leg off the pedal.

I'm not talking about an up and down motion from my left upper leg, just a static contraction.

And this small little detail made all the difference.

Once I started to relax my left upper leg, I was able to generate the same beaterswing with my left foot.

Suddenly the pedal started to do most of the work and I didn't get fatigued as quickly.

And within a couple of practice sessions I was playing single strokes at 200 bpm with my feet.

Not rocket science.

Just this one missing link that solved that issue for me.

So if your weak foot is holding you back, then dissect what you are doing.

Compare your left foot technique to your right foot.

Is your upper leg relaxed, are you using a static contraction or are you actively lifting your upper leg off the pedals.

Do you use your calves to raise your heels...

Do you feel your shin muscle burning...

And so on.

It's also really useful to buy a mirror and place it right next to you while practicing.

At this point it's also important to hire a drum teacher who can help you out here.

He might recognize certain patterns that you don't see.

That's basically what we offer as well with our double bass drumming coaching program.

You get all the exercises and tutorials you need, and once per week you get my personal feedback on your technique and progress.

This way I can tell you what to focus on, what's good about your technique, what to improve and what to focus on next.

Basically you'll get clear guidelines on what to do if you want to increase your double bass control, speed and endurance drastically.

To learn more about my program, go to drumcoaching.net

So, right now, I'd like to end this video with this following quote:

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out."

You don't have to master everything we've covered in this video, today.

Just practice consistently.

First spend some time improving your balance, then your pedal settings and finally your technique...

Have fun along the way...

And rather sooner than later you will reach your double bass drumming goals.

Wish you a great day,

Marthyn