r/drums • u/Educational-Help-793 • 1d ago
Feedback Wanted Learning Heel Up
Idk but I think I’m doing something wrong.
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u/R0factor 1d ago
Practice both bouncing and burying the beater. You’re doing sort of a lazy in-between of the two. The last thing you want is the beater dribbling on the head.
Also leg movements are fine at slower speeds but for higher tempos it’s a lot more ankle.
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u/GoodDog2620 Sabian 1d ago
Position the beaters farther back. Your foot is leaving the pedalboard, which means you’re losing control. The pedalboard should follow your foot upward. Not too much though, gotta find that balance. You’ll also be able to hit much harder because you’ve got more runway.
Loosen the lug above the spring, move the beater back some, then retighten it. See if it feels better.
You may need to adjust the spring tension as well, I think it looks a bit loose, but that’s just my opinion.
Please put a pillow in your kick drum.
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u/csciabar 1d ago
U should be attacking with the toes/ball of your foot. Pick up your heel more.
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u/GerardWayAndDMT 1d ago
You don’t need to lift the heel that high to play heel up. My heel is typically a half inch off the floor. It’s about controlling the physics of the pedal.
OP see how your foot is leaving the pedal. You want to stay in constant contact with the pedal board. It takes practice but you should be trying to be aware of how often you decouple. Try to control it.
And heel up is not really about lifting. My ankle kind of flicks and I let the weight of the leg/foot deliver the stroke. I keep my heel very slightly off the ground and sort of “roll” the ankle joint. This pushes the leg upwards and when the weight comes down it’s timed perfectly with the pedal’s natural swing. You don’t want to interrupt the swing. You want to use it to your advantage. You have to practice this but it gets easier once you find the feel of it.
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u/Chumscrubber89 1d ago
I’ve always had trouble with this
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u/a4sayknrthm42 23h ago
Weird! It's so interesting to see people who struggle with heel up when I struggle with heel down.
The problem with OP's technique is they are still trying to use their ankle like heel down and so are perpetually holding up their leg with their hip flexor. Instead, rest your entire leg's weight on the pedal BUT, flex your calf a bit to raise your heel off the pedal. Like standing on your tippy toes. Then raise the leg with your hip flexor and completely release, dropping all of your weight back down. Yes, you could add your ankle for more power, or push with your hamstring/glutes as well. But that's not the core of the motion, which is just: weight on the ball of your foot, raise and drop your leg, weight's back on the ball of the foot.
I think the main confusion for people not used to this technique comes from the fact that it will not and cannot bounce back off the kickdrum. You WILL bury the beater IF you haven't adjusted beater angle and tension to the point where the full weight of your leg doesn't naturally bury it. In other words, wherever the beater is when your weight is fully rested on the pedal through the ball of your foot, is where it's going to stay between hits. You DO NOT use your hip flexor to raise your leg between hits in order to pull the beater away from the kickdrum, whereas with heel down you definitely DO raise your foot up using your front calf muscle to pull the beater away from the kickdrum as needed.
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u/a4sayknrthm42 23h ago edited 23h ago
You're trying not to the bury the beater. You're playing heel up so BURY THE BEATER! To not bury the beater with heel-up means that your beater angle and spring tension have to both be high enough to accommodate the weight of your ENTIRE LEG resting on the pedal. You cannot sustainably float your leg by tensing your hip flexor between hits. So start by making sure your entire weight is rested on the pedal through the ball of your foot. Raise and drop. Don't tap your toes.
Edit: I disagree with a lot of other recommendations, like bouncing your leg. That is absolutely a motion that can be incorporated into heel-up, but you need to get the basics of raising and dropping your leg without any other muscle groups. Your calf should stay slightly flexed to get heel off the pedal, and your hip flexor should raise your leg before dropping all of your weight back down. Isolate those two muscle groups first! For example, I can clearly see your calf relax between hits and your heel drop back down when you should have a slightly flexed calf the whole time keeping your heel up.
Edit 2: Tip, sit anywhere then try leaning forward and standing up without lifting your heels. That will give you an idea of what resting all of your weight through the ball of the foot feels like.
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u/a4sayknrthm42 22h ago
Here I start with the lean forward and stand up trick. Then just show a couple of "stomps." Raise with the hip flexor, drop and keep calf tight enough to keep heel up. All my weight forward.
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u/Agitated-Society-682 21h ago
I cannot do this either dude I started learning in my apartment and naturally went to heel down because it's more quiet. No I can't unlearn it.
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u/Long-Television-5113 18h ago
Never lift ur foot of the pedal. Use the bounce angle to toe press down first before heel rests.
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u/N0T_WIFY07 8h ago
Try not to lift your foot off the board. You should “balance” your heel on your toes
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u/Brushiluskan 1d ago
You're kinda playing with your leg while just keeping your heel up. You should be doing the same kind of motion as a restless leg bounce, if that makes sense. It's the same muscle group you'd use when walking up stairs without putting your heel down on the steps. Sometimes it helps to move the throne back a bit, or put something under the back leg so that the throne tilts slightly forward. Tilting the throne however, should only be while learning/practicing.