Drummer Cafe Community Forum

Ive been working so hard to get to 80bmp playing 16th notes spaced between 8th and 1/4 notes.  My questions is this, i play heel up and i was wondering am i suppose to feel the muscle going down my shin working? as well as my calf...i ask this cause i have been fixing errors that i did when i was younger.

I play heel up and i don't really ever feel any muscles tightening up or burning when i play fast

In my humble opinion I think you are well on your way to developing decent BD technique.  If you are feeling it in your shins (you are dropping your heel) and your calf then that means you are probably using some sort of heel/toe motion or a modification there of.  And that is a good thing, for speed, groove, balance and eventually- power.

I think the best bass drum technique is neither heel up or heel down- one would in essence keep the beater off the head unless playing extremely hard (which is a technique that I rarely use anymore).  The foot sorta floats over the pedal- at least that is how I play (if I have a good drum throne) YMMV

Suggestion ....

Let you heel drop back down when you are not playing. This not only will keep you from tiring out quickly, but you will conserve energy by not having to burn calories to keep your heel lifted up off the pedal board.

So true Felix , off the subject a little but the most important piece of a drum kit is a throne that is solid/strong, supports the weight and adjustable. Worth every cent to buy a good quality throne if you are serious about drumming. It's like a bed, buy the best as you will spend a lot of time with it and you don't want it to cripple you do you.
Gives confidence and as you say helps balance to get them legs moving ;)

I totally agree here. I like to let both feet float... saves energy, and really lets you (at least for me) get into the groove.

drumchris and felix are completely right in my opinion, i use a toe/heel rock method and i used to get a burn in my shin and calf but i'm used to it now.