I've been on a pretty regular regiment recently in order to increase my double bass control, stamina, and speed. I have been playing every day (or close to it), and I'll just set my metronome at whatever speed is comfortable, and play 16th note singles for a set amount of minutes until my legs got tired. I would then rest, and start again. I started at 115 bpm, and would keep increasing as I felt more and more comfortable with each speed. Yesterday, I was practicing at between 135 and 140 bpm for awhile (probably about an hour), and I began to get a sensation in my legs (namely my right ankle) that I would get when I'd finish a long practice with my band. It was now as if I had no more control over my ankle. I would go to play a normal single stroke roll with my right leg, but instead of having control over the leg, it would just go to play as fast as it possibly could. I felt like my body just wasn't getting along with my limb anymore, even though that last minute, everything was going fine. My technique is heel-up, and I've been playing against my carpet, and kind of airdrumming with my hands... seems like the cheapest method of doing this in an apartment.

Today, I practiced a little more, but I still would feel this sensation. As I woke up, my ankles still didn't feel 100%, so I didn't practice as much today. I'm just wondering, has anybody else experienced this sensation, and if so, is it something that tends to go away with practice? If not, anyone know what's going on? Thanks a lot.

that's what i was gonna say.

it sounds like overworked muscles to me. i've had that happen as well. also have had my legs just shake involuntarily. usually, if you take a few days off, the muscles get time to recup and 'wire' themselves for the higher speeds. often you'll find when you return to the kit you are better and stronger after the rest period.

muscles need time to process information and build themselves.

if rest doesn't afford you relief, go to a doctor. but in general, it sounds like overworked muscles.

Thanks for the advice guys. When I woke up yesterday morning, it still felt a little weird. The thing is, it never felt sore or painful in the least. It's just that when I would go to play drums, the control over my right ankle would still feel less than perfect... and the longer I would play without taking a break, the less control I would have.

Now that I woke up this morning, it feels perfect. However, the thing that I'm concerned with is will this happen pretty much every time I go to practice at my highest comfortable speed? Thanks again guys.

It seems like it has been happening over a length of time though. It would happen pretty much every time I'd finish practicing with my band (3 hours of fairly intense practice). However, when I would practice with my band, it'd pretty much be the only time I'd play drums a week, because I'm at school without a drumset or anything. Now, I just started regularly practicing every day, but I play my "bass drum" by just playing against the floor. I started at a slow speed (115 bpm), and would play for a few minutes, break, and continue going. Now, I'm trying to do these exercises at 135-140 bpm, which is about what my peak range is. I started at this range a few days ago, and that's when it first happened. Yesterday, I didn't practice as hard as I did the last day, but today, I've started up again at these speeds. I'm afraid that this same sensation will happen fairly soon as I'm practicing, and this will just be a normal thing.

Well, you're probably right. However, I didn't jump from 115 to 135... I've been doing it these past few weeks, and I would jump up in 4-5 bpm incremements. I've also been playing double bass for years now, but I always hated my playing, so I wanted to start from the ground up. But yeah, I should probably stay at a lower speed for awhile before I get to 140. Thanks.

My uncle's a foot doctor... I spoke to my cousin today, and told him to have his father (my uncle) give me a call tonight. I'm going to ask him what he thinks. Thanks a lot for your guy's help. I'll report back on what he says.

It's just so annoying that it seems to come into effect really quickly. When I first sit down at my drums, I feel like I can play double bass at my peak speed no problem. Then, after minimal time practicing, the feeling starts to sink in, even just a little bit. After a long time of practicing, my ankles just feel like jello.

You know what, I do that, but not nearly as much as you say I should. That may be another factor too. Good advice man, I'll def try that from now on.

Yeah the same thing happens to me a lot as well.  Especially when I want to play my top speed right away.  I agree with everything the people have just said in this topic.  Also try some light stretching before hand and afterwords.  It's also part of a good warm up.  But it doesn't mean you can go right into your top speed, you still should try slower things and get used to it first. 

Here's something else I've been noticing while practicing too. It seems like at the end of the day, when my right leg is drained, I still seem to have complete control over my left leg. I realize that I use my right leg more, which means that I work it harder, but still, my left leg should be the weak one, yet at the end of practice days, it always seems to be more in control than my right leg.

You're definitely right. I had an instructor for the summer, but I really wasn't a fan of his, so I stopped. With him, it was 1 and a half hours of reading. He never once looked at my technique, and in the 8 or so lessons I had with him, I spent maybe 10 minutes on the drumset. I understand that learning to read is important, but I feel like technique and whatnot is just as important, and he completely disregarded this. Since I'm at school now, I don't really have time for lessons, but come next summer, I will look again.

However, could you look at my question before this, about my left foot/leg feeling more comfortable than my right one. Pretty much all the time, I feel like I can play singles faster on the floor with my left than right. I understand that I work my right harder, so it probably gets more fatigued, but it still seems weird to me.

Yeah, I feel like my left should be more tired also, considering that it's my weak foot. But I think I just chalk it up to my right leg working harder when I practice, being that I lead with it and play it a lot more.

And yeah, I hear what you're saying about the concentration. It seems like for me, when I actually start thinking "don't mess up, keep it even," that's when I mess up. It'll go from even R-L-R-L-R-L to R-L-R-L-RL--RL--, etc. Right now, I'm staying at 130 bpm, and I can keep that pretty even and comfortable for awhile.

Just a question for you Tyler, how do you like the Gibraltar practice pad? So far, I like it. The rebound (or lack there of) definitely takes getting used to, but I feel that if I can play well on this (on carpet), then when I play my actual set, I'll feel way more comfortable... kind of like warming up in baseball with a heavier bat. Also, the practice bass pad with my makeshift snare pad actually gives me a good practice kit, so I can actually practice drums when I'm home, not just air drums.