Heel Up Double Bass Drum Technique Exercises (Ankle Motion) - James Payne 

Most underrated drum teacher on RU-vid, thank you for your hard work! You changed my playing forever man, thanks!

Dude its insane you have so few views and subs. I started learning drums on my own, and your videos are my no.1 educational source until now!

This video was really helpful for me - I was having a lot of trouble figuring out how to practice switching between the motions. Thanks!

I'm teaching myself how to play the drums, and am finding your videos the most helpful! I really appreciate your efforts and explanations. Very easy to understand.

Very good explanations! Thanks a lot

This is exactly what i need I can do one or the other. I need to do both smoothly. Thanks James!

Thanks for your hard work!!! So useful and really detailed! Like your videos

Very helpful video. Thank you.

James, your videos are first class! I love how you address many natural follow up questions your viewers may have. Subscribed!

This video deserves 1 billion views

Incorrect technique and spring tension equals knock ups lock ups when playing love this so much your a legend thank you 🙏🏻

I have a speed cobra and i cant do the exercise without the spring, i dont know if im the problem or the pedal its designed for work only with spring

Great teacher and player. You deserve more views and subs man thanks for what you do its helping me tremendously

Coming back a year later - the biggest hurdle for me was understanding that the ankle motion is not generated with the shin muscle but the CALF muscle. Once I realized that ankle motion involves flexing the quadriceps and your feet sort of "float" above the pedals with the strike generated by contracting the calf muscle, I finally felt like i was getting somewhere. My current hurdle is the issue you point out at 5:55. Weirdly, my non-dominant left foot does the ankle motion perfectly yet my right foot has a lot of trouble staying synchronized to the pedal, likely due to bad technique caused by ingrained muscle memory from being self-taught. Thank you again for sharing this very helpful lesson.

Working on this motion without the spring made such a difference in my range of motion and really helped me get a better feel for what I should be doing when playing heel up. No more small twitches! Thanks for the great video!

The documented source I've seen is George Kollias 16 week program for double bass The whole basis of that program is switching from full leg to ankle Similar in concept to this video Dishing my 2 cents and more reference ideas for fellow Drummers Happy drumming

Good stuff! Thanks!

Amazing video.. this helped me alot with developing my ankle technique and trying to understand whats going on. What beater distance and spring tension do you recommend for this?

Ok, I gave this video a chance. I did what he said to some extent. Geez, the ankle fatigue and pain for days was not welcome. Then after studying the fulcrum point of the pedal (the point where you get more motion from the beater to head with minimal pressure), I learned I did NOT have to employ the ankle gymnastics James talks about. Now, James instruction is valid, IF your ankles can take the workout he shows. I'm happy with the maximum performance from my pedal using the fulcrum point about 35% up from the heel pad of my pedal. And my foot only has to slide up to 50% from the heel pad to assert control for single strokes and eight notes. The remainder of speed (16ths and so on) comes largely from the fulcrum point on my pedal.

Hey James, thank you so far! Very helpful! Could you give some advice about how to play double strokes even in slow, medium and up tempo? Is it the same switching between leg and ankle? Or is it just in case that the FIRST stroke of the double stroke is emphasized? How do you us the two motions when the SECOND stroke of the double stroke has to be louder? Thank you man!

hm.. why does my beater just stays on the practice pad if i remove the springs? it doesnt move like yours at all.

Nice video. So ankle technique is like dribble with toe and ankle is what executes this dribble? My issue I guess is that my double bass left pedal is tighter and it's a lot harder to get a rebounce (spring tension should be the same) and I can't get constant strokes if I try a left foot with the right pedal I can even get constant stroke action. So I can't understand if it's still a technique issue or pedals issue because with right foot I can play on both pedals but it's harder with the left one but I can.

But when i remove my spring, i can't move my pedal

Great video! Little question though... with the ankle-motion, do you use the calfmuscle or more from the shinmuscle?

I have a question. Whats the suggested bpm to start out with?

Hey James can I use ankle weights while practicing this particular motion .... Actually I m already able to get a clean motion by isolating the ankle only ....

Hey, James. I have a question. I hope I get an answer. So, I'm practicing this technique. However, on my right foot, I get this twitch when I try. It's like I can't control it. It's super frustrating!! My left foot is fine. I tried to maybe add a swivel to try to control the twitch but it ain't helping. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

👍🏻

What are the alternatives to ankle motion when playing fast?

Great video explaining the nuances of the technique. But I still don't understand how shall we keep our leg lifted at all times(whenever we are playing bass drum). How can we sit straight when our legs are exerting a torque with the throne being the pivot. Shouldn't we lean backwards rather than sitting straight? I tried keeping my leg lifted while playing but I can't do it for more than 3 seconds. After that I have to rest it. Is it just about building the muscles to lift the leg up?

Do i need high settings of drumthrone sa i can balance properly?

I don't understand how you get the beater to come back with no spring attached?? I mean, that's literally the function of the spring!! I tried detaching the spring on my pedal, beater hits the head and stays there!! Can anyone explain?????

I get a constant twitch when i do this, what in the holy hell are metal drumers snorting?

I do not like leg motion at all, it's heel down for me on slower tempos