Why does my foot cramp up?

[jimmiehendricks]

So im playing my kit after adjusting the height today and everything seems fine. I go off and have dinner and when i come back, my foot has stopped letting me to 8th notes on the BD!
Weird, so I put the height back to the way it was and still my leg wont let me play damn 8th notes!
So yeah anyone know what the deal could be?

[DamoSyzygy]

Are your shoes too tight or are you clenching your toes when you play? Both could be explanations for the issues youre having.

[That Guy]

So im playing my kit after adjusting the height today and everything seems fine.

Do you mean the height of your throne or the actual kit?

The dead foot mystery (what I like to call it) happens with many beginners, especially when learning doubles and triplets on the bass drum. One day your completely on, nailing every note, and the next day, your foot seems dead and you cant keep a beat at all. That just the life of a drummer who is learning. Eventually, you will work through it. Your muscles might be tired.

[jjmason777]

Make sure you are drinking enough water. Cramping is usually a sign of dehydration. Otherwise, if you over-tense your muscles without resting them, you can get cramps. Stay relaxed as much as possible while you play.

[MattRitter]

I would also add: make sure the bass drum technique you are using is optimal for what you're trying to accomplish. For example, if you're trying to play heavy metal using heel down, you're forcing yourself to do way more work than necessary (the weight of your leg can't come into play for extra power). That could cause cramping after a short while. If you're playing heel up, make sure you put your heel down between bass drum figures. No need to keep your heel up with your leg tensed when you're not even playing any notes! That too can cause cramping. Finally, make sure the beater is rebounding off of the head. If it's not, you are doing extra work to force the beater to stay against the head. This can cause cramping because you must fight against the pedal spring as well as the natural rebound of the beater.

To sum up, make sure that you are not causing excess tension by giving yourself excess work to do in one or more ways.

Hope this helps.

Matt Ritter
Bass Drum Techniques For Today's Drummer
www.UnBuryingTheBeater.com