Should I work on heel up or heel down?

[T-1000]

Imagine you only have time to work on one of the two for a bit. This is my case so please no responses saying: 'you're making excuses - practice both!!'

When I play heel down I get a good degree of dexterity eg. able to play patterns like Meshuggah's Bleed - but not enough endurance at speed because my ankles start to burn.

When I play heel up I can go for 16th notes at 200bpm for 5 minutes solid, but ZERO dexterity. It's hard to even get the double bass roll going - but once I have it I can hold it for very extended periods - like 5 minutes solid.

I naturally play heel down single bass and use it for quick doubles. So should firstI;

1). bring up my speed on heel down

or

2). bring up my dexterity on heel up

??

What would benefit in the long run. Is it even possible to play fast double bass for extended periods heel down? And who (famous) does it

Thanks for responses.

[T-1000]

bump!!

Would like advice...

[Redfern]

I would say work on your heel up if you have to choose, i only ever play heel up but ive found it extremely beneficial to learn the slide and heel toe for quick bursts, i would suggest maybe do the same, heel toe is rediculously easy to learn and it definately has its benefits from the slide sometimes.

[Pocket-full-of-gold]

Both.....no brainer!!

[coloradodrummer]

depends on what you play most. If you have more jazz, combo, world music gigs I would do heal down. If you have more rock, funk, metal gigs, I would do heal up.

[feldiefeld]

I agree with ColoradoDrummer.....you should prioritize your foot technique based on what kind of music you play or aspire to play. Initially, I was a pure rock guy....so I shedded heel up. Then I got into fusion....again---heel up. Once I started to get really into jazz, I was forced to learn heel down.

[Boomka]

Yes! Yes, you should.

[samthebeat]

I practice heel down when im watching tv, it translates pretty well to the kit. I allways play heel up live, but i dont play jazz. I can play pretty light heel up, and find i can play all styles heel up. I use the Matt Ritter, un bury technique so i can play light open tuned bass drums heel up, and tend to bury when playing more agressive stuff., a lot of pro players do this such as Dave Wekcl, if its good enough for dave, its good enough for me!

[Perkins]

Heel up. Especially if you play in a band and you have a show where you're kick isn't mic'd and you need to play loudly.

[iontheable]

Both..

There are very strong rock/metal drummers out there who play heel down

I don't feel heel up/heel down is designated by the music you play..rather the dynamics of THAT particular hit.

[Jon B]

i always found gaining dexterity easier than speed, and i could never get much power from heel down, so my vote is for heel up