Well, just straight up foot independence. When im doing something with my hands my hihat foot sometimes just follows my bass foot.
Thanks.
//Vincent.
Sorry for the delay in answering Vince. I am on the road and its not so easy to get on to the net.
My assesment would be to find a teacher who specializes in this area. Someone who can see what you are doing, what is happening, and then have him design a customized program of work for you. The "right" teacher can save you years of frustration. Seek them out. Travel if you have to. But get it handled from the beginning. Money means nothing. Dont make expense the reason that holds things back. The payoff for mastering your instrument cannot be measured at the moment. It cannot even be measured in material terms in the future. The future... no one can see, but by contributing to your instrument, to your passion, you make your future and the future of those around you brighter in every sense that truly matters.
If there is one thing i have noticed, the exercises that helped to improve the most in every area of drumming, is the exercise of the soul. The spiritual journey, that is the essence of drumming, has to be faced with passion and abandon. With disregard for security, fear, money, etc. None of those things exist in the way we usually percieve them anyway. So they are pointless. The only thing that should count, is to play your instrument. When this is possible, the independence will be there.
One of the things I find intersting in Europe is that cats have no problem traveling up to 4 hours to take a private lesson. In the states this rarely happens. Maybe because there are more teachers out in the US? I dont know but, the point is to turn every stone, cover all bases, and make whatever sacrifice you must make, to get your playing happening. And continually grow. Accomplishment in drumming as I have seen in life, comes down to a few basic factors. One of the most important, being "Desire" -
I have a zillion exercises I could give you. But without knowing your present ability, your desire, your position in life, and how much time to practice you have...it will all be bla bla .
I hope that helps.
Thanks for asking.
PM