"[Dom] definitely wouldn't deny the reality that his upper arm is involved in his Low Moeller stroke. He'd simply point out (rightly as anyone with eyes can see) that it isn't the part that's doing most of the moving. "
Said, Boomka. Totally true, and it is the same way with that wrist stroke that I call the free stroke (and I'll tell you why I like that label: I felt totally free when I played it for the first time!). It is a wrist stroke, and....that's really it. to say the whole arm is involved is at best untrue, at worst damaging, as students try desperately to fit large muscle movement into what is one of the simplest, most beautiful, and amazing drum techniques.
To say that "subtle" arm movement is involved misses the point: if you know how to play a wrist stroke, you will know it is played from there. Sure, by way of the laws of motion, the reaction force causes the elbow (if relaxed) to move some, but that is a reaction. To say it is an integral or even important part of the wrist stroke is like saying a little hat on the back seat of a car causes it to run....
Casper
Casper,
I can see how you injected what I wrote into the discussion, but it wasn't my intention as I said when I questioned Alex. Subtle movements does miss the point because it had to do with something entirely different then your discussion with him. A good example of having to do with what I asked Alex is this. I use to have a hard time maintaining a dotted eighth shuffle\boggie ride pattern. Not because it's difficult, but because most guitar players seem to want to fall into a triplet feel and they ultimately win the battle because they carry the melody. From talking to other drummers this problem was nothing unique to me. I spent some time watching New Orleans style shuffle drummers and they all had some kind of motion going on, and some not so subtle, that I interpreted as locking them into the dotted eigth rhythm. I experimented with some of what I observed and came up with a method that worked for me to keep everyone on a consistent rhythm that I couldn't lock in until I watched what others were doing.