Heel up or heel down?

I'm always doing heel up. Unless I'm doing something fast, then I'm doing flat foot.

Whenever I'm tapping or air drumming I do heel down though, over time it gave me a nice ankle flick whenever I want more power or to do an outrageous accent when going heel up lol
 
I only use heel down for playing quietly, which is not something I need to do very often with the bass drum (personally). Heel up offers many advantages for every other situation in my experience, although I practice both to build my overall speed.
 
I'm almost always heel up because of two main reasons: 1 I can get a lot more power and acceleration into the beater with the addition of my leg, and 2 playing heel up allows me to move my foot around the pedal for different leverage.

1/2 the time I bury the beater which is very helpful for balance (especially when doing medium/slow tempo double bass and/or 4 way coordination), and half the time I drop the heel down on the heel plate when the beater hits so that it can bounce off the head.
(Matt Ritter has done a great video on this technique called "unburying the beater").
 
Lately, I have been wondering to myself, 'should I be playing heel up or heel down?' When I started playing, I exclusively played heel down. I still do, I rarely play heel up. However, when I watch videos and other drummers play, they are almost always playing heel up.

I am in the same boat. I've played heel down with plenty of power for years, only reverting to heel up when I was doing something like playing steady 8ths for an extended period of time. My calf cramps after about 16 measures of steady 8ths when playing at moderate speed. That said, if I skip the kick on the 2 and 4 beats (letting the snare do the talking) I can play heel down at very fast speeds with no cramping, which is what I often do.

When we played shows, I would notice some other drummers coming to the side to watch my kick foot. I started to realize I was the only guy playing heel down. I've asked other drummers, soundmen, studio engineers, etc. if they hear weakness when I play heel down and no one has ever expressed concern.

That said, I feel compelled to play heel up more often. The trouble is that I love to play quick 16th accents, quad fills, etc. and I cannot do this playing heel up. Any good guides to mastering 16th accents while heels up on a single kick?
 
I've kind of overhauled my technique in the past year, both with my hands and feet. I've always played heel down but I've begun incorporating heel up and find it is useful. I still have more precision with heel down, but heel up is getting better and better. It does help me play with more volume, but the best asset I'm getting from it is I find I can alleviate fatigue by switching between the two techniques. When I get tired playing fast quarters heel down, I can switch to heel up and use a different muscle group.

The trick is to play heel up without burying the beater. Matt Ritter, who is a member here on Drummerworld, has the definitive DVD on how to do this.
 
I have just started to watch Matt Ritters Unburying the Beater, and according to him there are pros and cons to both methods, and Matt has combined those methods into a method that works for him and a method that I will make work for me.
 
I play heel down and have no idea how to play heel up. I would like to try it but I lose balance with out my heel down.
How do you keep balance comfortably?
 
You have to make sure your throne is at the proper height, and your hi hat and bass drum pedal are proper.
 
I have just started to watch Matt Ritters Unburying the Beater, and according to him there are pros and cons to both methods, and Matt has combined those methods into a method that works for him and a method that I will make work for me.

Same here, I've always played the kick heel down but I'm finding heel up gives more power. I've found some leg muscles that I'm sure haven't been used much just practicing some of the drills in Matt's video. :)
 
Isn't this exactly the same as asking if you should use wrists or fingers?

Personally I use the joints necessary to produce the sound I want. And when you use both regularly they start to morph in to one technique. Sometimes you rest your leg on the pedal, sometimes you rise it a bit. From both positions heel-toeing is possible. Accents usually are more efficiently done with the whole leg depending on the surrounding dynamics. When tempos get past 170bpm I usually naturally start to rise my leg from the pedal. My theory is that it would make you work harder if you tried to push the heel to the ground at those faster tempos. But I'm by all means not a bass drum guru.
 
Funny how we gravitate to different things. I started off in noisy rock bands so I always played heel up. For those who mostly play heel down, did you start with jazz or another mellow genre?

Old habits die hard so, even though my current band is mellow, I still play heel up, except for lazy slow quarters alternate with the hats.
 
I play heel up about 98% of the time, but I don't "bury the beater." Now this was a very hard thing to work develop, but I like having the extra "balls/speed" when I want it. Yeah, you're supporting you leg the whole time, but it feels almost 'floaty' after you become accustomed to it.

But hey, they only bad technique is one that causes a bad sound or injury! :p
 
Funny how we gravitate to different things. I started off in noisy rock bands so I always played heel up. For those who mostly play heel down, did you start with jazz or another mellow genre?

Old habits die hard so, even though my current band is mellow, I still play heel up, except for lazy slow quarters alternate with the hats.

Polly, I started with the marching/concert/jazz bands in high school but mostly played in rock bands through out, all heel down. I just didn't know any other way. I had plenty of speed and power heel down. Being a little older and more open to learn something new "Unburying The Beater" is a door way to a new technique for me. I watched lots of drummers play heel up over time but I guess then I wasn't as open to making any changes as I am now.
 
For those who mostly play heel down, did you start with jazz or another mellow genre?
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Great question, and the answer for me is mostly "yes." I wanted to play rock as a youngin', but I was hipped to jazz and fusion very early and I never thought of myself as a "heavy hitter," per se. When I started playing more rock, I managed to get a pretty strong foot going even with my heel down. But as I've experimented with revamping some technical issues with my playing in the last year or so, I can say that heel up is now a working option for me. It's not quite as precise as heel down and I need to work on making it as comfortable and relaxed, but I'm finding it's been worth the effort.
 
I started drumming about 2 years ago and i play heel up. I started playing alot of punk and rock early. I never knew if i should play up or down, but heel up felt easier. Does anyone think i should have started heel down before moving on up?
 
Does anyone think i should have started heel down before moving on up?

I don't know much at all mate.........but I do know this: There is much benefit in the ability to do both.....simultaneously, with little thought put into the fact that you can switch back and forth between the two at will.
 
I don't know much at all mate.........but I do know this: There is much benefit in the ability to do both.....simultaneously, with little thought put into the fact that you can switch back and forth between the two at will.

indeed. 20202020

this forum needs a "like" option
 
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP WITH MY DOUBLE BASS PEDAL PROBLEM?
I have been playing double pedal for about 1 and a half years. For about half that time I was able to play Waking The Demon by Bullet For My Valentine. Recently this year I have suddenly lost my ability to keep up with the song. I start ok but then my feet get weird and slide down the pedal and lose control. I am able to play short bursts of fast double bass, but I find it hard to play slower stuff. What can I do to help? I have a Pearl Eliminator Double pedal. Should I get new beaters? Should I get a higher end pedal? Should I try a new foot technique (I use heel up)? HELP!!!!!! And yes I play with a metronome.
 
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