Fast push pull technique - are you meant to push down with your thumb?

T

T-1000

Senior Member
At slower speeds, the 'push' part of the push/pull technique is done with the whole wrist.

At very fast speeds (approaching the speeds of a one-handed roll drum roll) - is the 'push' stroke still generated with the wrist, or is it generated by pushing your thumb down on the stick to cause it to hit the drum head?
 
jackie k said:
use your fulcrum, Fulcrum for single strokes or double strokes
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what do you mean ? At slow or moderate speed, the stroke is essentially generated by the wrist not the fulcrum (I agree for control as fulcrum has an impact on the rebound quality)
 
I think people misunderstand the technique I'm describing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bxD4x3Sv3k

it's speeds like 4:36 onwards in this video using the technique shown in the video - I'm not sure if he's generating the down (or 'push') stroke with his thumb pushing the stick down, or his wrist pushing it down at the highest speeds.

At the highest speeds it may well be thumb pushes the sticks down (push), fingers snap it back up (pull) - and there is minimal wrist involvement... But I'm not sure.
 
T-1000 said:
I think people misunderstand the technique I'm describing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bxD4x3Sv3k

it's speeds like 4:36 onwards in this video using the technique shown in the video - I'm not sure if he's generating the down (or 'push') stroke with his thumb pushing the stick down, or his wrist pushing it down at the highest speeds.

At the highest speeds it may well be thumb pushes the sticks down (push), fingers snap it back up (pull) - and there is minimal wrist involvement... But I'm not sure.
Click to expand...

I watched the vid and in my opinion what he's doing sounds sloppy, uneven and lacking power. I think the wrists have to be strong before you work on anything else, and by the time your wrists get strong your fulcrum should be good at that point....then I would work on fingers and other techniques. I agree with what Jackie K posted.
 
The thumb CAN be used in an explicit way - considerably more than what is demonstrated in that video. Personally I can't do it like in the video because the way I was learning it was from JoJo Mayer's DVD where JoJo is demonstrating that extra motion by the thumb creating additional momentum - which seems so beneficial to me once I was aware of that.

My advice is just get that JoJo Mayer monster tutorial and you won't really need to watch YouTube videos on hand technique and guess how the techniques actually work.

As to power - I agree that what is demonstrated in the video is a so-so version of what can be done! (My push-pull technique sucks though.)
 
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Arky said:
The thumb CAN be used in an explicit way - considerably more than what is demonstrated in that video. Personally I can't do it like in the video because the way I was learning it was from JoJo Mayer's DVD where JoJo is demonstrating that extra motion by the thumb creating additional momentum - which seems so beneficial to me once I was aware of that.

My advice is just get that JoJo Mayer monster tutorial and you won't really need to watch YouTube videos on hand technique and guess how the techniques actually work.

As to power - I agree that what is demonstrated in the video is a so-so version of what can be done! (My push-pull technique sucks though.)
Click to expand...

This is slightly off topic but Arky, I've read many of your posts on various threads and you know an incredible amount for someone who's been playing only a year!
Impressive.
 
Chunky,
it's 1.75 years now.
It doesn't take magic to know this - I just got some good tutorials (e.g. the JoJo Mayer one), kept my eyes and ears open and used my brain memory left to memorize what I've seen - and this will be my "knowledge", haha. But I'm noticing that all this technical stuff and things concerning grip are more and more stalling - I know enough of the theoretical things, now it's time to utilize it and progress further. So the tech talk will be repetitive in the future I guess.

I think it doesn't take many tutorials to get you really started with technique. JoJo's, I have both Todd Sucherman DVD sets (esp. the 1st one has a superb section on hands/sticking/hybrid rudiments - including slo-mo)... and a few more, and each is great in its own right.

I mean, people are bringing up technique related questions all the time. Isn't it easier to just get the "technique Bible" (JoJo's DVD) _first_, watch/learn from it, and _then_ ask questions if there are any which haven't been covered on that DVD? Now if you watch "some" YouTube clips which aren't going into depth, chances are that you will have some questions or issues understanding what is really going on technically. I've simply chosen a straight path - getting good DVDs to begin with. No time wasted. Many might not agree here, but I feel those DVDs are so great that I don't feel the need for a teacher.

Sorry for the above blah blah, but it might be perceived as an advice to just get the best tutorials out there as soon as you can, this will/should clear up a myriad of technique related questions IMO. And in the end - what is most important - it's an observe and imitate thing. This is paramount. Whatever it is - watch it closely and try to imitate it best you can (in the long process of learning it, you should listen to how your body "wants" to do the motions of course - some stuff might look different w/ your hands/feet than in a video).

Watching great tutorials = eliminates lots of questions.
A great deal of questions coming up on the forum simply stems from folks who _haven't_ bought/watched good tutorials.
So IMO it boils down to this -> Get the good stuff, you'll have way less questions and won't lose time figuring out the technical stuff.
 
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