Serious throne height anguish lol. Please help!!

fbeegle

Junior Member
Hello drummer brothers and sisters, I've got a little dilemma.
After around an hour of playing this pain/tension starts to build in my MCLs (that ligament on the outsides of your knees. The longer I play, the worse it gets! Hoping to remedy this to avoid some kind of permenant wear and tear. Have tinkered with throne height quite a bit...if I go lower than I am, it's worse. But if I sit much higher I start getting this other weird discomfort in my thigh...super annoying. Any ideas? Would greatly appreciate it.
 
Hello drummer brothers and sisters, I've got a little dilemma.
After around an hour of playing this pain/tension starts to build in my MCLs (that ligament on the outsides of your knees. The longer I play, the worse it gets! Hoping to remedy this to avoid some kind of permenant wear and tear. Have tinkered with throne height quite a bit...if I go lower than I am, it's worse. But if I sit much higher I start getting this other weird discomfort in my thigh...super annoying. Any ideas? Would greatly appreciate it.

I'm wondering if a discussion with a sports therapist would be in order? They can look at how you play and see where certain stresses are coming from. I don't know how long you've been playing, but years ago Simon Phillips put out a "how to set up your drums" brochure. And he started with bass, snare, hi hat and throne. Once that is comfortable, then everything else is set up subservient to that.
 
If not the throne, then maybe it's the alignment of the pedals. Check to see if you are bending your foot inwards or outwards to get it lined up with the pedal, because that's something that could put pressure on your knee. It would be an easy fix to bring your pedals closer together or to move them further apart.

And where is your bass drum? Is it facing out directly in front of you or is it offset to the side?

If you are looking directly forward, then the bass drum should be facing off at an angle.
 
Seems through exploration you understand the difference height makes, which makes many differences in other ways, too

Certainly place pedals according to your natural feet placement as much as possible. This goes for any piece of the kit. Adjust kit to fit your body, not the other way around.

The question of how long you've been playing is also relevant. If you're pretty new it's gonna take a while to get comfy and get used to new motions. Reality is that we probably simplify and get more natural as we go, but it's just the result of doing a lot of new things at once and in addition to using new muscles in new ways we all strain every muscle more than we have to in the beginning.
 
If not the throne, then maybe it's the alignment of the pedals. Check to see if you are bending your foot inwards or outwards to get it lined up with the pedal, because that's something that could put pressure on your knee. It would be an easy fix to bring your pedals closer together or to move them further apart.

And where is your bass drum? Is it facing out directly in front of you or is it offset to the side?

If you are looking directly forward, then the bass drum should be facing off at an angle.

This is exactly what gave me tendonitis in my knee when I first started playing!

OP this is good advice!
 
I too would suggest making sure the angle your pedals force your legs into. Sounds like legs should be open more.
 
Have you tried sitting a little closer or a little farther away from your pedals?

If you get this same type of pain doing other activities, I'd seek out a professional.
 
Sit on your throne with absolutely no drums in front of you. Nothing, only the throne.
Adjust the throne height so that your legs are a little bit above the 90 degree angle. Put on some music. Play the air drums to a few songs.

Do you have any pain? If you have pain, go see a doctor.
If you don't have any pain, look at your feet. Your feet will tell you where the bass drum and hi hat should be located.


.
 
I'm wondering if a discussion with a sports therapist would be in order? They can look at how you play and see where certain stresses are coming from. I don't know how long you've been playing, but years ago Simon Phillips put out a "how to set up your drums" brochure. And he started with bass, snare, hi hat and throne. Once that is comfortable, then everything else is set up subservient to that.
Turns out my pedal tension was too tight so I was having to tense my leg up to squeeze out doubles lol. Rookie move!!!
 
I'm wondering if a discussion with a sports therapist would be in order? They can look at how you play and see where certain stresses are coming from. I don't know how long you've been playing, but years ago Simon Phillips put out a "how to set up your drums" brochure. And he started with bass, snare, hi hat and throne. Once that is comfortable, then everything else is set up subservient to that.
Turns out my pedal tension was too tight so I was having to tense my leg up to squeeze out doubles lol. Rookie move!!!
 
If not the throne, then maybe it's the alignment of the pedals. Check to see if you are bending your foot inwards or outwards to get it lined up with the pedal, because that's something that could put pressure on your knee. It would be an easy fix to bring your pedals closer together or to move them further apart.

And where is your bass drum? Is it facing out directly in front of you or is it offset to the side?

If you are looking directly forward, then the bass drum should be facing off at an angle.
 
Turns out my pedal tension was too tight so I was having to tense my leg up to squeeze out doubles lol. Rookie move!!!
 
I'm wondering if a discussion with a sports therapist would be in order? They can look at how you play and see where certain stresses are coming from. I don't know how long you've been playing, but years ago Simon Phillips put out a "how to set up your drums" brochure. And he started with bass, snare, hi hat and throne. Once that is comfortable, then everything else is set up subservient to that.
 
Turns out my pedal tension was too tight so I was having to tense my leg up to squeeze out doubles lol. Rookie move!!!
 
Turns out my pedal tension was too tight so I was having to tense my leg up to squeeze out doubles lol. Rookie move!!!
 
I'm wondering if a discussion with a sports therapist would be in order? They can look at how you play and see where certain stresses are coming from. I don't know how long you've been playing, but years ago Simon Phillips put out a "how to set up your drums" brochure. And he started with bass, snare, hi hat and throne. Once that is comfortable, then everything else is set up subservient to that.
Turns out my pedal tension was too tight so I was having to tense my leg up to squeeze out doubles lol. Rookie move!!!
 
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