Alternative methods of playing bass drum (injury)

bsfloyd said:
I have an older injury in my right foot that seems to flare up at weird and unexpected times. At times, playing the bass drum can be quite painful when it is flared up and other times no problems. Because of this I taught myself to play the bass drum with my left foot, in the style of W. S. Holland (right hand drummer playing like a left handed drummer). I know you mentioned that you had this condition in both feet, but you stated more so in your right foot. Perhaps you could try this and see how it goes? I will say that when I first started playing this way, everything felt wrong. Muscle memory was fighting against me as I have always played with my right foot for bass drum (I'm a single bass drum only player - perhaps if I played double bass or double bass pedal it wouldn't have felt so foreign). However, in just a short time it started to feel more and more natural. Just an idea.
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Thanks. Oddly enough, I have no trouble playing bass with my left foot. I don't have the endurance of the right but I don't have any trouble with the limb independence or hitting my marks. Playing the kit in a left handed setup I haven't really tried.

Either way, I don't want my left getting any worse. I'm already starting to feel it more in the left I think because I'm walking a little odd due to the boot on the right side.

I did have an idea the other day. I built an E kit one time and learned a lot about making a piezo element pick-up properly. I was thinking I might goof around during this off-time and see if I can setup a trigger and just play it with my toes while my foot is flat on the floor. I seem to be able to move them fairly quickly. Even if it simplifies my bass parts, it's still more than I would be able to play otherwise.
 
fac said:
What kind of music does your band play? If you guys can do an acoustic set, it could be a good opportunity to learn some hand percussions (cajon, congas, djembe, etc) and give your feet some rest.
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Thanks for the input. I've got a stomp box and cajon and a few other things. They're fun but I've not really messed with them a whole lot outside of goofing off at home. In a setting with the band I would have no need for them at all. None of my compadres is much for playing acoustic music. We don't even play with the distortion off..lol
 
As a former competitive runner turned drummer with a lengthy history of lower leg injuries that were difficult to diagnose/seemed to resist treatment, I definitely sympathize!

This book https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-trigger-point-therapy-claire-davis/1110296550 truly changed my life and how I look at my body. Turns out a lot of my classically diagnosed tendonitis issues were the result of tight trigger points -- and the stretching I was doing was often making the problem worse. (Stretching loose muscles is fine. Stretching already tight ones can be a serious problem.)

Now in my 30s and running/drumming without any injuries for two years now. Couldn't even do this in my twenties! Water intake and diet also play a role and I've been better about those, but it was really the trigger points that helped me out, and led me in the direction of a few other things (strengthening core/correcting a really pronounced pelvic tilt and not "cheating" with certain muscles.)
 
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