Proper way to sit, throne height ?

Hey dude,

If your hip is cramping up it could be that you are sitting too low. Your hip flexors have to work overtime to hold your leg up when you play the pedals. They'll be under too much strain and over time adaptively shorten - common in drummers, office workers etc.

Any physio will tell you that tight hip flexors can ultimately lead to a bad back so if seat height is the issue then raise it up so your hips are slightly above your knee. When you lift your leg up to play it should form roughly a 90-120 degree angle with your hip. Don't always copy the pros either. They're not physios and are one of the worst populations on earth for bad backs and general bad health habits -- but that's another story!

You might also want to stretch out your hip flexors and hamstrings after you finish playing.

Hope this helps!
 
Sorry if I am redundant here...

I am 6'1" and I use a roc-n-soc hydraulic throne with a backrest too. The o.p. made a great choice in getting the backrest, though you don't want to use it as a crutch for your posture.

I generally use the backrest if I am going into long double bass patterns. It helps my upper body balance while my legs are moving. It saves energy that you can use in your playing, too, instead of using that energy for balancing your body. It also relieves pressure on your bum and lower back, which is important as we get older.

As far as height goes, my legs form about 110 degrees of angle. I've tried the whole range the hydraulic throne will allow, and because of my foot technique the highest setting possible works well for me. I play generally heels up, but I do a great deal of heel-toe technique. My heels are only about an inch above the pedal board. Sitting high gives me the best leverage over my feet and excellent control and stamina. A little less raw power though, compared to a 90 degree angle. There is always a trade-off.

Another benefit of sitting high is the ability to see and be seen. I don't like to hide behind my drums. I want to interact with the group and the audience, and simply just show off me! Why? Because I wanna be seein' the hawt booty dancing on the dancefloor while I am up there making 'em do it! Knowadimsayin? :)

Hope this helps! Peace.

K
 
Hi, I'm the OP. Thanks for the replies. I have set my throne higher, but I'm going to try even a bit higher and see how that feels. I too play BD heel up but like a previous poster only slightly up, maybe an inch or so. I try to play heel down but it just feels very uncomfortable.

I have the Roc n Soc w/ back at my playing drums and a Tama seat w/o a back at home for my practice e-kit. I have a bad back the result of a hang glider crash and 4 follow up surgeries. I have 4 levels fused with plates and screws in my lower back. I really feel it when I sit on the Tama throne. I hope someday to replace that with another RnS. Spiney
 
I tried raising the throne a bit more tonight at practice. It helped with playing the kick and really relieved cramps in my hip joint. But I need to make some adjustments for the first time I got my sticks caught under the HH cymbal while playing a few times. It made for some embarrassing missed beats. Thankfully it was only practice. Spiney
 
I sit with my legs slightly over 90 degrees. One thing I have been doing lately is sit ups and concentrating on proper poster. I some times tend to slouch back and start to get lower back pain. I found it cheaper to do sit ups and lower back exercises than to get a throne with a back rest. I played out over the weekend and my back was straight and no pain. I think proper poster is just as if not more important than height. Throne height is a personal thing.
Wrong poster will cause more damage than throne height.
 
I'm old and grumpy and have a tendency to slouch during slow songs or ones that bore me, especially during four hour gigs. I use a Tama saddle with backrest more to remind me to sit up straight than for support. When I'm funkin' & groovin' and having fun I never touch the backrest. Sometimes not even the seat.

Since I play heel up for some songs and down for others I sit so my thigh is pitched down only slightly toward the knee. Heel-up it's horizontal for power and speed and heel-down it doesn't cramp up from stretching backwards.

Steve Jordan uses a backrest but sets up his kit flat and he's leaning forward constantly to reach his rack tom and cymbals. Hurts me just watching him but he's brilliant so I guess there's really no "proper" set up.
 
I've found that where I sit determines which muscles are moving and supporting my balance, while I play.

If I sit too close, I don't feel like I can get a constant motion going with my feet - it feels restricted. It also feels like my thighs are working too hard, which wastes a lot of energy.

If I sit too low, my back seems to work harder at keeping me upright - it's harder to just sit up and relax and it wears me down faster.

If I sit too high, I feel like I can play faster and sit up easier...but my balance is affected negatively and I can't control my movements around the kit as well.

So, I sit slightly further back so that the balls of my feet touch just above the center of the pedals and with my thighs sloped slightly downward.
 
Mike Mangini mentioned that you should sit with your legs at 90 degrees when your knees are raised at their maximum height. So however high you lift your foot when playing the bass drum or hi-hat, that should be where your leg forms a 90 degree angle.
 
Its true what most threads will tell you: sit as you feel comfortable.

but just a quick guide:


Your back should be kept straight while playing. For this you should be only a couple of inches away from your drumkit, otherwise to play the parts further from you, you will need to extend your arms a lot which after some point of time will become tiring and you will have to lean.

Try and sit at a height where you knees form a little more than a 90 degree angle. This is extremely helpful for deathmetal drumming and going really fast. What it does is allows you to maintain your balance whether your using your feet or your thighs to play the bass by for forcing your limbs away and not right beneath you.

and ofcourse the hands/arms, for these dont let them stick to your sides. free them and give them space for movement this will ofcourse require training but will greatly benefit in the loing run.
 
I like Mangini's theory on it where your legs never go above parallel to the ground while your leg is as high as it'll go when playing. I then like the snare as low is it can go so long as I can still hit a rimshot while my left leg is as high as it'll ever need to go.
 
No-one's mentioned the perch as such on the throne. I understand that you should sit forward so that your back is straight but also that your upper thigh movement is unimpeaded. This is why you see saddle type thrones to minimise thigh contact. If you are perched rather than slouched into the seat it is easier to maintain a straight back.

However, having spent a week at a drum camp my back is aching! So much for my contribution!

Davo
 
I've had this dilemma for a while; I like sitting on top of the drums, with my toms flat, and to be able to play on top of all the cymbals (Keith Carlock style) but I like the balance and power of sitting low.

I've been sitting as low as my throne goes for about a year now (my legs parallel to the floor. I think i'll try sitting high for a bit now :)

This is a great thread :)
 
I have a hydorollic throne with a back. I think it is a Gibraltor. I was in the hospiltal for a long time and I figured when I got back to playing I was going to spend a little and treat myself to some comfort. I plaly at about a 95 degree angle and I can play for hours like that. I have sat at other kit that were less than 90 degarees, and I would much rather be playing downhill than uphill. To me, it feels like I have more control of the kit.
 
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