Pad Work With Heavy Sticks

denisri

Silver Member
Hi Fellow Drummers
Would like your thoughts and input......! What thas been your experiance with pad practice with heavy sticks(heavier than sticks you normally use on the set)?
Did you find that it was benefincial for speed,control, power and endurance(ie; Moeller practice)????
Any drawbacks or shortfalls(ie: effects timing with lighter sticks)????
Tx Denis
 
I think it may have helped me when I first started playing again. I had a heavy pair of sticks that I played with on a pad for a long time before i bought a set of drums. But after a while they really started to hurt my hands, although my age may have something to do with that and a wee bit of arthritis. If you don't over do it I will say it shouldn't hurt.
 
I find it helps a ton. I know that some people have had problems with it having an effect on their timing, but I don't think it should make that much of a difference if you are a controlled player. It's just like swinging two baseball bats to warm up, then only one when you hit. Or lifting weights in order to build those muscles so that it's easier to lift lighter weights, stuff like that. I practice with marching sticks all the time, and find that it helps with my set playing a lot.
 
I always play pad with marching sticks. What I usually use is Scojo's (Scott Johnson's) or Delucias (Now Vic-Firth MS4 Magnums). If your interested in building up even more from Drumset sticks you might want to buy a pair of Ralph Hardimons, use those for a while, move to Scojos, then bump up to Delucia's. Marching sticks are great for working just about everything. These are all real common models that you should'nt have any trouble finding at a local music store too (for the most part).

On a side note, I can't resist telling everyone to work on rudiments. Five minutes a day. You'll be burning everything real fast. It'll pay you some serious dividends.
 
I don't have much time to practice my kit with the chilluns around, so I play a LOT on my pad. I've been buying books of solos (rudimental and orchestral) and blazing through them. It's really given a kick-start to my reading notes again (most studio charts are simple and not notated out). I play with marching sticks to "keep the chops up", and I find it works. I'm also in a marimba band, so I play with djun djun sticks on my pad as well to keep my muscles worked up for those gigs as well--otherwise, the really heavy bass mallets may leave me sore for a couple of days after a gig.

I use them to maintain, and not for strength training, but I could see how they would work for that as well, for sure.
 
All practicing with bigger sticks will only build muscle and a little control. One huge thing that is probably overlooked by a lot of kit drummers is a problem called "pad hands". It's a term mainly used by corps drummers. It's when you practice and rely so much on the rebound of the pad, that when you get on the kit, the lack of control messes you up bad.
 
Practicing with big sticks I'd say will do amazing things for your control as long you're drumming loosely. Bigger sticks maintain more inertia and therefore rebound better than small sticks. Rebound is necessary to develop finger control, where as drumming on a pillow or moongel will leave you with strong wrists and zero improvement in finger control. The more finger control you build up the more you'll have available in order to use as much as possible given the drum or cymbal you're playing on.

If you like big sticks check out my Vic Firth "Billy Club" model!
 
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