Discoveries you may want to consider:

 

After you test your coordination going faster than your clean speed 5 to 10 times on a passage, your mind will sort the new difficulty when you sleep.  It should be better the next day.

 

When trying to play difficult passages or mentally tired, do not drop your hands. 

The only thing you will get is instant trouble.

 

The further back the forearms are, the more upper body strength will be needed for speed and execution. This is also true for how far up the stick is gripped. Play too far back and you are pushing more weight. Play too far forward and you are not getting enough natural bounce. Place the fulcrum an eighth of an inch behind the center of gravity of the stick.

 

Practice in front of a mirror or reflection of a computer screen to check forearm bone placements, stick arcs and angles. At extreme speeds they are going to have to be perfect to the physiology.

Nerve cells take 8 times longer to heal than muscle cells. If tired of practicing, sometimes take a day off. It can improve you.

Power comes from the inside close to the body. By keeping the center of gravity of the arm bone masses closer to the body center of gravity, you reduce "moment of inertia", a property that causes a system to go out of balance. The further the arms are away from the body, the more energy must be used to maintain control. Boxers and martial artists know the best attack is a punch from close to the body with weight behind it. Quick. Efficient.  Powerful. A well trained drummer uses martial art concepts.

The forearm bone weight needs to be behind accents for articulation and projection. To do this requires grip strength so that interior notes between accents (soft notes) are controlled. Drumming is about muscle, not relaxation.

 

When a mistake happens and you stop, the error is most often on opposite the hand that stopped.

 

The weight of the wrist needs to be behind the second note of a diddle using a wrist turn. Otherwise, he sending note is condensed - too close to the first -  and lacks the same sound power. In a line of players this is known as "fuzz".

 

Use a medium thick towel over the pad or drum for strength training 30 minutes per practice using opposite ends. The added resistance and about 5% weight will build speed, control and endurance. Be careful not to use it too much as your coordination will begin changing to the added weight and less bounce.

 

Know the 7 second rule. It takes about 7 seconds for muscle tissue to return to its normal chemical state when taxed in the extreme if you are in shape. Much longer if you are not in shape. Individual competitors take note.

 

The forearm can move faster than the wrist can turn.

The forearm has much more weight than the wrist bone mass.

The forearm movement will use much more muscle to move.

Speed is in the arms, not the wrist. Wrist movement keeps fast notes, especially diddles - open. Use muscle. Train your arms.

 

Always practice loud. If you can play FFF, you have the ability to play PPP. If you practice PPP, the opposite in never true.

The great tenor Pavorotti said parents never understood why he taught beginning singers to scream. You need air in your lungs. Singing is screaming.

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The most likely place for a mistake is the second note of a phrase for that is the note that sets time, especially true of a grace note diddle or flam.

 

To better separate the beats of a 32nd note roll, work the left wrist by turning it back. Don't watch the beads. If the back part of the stick is moving back and down, the beads must be coming up forcing the notes to separate more, especially needed when introducing speed. 

 

The best 2 or 3 in the world at anything are very similar physically.

The difference between first place and others is superior concentration. The mind that can concentrate the best at that level wins. 

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