A million years ago I attended an intensive drumming course that Mike Dolbear put on. It was five days of study with a bunch of big name drummers including Billy Ward, Ash Soan, Thomas Lang and Phil Gould. There were also a swing class with Ralph Salmins that led to an amazing opportunity to study with Ralph one on one.
I was not that enthusiastic about the Thomas Lang classes as my perception of him was of one of those olympic drummers who are more interested in the athletics of the instrument than the music making. Lang’s classes were held in a room full of electronic kits which didn’t particularly excite me. But I decided to be open to the opportunity of five two hour sessions on electronic kits to change my mind about the things (it didn’t) and get into the classes.
I ended up really enjoying the classes with Lang, he’s a very likeable guy and his clear insights about technique and how it’s applied make him a brilliant teacher. One of the things that stuck with me were his insights about foot technique and how to practice it. I was delighted to see him go through the whole thing in the following video. It’s always good to find ways to practice that don’t involve acctual drums or equipment and I highly recommend you study this carefully.