Supplement 21E: Ankle-Down Development | Part 3 of 3

Continue practicing the foot motions described in this course. The tempo must be fast enough to make the ankle-down motion practical — for slower practice, remember the leg stroke is used instead, with the ankle motion reserved for when tempo requires it. Warm up with this lesson’s exercises, starting as fast as you can and gradually slowing until the motion transfers to the leg stroke; use a metronome and keep a record of your progress (Supplement 21E). The first exercise is challenging but valuable: its syncopated rhythm keeps turning the beat around, so coordination is a real issue, and the quick prep motion needed for each new set of double strokes has to be a prime focus or both the phrasing and timing will suffer — pick a tempo you can handle that’s still fast enough to use the ankle-down motion. The second example develops the transition from ankle to leg motion and back: start slow and speed up until the transition to ankle motion occurs, then start fast and slow down to find that same transition point.