The three positions

Positions

There are three grips/positions we use in modern drumming these days.
1. French
2. American
3. German

The French grip we use primarily for fingers the grip is similar to the timpani grip. I actually blend French into the American position in finger execution for faster doubles and rolls.

To start of fingers we use the pure French grip to give us the correct feel and control before we blend it in (pictures will be posted soon).

American is your balance I would say between French and German.
From American you can move easily to French or German if required.

German is a grip we use for very hard rim shots. The grip is rarely use as a main grip because it doesn’t feel that comfortable all the time and feels very limited to just the snare drum. The palms are very flat and elbows aren’t touching your body.