The Tale of the Ball and Hammer

In the last few years there have been a lot of instructional
drum videos released that promote the idea that the drum
stick functions like a ball and that you throw it at the
drum and then catch it as it rebounds back off the drum head. The latest being JoJo Mayers new videos.

Beginners are advised that this is the fundamental motion
you start with to produce what drummers commonly
refer to as Single Strokes.
This idea is then further qualified by motions called Full, Half and Tap Strokes , where the stick is thrown down at differing heights above the drumhead in an attempt to teach the beginner how to control dynamics.

Good snare drum technique should enable a drummer to play what he wants with as little effort as possible. Have you ever noticed how masters on every musical instrument make it look effortless as they play? So to play effortlessly then, one would have to make motions that are natural for the body and how it moves, so as to use as little effort as necessary.

If you observe how we humans move you will notice that your muscles work by exerting against the pull of gravity and then relax after that exertion. Repeating a motion is what trains the muscle to do the task and adding resistance or weight will increase muscle mass.

So if the goal is to play a Single Stroke Roll, what is the most efficient way to accomplish it.
According to Mayer and others the stick is like a ball and
you throw it down and catch it back as the stick rebounds off the drumhead. I ask you then how practicing this will build any new muscles, where is the resistance? A drumstick only weighs a few ounces so holding it up in the air like Mayer demonstrates is easy enough for the muscles you already posses, so how is throwing the stick down and catching it building any new muscle?
On the other hand starting a Single Stroke low, instead of high and lifting the stick up for each note makes the wrist muscles engage in a natural way and the more you play/practice the stronger your wrist gets as you are lifting the weight of the stick repeatedly and last time I checked that was the way to develop a muscle and developing muscles you don't have is what gives you more control and more control is what will enable you to play Single Strokes.

The Snare drum is a percussion instrument and every
member of the percussion family of instruments is played
by striking with a stick, mallet or hammer, not a ball.
Nothing is gained by pretending a stick is a ball but a total misconception of how a stick is used to produce sound.

Since all this technique stuff is really about
making music in the end, then let's talk about
this from the aspect of sound.
In music we refer to the moment a sound begins as the
Attack. If you throw the stick down at the drum and release your grip as Mayer demonstrates then you are not holding the stick at the moment of Attack. If you are not holding the stick at the moment of attack then you are not in control of your sound. He then advocates using Full, Half and Tap stokes as the way to gain back the dynamic control he is throwing away. In his view the three levels you practice throwing the stick down from will teach you how much attack is occurring and how to control it.

You don't have to practice with the stick in the air at three different levels to learn how to control the attack, it's already built in to your nervous system if you will just use your sense of touch. If you hold your stick instead of throw it away, your sense of touch in your fingers will give you tactile feedback when you strike the drum and you will be able to judge by your ears and touch how much exertion produces a given sound. No more practice is required, you hear it and feel it and it is done.

If you use the metaphor of a hammer instead of a ball for how the stick moves you will come up with a completely different process.
A hammer moves up and then down unlike the ball metaphor where the ball moves down then bounces up.

The hammer is more efficient as it moves with the natural motion of your wrist muscles which is to exert and relax.

exert = lift, move up, turn the wrist
relax = come down with gravity, turn the wrist and strike the drum

Repeated exertions will build the wrist muscles over time
and more muscle will give you more control and more speed.
There is no secret technique to playing Single Strokes it's just muscles and the amount of time it takes you to develop them.

Throwing the stick like a ball has another disadvantage,
which is that the tension of the drumhead is responsible
for returning the stick to your hand, so it works fine on a
tightly tuned snare drum but is problematic on a loose floor tom.

This is where the advantage of turning your wrist and using the stick like a hammer comes into play, as your muscles are in control of the motion of the stick not the drumhead tension.
Since being in control is what technique is for, why practice a technique that gives away control to the drumhead instead of practicing one that builds control
into your hands and sense of touch?

The Percussive Arts Society, http://www.pas.org
does not list, recognize or acknowledge the
Full, Half, Tap or Free strokes as rudiments,
but they do list The Single Stroke Roll as Rudiment #1,
this implies that it is first and fundamental
so make sure you do it the right way.

Practice does not make Perfect,
Practice makes Permanent.

Choose wisely, or suffer the consequences.....