A great thing about playing drums is that there are ways that you can practice away from the kit. Having a practice pad is beneficial for developing quick, steady hands and is the perfect tool for bettering your technique. Another great thing about it, is that it's noise free! No neighbor wants to hear you bashing away on your snare drum in the middle of the night. It barely makes a sound, while still maintaining the feel and rebound qualities of an actual snare drum.
When traveling, it's tricky to be able to practice drums everyday, but having a practice pad with you is a solution of sorts and will help you stay drum fit.
I picked this exercise up from Rob "Beatdown" Brown on Youtube and it's one of favorites. In the video I play 8th note triplets, followed by 5-stroke rolls, in three different tempos - 120, 150 and 180 bpm. The transition between the two rudiments smooths out my drum fills when I use the two together. Alternating between the single and double-strokes also improve my double-stroke control as a whole.
Try this for about 5 mins everyday and see the results!
