Pedal Problems

[Mark Payne]

I am having adjusting my floor pedals. Problem , I have a extra wide foot and having problems getting off a and b pedals. when rocking from a ped over to b ped i am not getting off the a all the way. same with off b to a. I have tried different pedal height but can't clear the pedals. Any ideas on what i could try ?also tried other shoes.. thanks mark

[Jon Voth]

I'm a bit new myself but will chime in (& I'm rarely first; you'll soon get a more professional response).

But could the issue be the action of the angle of the ankle-the ability to bend the ankle enough for a full release of one pedal while keeping the next one down?

When I imagine a foot so wide, it would mean for example pressing down on B & C and still not clearing pedal A or pedal 4. Seems not probable to me but I know little.

I'm 9.5 extra wide, and use a big cross-trainer athletic shoe and have no problems w/ clearance.

If you are new (I don't know) the angles needed to fully release can seem unnatural at first. Could that be it?

OR ON THE OTHER HAND-could a spacer be added between the pedals to separate them, and elongate the adjustment of the pedal to maintain the correct height resulting in a very slight diagonal in the vertical pedal rods that would work (but I've never seen this in pictures)?

[Bobby D. Jones]

You may want to shorten the travel on the pedals. Going to Bell Crank pull rod holes farther from the cross rod would cut the travel on the pedals.
Cutting the travel on the A-B-C pedals. Would mean more pedal pressure, But quicker less travel would mean less angle on your foot to shove the pedals down 1 at a time, Without partial pressing the other pedal out of its open position.

[Mark Payne]

Thanks for the comments I will give them a try

[Richard Sinkler]

If you are fairly new, it could be just that you haven't fully gotten control over the muscles that work your ankle. The ankle really doesn't normally like bending to one side or the other. You'll notice that when you want to rock your foot back and forth, the leg wants to swing back and forth too. As a pedal steel guitar player, we can't have the knee moving left and right as we rock on and off the pedals. What I did when I first started was to firmly hold my knee so it couldn't move, and practice rocking my ankle back and forth to where I could do it without having to hold my knee. You can even do the practicing when you are not at your guitar. Try it while watching TV, eating dinner, driving. Have your significant other lay on the floor, and practice it on her back. Tell her that you are giving her a back massage. 🥰

[Andrew Goulet]

I've been playing for about a decade and I still need to work on this. For me, it's a combination of the right pedal height and the flexibility of my ankle. If my pedals are a little off, it'll be really hard. If my ankle isn't warmed up, it'll be really hard. Sometimes I pivot at the heel to get the A pedal without having to bend my ankle, but I try to avoid this most of the time, since it won't help me in the long run.

[Mark Payne]

Thanks RICHARD AND ANDREW. I have just started to have some swelling in lower legs and ankle and this could be the problem. never had this until a few months ago while playing the steel

[Andrew Goulet]

Yeah, I think bending the ankle is maybe the least ergonomic thing about playing pedal steel. If it's painful or harmful to your body, you could always do the heel pivot to get the A pedal alone. You might need to get quick with your foot to do some of the A B stuff but that's the trade-off. It could become part of your style. I played pedal steel standing up for a while, and the restrictions that placed on my left foot became a part of my style for that period.

[Dana Blodgett]

If you are talking about pivoting off A&b pedals consider trying different shoes or boots with a heel tall enough to do that. In my younger days I would play wearing Tony Lama boots...nowadays I’m playing barefoot or in my socks just to get some flexibility as I have a bad left ankle.

[Mark Payne]

thanks DANA will give it a try

[Richard Sinkler]

I've been playing for about a decade and I still need to work on this. For me, it's a combination of the right pedal height and the flexibility of my ankle. If my pedals are a little off, it'll be really hard. If my ankle isn't warmed up, it'll be really hard. Sometimes I pivot at the heel to get the A pedal without having to bend my ankle, but I try to avoid this most of the time, since it won't help me in the long run.

There's nothing wrong with doing that. I sometimes do it, and have seen many pros doing it too. Sometimes I have my foot hovering above the pedals and drop it onto the pedal(s), especially when I am jumping between A&B and B&C.