SOPP646: The first week I was not using certain muscles in the ankle area, I had sore muscles while playing organ pedals.

Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast

This question was sent by Manfred, and he writes:
Hi Vidas,
I was playing the organ in the church for services only. The requirements are low. Therefore I could train the Pedal in ‘wild’ and fairly uncontrolled way.
Because of Corona the congregation must not sing. The organist is asked to prepare a few pieces as a solo. So I started to look for organ pieces that are a little more demanding.
Then I was facing severe difficulties with easy or low-medium pieces for organ. Thanks to Youtube I watched the pedaling of good organ players. My style is way off!
This led me to you. You have a method, you want to teach it in an internet-based style – so, I gave it a try.
Man! The first week told me I was not using certain muscles in the ankle area, I had muscle sore. Now, I see a much higher flexibility in my ankles.
I was playing with a sort of tennis shoes. No way! Yesterday I started with organ shoes (dancing shoes actually). Now I can feel the pedal keys and can slide on them. Wonderful!
After this first week I do not detect better accuracy. But my feet want to adopt the new pedaling style when playing my organ pieces. This is sometimes confusing, but I am sure in 2-3 weeks the new techniques will make my feet more ‘relaxed’ as they become friends of the pedal.
I am eagerly looking forward to the next few weeks!
Best regards,
Manfred