Stand with the shell of the drum facing your chest. If the drum is not on a harness attached to you, stand so you’re almost touching the shell of the drum with your chest.
Place your hands, holding bass drum mallets, near the rim on each side of the drum. Your grip on the mallets should be matched grip–each hand has fingers wrapped around the mallet, except for the thumb which is pointing upward. When you're not playing, you will typically be in "set" position, which means your hands are on the rim of the drum and each mallet is pointing straight up.
Move your mallets into playing position. Each hand should be between seven and eight if you were looking at a clock. Your mallets should be pointed at an upward angle of about 45 degrees.
Strike the bass drum near the center of the drum head, using the mallets. The bass drum can be hit on both sides of the drum, and each side should typically only be hit using one hand–for instance, the right side of the drum should be hit with the mallet in your right hand. Your section leader or instructor might specify which side to hit at certain parts or notes in a song. When not given specific instruction, it’s generally a good idea to hit the drum on the side that is facing the audience to add a visual appeal. In general, you should rely on your wrists for power, hitting the drum in a semicircular motion (a slightly upward motion as you strike the drum). In most cases arm movement should only be used for hits that require a loud dynamic. As uniformity is typically one of the goals of the percussion section, make sure your stick heights match with the other bass drum players.
Follow sheet music to know what to play. Each bass drum will get its own line on a music staff, with the parts arranged by pitch on the staff–for instance, the lowest bass drum gets the lowest line on the staff, the highest bass drum gets the highest line.