Adult beginners often lift the whole foot before pressing the damper pedal again. The sound may still be sustained, but the change becomes clumsy: the thigh, lower leg and foot all travel together, so the foot does not return to quite the same position or depth. Yamaha's piano pedagogy guidance identifies this as a common problem and recommends keeping the heel on the floor while the ball of the foot, beneath the first and second toes, controls the pedal.
The heel is not there to pin the body rigidly. It provides a pivot. The right pedal lifts all the dampers through a mechanical linkage; a partial release lets them begin to descend, while a complete release stops the accumulated resonance. With a stable heel, the ankle can make a smaller and quicker movement. The player can better sense resistance, travel and return, and can distinguish full depression, partial release and a complete pedal change. Repeatedly lifting the leg tends to bury these timing differences inside a much larger action.
Test this with two adjacent chords. Hold the first with the pedal, then release and re-press immediately after the second chord sounds. The aim is not to make the foot look correct, but to hear whether the old harmony clears without breaking the new one. Pedal travel, bench height and leg length vary. If the heel cannot rest naturally, adjust the sitting position or use a suitable pedal extender rather than reaching with a tense leg.
While practising with <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/scoreflow/id6796205656">ScoreFlow</a>, you can make “steady heel, quiet pedal change” the single point of attention for one passage. The app can hold the practice context; the final judgement still comes from the actual sound and physical sensation.
https://hub.yamaha.com/music-educators/instruments/piano/piano-pedagogy-pedaling/
https://hub.yamaha.com/pianos/p-acoustic/how-does-a-piano-work/
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