Playing Sabbath? Go with Emperor heads and watch Bill Ward.

The Ambassador won't hold up to the beating.

Coming in late,

Sometimes you just get a junky head. And it won't matter what stick or force you use. This is just a fact of life for working drummers.

Sometimes the tensioning has loosened unevenly as you played--fairly typical with rimshots that the lugs closest to the rim shot will loosen. With the tension uneven the head is more susceptible to tearing. If this might be a factor, think of lug locks. (This is my favourite candidate based on the description you gave.)

Sometimes it's your approach, eg the angle of one errant drum stroke can cause a tear.

Or the beads on your sticks have chipped down to something nasty and semi serrated.

You certainly can use an Amb for hard driving stuff, and the sound can be just what you want, but they will wear out (and dimple) faster than some of the heavier duty heads already mentioned. If you gotta go with the Amb, you'll probably have to modify your approach with less force.

I have removed one or two dimples with a hair dryer over the years. But, honestly, it's a lot of work for something that's going to dimple and peel anyway, and the heat probably will at least change the head's sound and flexibility.

Patrick

thanks to all you guys great info.