ouooga Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 This morning I've been listening to a sport psychologist via podcast, and he mentioned the Golden State Warriors (basketball team apparently, I'm out of the loop on that sport) put a huge emphasis on sleep. They realized their team wasn't recovering well from overnight trips and back-to-back out-of-state games, and they retooled how they schedule their travel and practice as a result. They ended up playing better, winning more, and saw significantly fewer injuries. (one of many articles for the interested). Meanwhile, just yesterday on Reddit I read about a drum corps last season (didn't say which corps) that had a show, traveled 3 hours by bus and then did 2 hours of floor time, and then started rehearsal bright and early the next day, also a show day. The Reddit user said it was their worst day of drum corps in memory. So I guess I'm wondering, we hear more and more about corps putting emphasis on hiring physical therapists and movement coaches to prevent injury and help them perform at their optimum, but is anything being done to ensure corps get better sleep? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimthetuba Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Well I can say that some people feel it is the "drum corps experience" to get no sleep and rehearse all day. I don't think its good but that seems to be a strong sentiment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 (edited) There are corps like and Cavies who schedule extended sleep as their usual custom. Then there are some Directors and instructors who themselves exist on minimal sleep and expect everyone else to as well. One size doesn't fit all but my experience with some of these short sleepers is that they think they function well with few hours; the rest of us know otherwise. They are tense, agitated, not at peace, and difficult on others. Short sleep should only be for extraordinary circumstances, not usual fare on tour. Bus sleep and floor sleep do not affect the body in the same way medical experts tell us. Floor sleep on buses is illegal and unsafe, although very common. Rack sleep is almost unheard of with the redesign of modern buses. But somehow folks and the acttivity survive. Edited January 20, 2017 by xandandl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tesmusic Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 4 minutes ago, jimthetuba said: Well I can say that some people feel it is the "drum corps experience" to get no sleep and rehearse all day. I don't think its good but that seems to be a strong sentiment. I know that's the case for some corps, but it's certainly not the mindset of all. I marched Madison from 1997 through 1999. Our camp schedules were: Friday-7-11 Saturday-9-9 Sunday-9-3 After Memorial Day, we moved in and rehearsed 12-9 every day, with most Monday's off. On Tour, we never rehearsed more than 6 hours on a show day, usually 4 hours, and on non-show days we went 8 hours. Also, when we were on tour we got about 8 hours of alloted sleep time. So if we had a 3 hour bus ride, we got 5 hours, sometimes more on the floor. We also had Free Days built in about every 7-9 days. I realize things are different than when I marched, but my experience did not include sleep-deprivation. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoakes Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Balance. Moderation in all things. Despite any traditions and customs, it would seem some attention to quality sleep has to be important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 4 minutes ago, jimthetuba said: Well I can say that some people feel it is the "drum corps experience" to get no sleep and rehearse all day. I don't think its good but that seems to be a strong sentiment. While there are some corps where a MM can go to get the experience you describe, I would suggest that many more corps understand that what truly attracts quality MM's is the quality of the experience exclusive of their placement. One of the key components of sacrifice toward that goal is the ED keeping a lid on staff expectations of practice time - just the opposite of the viewpoint of most staff, and an increasing one the farther down the placements you go. Corps that don't march Saturday night generally direct their efforts to improving things like food, sleep, and down-time to "compete" at a different level. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimthetuba Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 7 minutes ago, tesmusic said: I know that's the case for some corps, but it's certainly not the mindset of all. I marched Madison from 1997 through 1999. Our camp schedules were: Friday-7-11 Saturday-9-9 Sunday-9-3 After Memorial Day, we moved in and rehearsed 12-9 every day, with most Monday's off. On Tour, we never rehearsed more than 6 hours on a show day, usually 4 hours, and on non-show days we went 8 hours. Also, when we were on tour we got about 8 hours of alloted sleep time. So if we had a 3 hour bus ride, we got 5 hours, sometimes more on the floor. We also had Free Days built in about every 7-9 days. I realize things are different than when I marched, but my experience did not include sleep-deprivation. Sounds milder then some of the experiences I've heard. I have a friend who only got a couple of free days throughout the summer with the predominate schedule having at least 12 hour rehearsals. On show days they rehearsed up to the time they need to eat and perform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tesmusic Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 7 minutes ago, jimthetuba said: Sounds milder then some of the experiences I've heard. I have a friend who only got a couple of free days throughout the summer with the predominate schedule having at least 12 hour rehearsals. On show days they rehearsed up to the time they need to eat and perform. I definitely would not say that it was the most intense schedule, and at the time, it worked for us. Would it work in today's DCI, doubtful, but we seemed to have been pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimthetuba Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 17 minutes ago, tesmusic said: I definitely would not say that it was the most intense schedule, and at the time, it worked for us. Would it work in today's DCI, doubtful, but we seemed to have been pretty good. Yeah and I hope corps go back to how y'all did it. I'm not always a big fan of the idea "it was better back in the old days" but this is one situation I have to agree with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoaDci Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Sleep is hugely important. Personally there are nights where I get 5 to 6 hours of sleep, wake up the next day and feel awful (not even in a corps). I cant imagine marching like that. I think show days should be an exception, but I think they should be limited to 10 hours of rehearsal AT THE MOST. Then, careful planning should be used to avoid the hottest hours of the day (3 or 4). Im not saying corps should work any less hard. I just think we might actually get a BETTER result if we change the guidelines behind rehearsals. I dont know just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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