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New study: corps & band => sports injuries


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from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151703.php

Marching Band And Sports On Level Playing Field

28 May 2009

The physical challenges and demands of participating in competitive high school marching band are similar to those experienced by athletes who compete in sports, according to a study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine's 56th Annual Meeting in Seattle.

Gary Granata, Ph.D., R.D., studied 172 members of the Avon (Ind.) High School marching band, the Grand National Champion at the 2008 Bands of America competition. Through an anonymous questionnaire, band members reported fatigue, muscle soreness, and injuries, commonly associated with competitive sports and athletics.

"The visual design of today's marching band shows, influenced by competitive drum and bugle corps, places incredibly high physical demands on the individual performer," Granata said. "Performers are constantly moving, and often running, at velocities that reach 180 steps or more per minute while playing instruments that weigh up to 40 pounds."

More than 95 percent of surveyed band members reported muscle soreness or stiffness after practice, and nearly half said they were "frequently tired" after practice. In addition, more than 38 percent said they had suffered an injury as a direct result of participating in marching band.

"The wealth of research conducted on traditional sports has led to guidelines that help ensure the safety of participants and proper methods to enhance training regimens," Granta said. "Yet, minimal research has been conducted on marching band and drum corps. Thus, there is an opportunity to establish safety guidelines and effective training regimens for this strenuous physical activity that has rates of both participation and injury similar to competitive sports."

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American College of Sports Medicine

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I'm impressed. Granata seems to clearly know his stuff, going to the BOA national champions and even mentioning competitive drum & bugle corps. On the other hand, I'm not sure that a 95% soreness rate after practice is a particularly surprising result, nor is the fact that band members reported being "frequently tired". Perhaps those results were mentioned to give the uninitiated public an idea of how taxing marching band can be.

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I'm impressed. Granata seems to clearly know his stuff, going to the BOA national champions and even mentioning competitive drum & bugle corps. On the other hand, I'm not sure that a 95% soreness rate after practice is a particularly surprising result, nor is the fact that band members reported being "frequently tired". Perhaps those results were mentioned to give the uninitiated public an idea of how taxing marching band can be.

I was thinking the same thing....at least it goes a way to show that the marching band is NOT necessarily for the wimps that couldn't hack the football team.

WE now the truth...now someone else is stating it.

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I was thinking the same thing....at least it goes a way to show that the marching band is NOT necessarily for the wimps that couldn't hack the football team.

WE now the truth...now someone else is stating it.

My son was the starting center on his football team, but gave it up to be drum major of his HS band :lol: .

PA250012.jpg

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I wonder what corps his band director likes...

Actually, that is his school's first new band uniform in 17 years! The old ones were completely disgusting. I think they got this uniform more because the band looks so good in the all black with orange trim. He got the white because it was the demo uniform (i.e., FREE) :lol:

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Does anyone have the link to that old study where they hooked up the cavalier to the hbreathing and heart moniters? If it's on the Tube, just PM it, I guess, though I don't think that one breaks the TOS.

...and there is a study from 1993 where a tenor player from Star of Indiana was connected to a breathing machine, etc and performed their show... The results were the same as those of a good marathon runner midway through a marathon.

I think we need to have these studies done and shown to the masses every so often so theat they can be reminded just how physical the marching arts can be. :lol:

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