Peaking early/too soon

[Plan9]

Some corps (actually most corps) tweak and clean, tweak and clean as the tour progesses. They eventually get in the red zone as they near finals and settle in and really clean like crazy. If they do this too soon, this is what I think is referred to as peaking. However, some corps like BD (any year), PR 08, Cadets (any year) and most recently Crown 09 will have some ending changes they may mentally reserve for later in the tour. Sort of an anti-peaking tactic. A few fresh manuevers to spice things up. The corps that does this must be talented enough across the board to make this happen in a short period to time. IMO Cadets 09 made changes beyond that envelop of capability to clean and they still had issues at the end (even with a great show), same for Crown. But I think these two things (cleaning and show changes) are related and the corps that pull it off, position themselves best.

Edited July 2, 2010 by Plan9

[garfield]

From my seat in the stands I think peaking is much more psychological than it is physical. The fact that performance quality varies from show to show doesn't reflect the progression over the whole season. As the cycle of the season wears on the variation in show execution decreases as other factors, primarily MM confidence, increases (Those who know Fibbinochi will understand). Add in the race during the last three weeks and it's easy to see how a corps can be off it's game, cyclically and psychologically, at any one moment. The pressure to reach perfection builds exponentially with each week. I don't buy that "everyone knows you'll never be perfect so we don't try" mentality. Approaching perfection incrementally is the game, and the director's job is to "see" the cycle of his kids and have them "peaking" a cycle at exactly the right moment.

Which is exactly why the other poster said that Madison's staff had them doing distraction stuff. It's psychological, not technical.

Edited July 2, 2010 by garfield

[perc2100]

Good point... and I'll take that as well as Terris point.

I guess what I'm referring to would be more a "we performed it as well as we could on this date, and then were incapable of performing it that well ever again" peaking implication as opposed to there being a design flaw that took them as high as they could go ("peaked") compared to what other corps put in or added to their shows as they got nearer to finals. I can definetly see that as a "peaked out" situation related to design or music. But I "don't buy" the implied "peaked out" as far as performance goes. You did it very well or close to perfectly before... you can do it again. There is no "wall" you would hit and then start going backwards in performance if you are a performer.

edit to add: you may not care to do the show or performance as well ever again, so then I guess you did peak at some point. But that's a mindset... a choice... verses an actual "peak" of ability

I don't know if it's solely a mindset; you could also potentially chalk it up to physiology. For example, when the US Men's National Soccer Team was playing their final Group match against Algeria, they were playing for EVERYTHING: if they win, they win the group and move on to the next round, and if they lose they're out of the tournament and done. After the fairly embarrassing showing in 2002, their main goal was to make it to the Round of 16 (everything else, I suspect, would've been icing on the cake). If you watched that game, you'll know that USA literally put every once of strength, effort, and emotions to go for the win, and it finally game with a goal that came in extra time in the 92nd minute. Just three days later they play Ghana in the Round of 16, and while USA didn't lay down and die by any means, they were obviously not at the same level of mental drive that they were against Algeria just three days earlier. They played well, recovered from some mental mistakes to draw in regulation time only to (again) make poor errors that cost them an early goal in OT. The US Team obviously did not choose to not play at the peak of their ability; they were more than likely just emotionally spent/drained and didn't quite have as much to give against Ghana three days after the emotional high of Winning their Group.

Back to drum corps....

Not only can a show have design limits that ensure the show can only be good up to a certain point and score only so well on the sheets due to the judging rubric: it can have limits based on membership. Maybe the membership isn't experienced enough to be able the handle the pressure of continually performing at the high levels necessary to reach Top 3. Maybe the membership isn't talented enough to be able to march/play/spin at the high level needed to consistently be Top 3. Maybe the corps is limited by staff not capable of cleaning the group to Top 3.

There are PLENTY of variables that MUST come together to make-up a Top 3 corps/performance, and if anyone is not in place then the corps will eventually peak. Add to that, EVERY corps has a peak/ceiling, and it's a very delicate balance of programming the right material for the membership that will peak at the exact right moment you need it to: that's why there have been very few DCI World Champions over the years (eight total, with only six corps who have won still competing).

[corpsband]

short period to time. IMO Cadets 09 made changes beyond that envelop of capability to clean and they still had issues at the end (even with a great show), same for Crown. But I think these two things (cleaning and show changes) are related and the corps that pull it off, position themselves best.

I agree both Cadets and Crown had dirt they should not have had at the end of the season. In Cadets case I think it was just over-written for the performers; it was exciting drill but not sure they could ever have had a clean run. I think Crown's schedule was set back considerably due to ick (which seemed to hit them harder than most) but I also think there were a few moments in the show that (visually at least) would have been better with a liberal application of the hose.

After the fact (watching video) neither show was dirty as I thought seeing them live. Weird but true.

Getting back to the peak thing...

There's definitely 2 kinds of peaking:

(a) show is too easy (designer under-estimated the performers)

(b) staff fails to keep performers busy with changes; performers too comfortable with show; show has best run before Indy.

Edited July 2, 2010 by corpsband

[Scoutnout]

I think it's a combo of both......................when preparation meets opportunity

[Plan9]

I agree both Cadets and Crown had dirt they should not have had at the end of the season. In Cadets case I think it was just over-written for the performers; it was exciting drill but not sure they could ever have had a clean run. I think Crown's schedule was set back considerably due to ick (which seemed to hit them harder than most) but I also think there were a few moments in the show that (visually at least) would have been better with a liberal application of the hose.

After the fact (watching video) neither show was dirty as I thought seeing them live. Weird but true.

Your point on Cadets being "over-written" is spot on. Only the Cadet design staff can say for sure, but some of those moves Cadets were doing in the last section were nearly impossible to make "look" clean (i.e. leaning into the next set). In any case, both Crown and Cadets had remarkable drill that pushed risk to its limits (almost sounds like BD 08 ). Also, good point on Crown and the bug, but don't forget BD got bit during finals and were almost pulled from the competition.

[Carolina09Spirit]

From my experience in College marching band...350+ members:

Our band directors told us last season that the season would be long, and we knew that. Our first trip was to UF (University of Florida), and it was...well, that's beside the point. We didn't get to perform our show due to rain on the field. But, as the season went along, we of course performed the same show, with a few minor changes. At some point we started learning a 2nd show to perform. I'd say probably the 3rd or 4th home game, everyone started getting tired, and complacent. The directors told us we couldn't get complacent, because we still had some big trips ahead, and a football team to support.

Now...above info is about College band, and I realize that. We weren't competing, we were performing. But still, I think it's partly in the minds of the corps members. Everyone will get complacent at some point, but everyone has to recover. If a corps peaks too soon, then so be it...that just means there's always room to improve. Would a corps rather peak to soon and clean less, or peak in the middle of tour and almost run out of time to clean? I'm just saying that there's always room to improve, so whether a corps "peaks" early or not really doesn't matter, except for the emotions of the members.

[bccadet09]

Your point on Cadets being "over-written" is spot on. Only the Cadet design staff can say for sure, but some of those moves Cadets were doing in the last section were nearly impossible to make "look" clean (i.e. leaning into the next set). In any case, both Crown and Cadets had remarkable drill that pushed risk to its limits (almost sounds like BD 08 ). Also, good point on Crown and the bug, but don't forget BD got bit during finals and were almost pulled from the competition.

I hear what you guys mean by our shows being "over-written," that the drill we performed could be spot clean, but it takes a much longer process than usual. However, this is what I find interesting:

If you asked me which show was more over-written that I've marched, it's definitely 2007. Yet we had a very solid corps that year and pulled it off. I don't think 2009 was over-written, but the corps wasn't as solid as 2007, if that makes sense.

Now this year's show for Cadets seems attainable for the members. There's about 90 new members in the corps, but since they are moving in slower tempos this year, it's going to help them get solid faster. It won't be like 2006 (hard show for a rookie corps).

Edited July 2, 2010 by bccadet09

[corpsband]

Your point on Cadets being "over-written" is spot on. Only the Cadet design staff can say for sure, but some of those moves Cadets were doing in the last section were nearly impossible to make "look" clean (i.e. leaning into the next set). In any case, both Crown and Cadets had remarkable drill that pushed risk to its limits (almost sounds like BD 08 ). Also, good point on Crown and the bug, but don't forget BD got bit during finals and were almost pulled from the competition.

I remember (press coverage and all) ! I guess what I meant about Crown is that it threw a big wrench in the works early on -- I know a lot of changes got in very late in the season. Best laid plans and all....

[BozzlyB]

The OP is half right but misses pointing out an important factor. Peaking too early IS bad IF your show has low demand. That results in a plateau while others with dirtier more demanding shows continue to improve and pass you by as their demanding dirt becomes clean. I can't say that peaking early is bad if your show is loaded with demand, but let's face it, that's rare and the other scenario is more likely.