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Size of people marching


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Speaking from experience there is an optimum height/ weight for certain corps... Preferably the taller you are the better... If there are two players that can play at the same level and march at the same level but one is 5' 5" and the other is 6' 1" the taller player is getting the spot..

Visual designers look for the height to really give a larger than life impression when you see a member... Hence the now 14" plumes the top corps have... Corps that dont have the advantage of having vertical plumes, especially look for taller members. Their members usually average as the tallest in the activity as they have to make up for lost height....

No personal disrespect or disregard for your experience intended - but sorry, I'm not buying this one. There are folks of all shapes and sizes marching at all levels of the activity.

peace,

Fred O.

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There have been a couple cases where I've seen a set and thought it was really dirty then realized it wasn't interval problems it was just really drastic height differences. I remember a set at the end of Glassmen 08 like this that had me say 'wow gross' at first then I rewatched it and it was mostly just the angle and different heights.

actually nope, it was just as terrible as it looked. 08 members tend to refer to that set as "grandma's teeth".

that said

uniform heights are great and do look better. Yes, people are cut for weighing too much or looking like they have some physical incapability to keep up with the visual and fitness demands of tour.

However, I believe what is more often the case is that the rigors of the top few corps attract people who are already excellent specimens. If you are 240 and 5'5" you probably know better than to sign up for the Cadets. if you are 240 and 6'6", the cadets PT program will have you down to 200 by august. There are relatively large people in Spirit or Teal Sound because they can still keep up, although it may be very difficult. It just isn't possible for overweight members to march BD, Cadets, and Crown, so they don't. They know it, the staff knows it. The Cadets are more likely to take on a third sop who isn't the hottest player but can handle their program than a 240lb, 5'5" lead bari with mad chops and a twelve-minute mile.

Edited by comeonfhqwhgads
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are relatively large people in Spirit or Teal Sound because they can still keep up, although it may be very difficult. It just isn't possible for overweight members to march BD, Cadets, and Crown, so they don't. They know it, the staff knows it. The Cadets are more likely to take on a third sop who isn't the hottest player but can handle their program than a 240lb, 5'5" lead bari with mad chops and a twelve-minute mile.

All the shows my wife & I attend, she asks how members that maintain such a demanding schedule STILL display flabby physiques.

I say: slow metabolism. and they're good eaters.

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actually nope, it was just as terrible as it looked. 08 members tend to refer to that set as "grandma's teeth".

I was wondering if it was the same set we were thinking of but that's a pretty good name for it :thumbup: I guess I stand corrected.

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I was wondering if it was the same set we were thinking of but that's a pretty good name for it :thumbup: I guess I stand corrected.

I'm referencing the final set of the show from (i think) allentown onwards.

:tongue: the name is the only redeeming quality

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*sigh*

As someone who stands at 4'11" and is coming to the U.S. to march drum corps (and study for a year) this thread does concern me somewhat. Just getting that off my chest. But I have to agree that height differences don't look too good : (

Something else that caught my eye - timed miles. What would be a good time to be aiming for?

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*sigh*

As someone who stands at 4'11" and is coming to the U.S. to march drum corps (and study for a year) this thread does concern me somewhat. Just getting that off my chest. But I have to agree that height differences don't look too good : (

Something else that caught my eye - timed miles. What would be a good time to be aiming for?

Endurance, probably....where are you marching?

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In keeping with the usual standard or perfection that we all strive for in corps you should aim for a 0.00 minute mile :tongue:

something better to look at might be local 5k races. I don't know a whole lot about what sort of numbers you should aim for but under 1/2 hour for a 5k seems to indicate good general fitness and endurance. I can not emphasize enough that any gym-hitting you plan on doing happens sooner rather than later. If you don't start getting in shape for corps until you show up for move-ins you are not going to enjoy the summer as much and will constantly wish you had given yourself a better chance to succeed.

also: obviously you can't change your height, and having shorter legs might make things dicey. (I've heard rumors that when possible, good drillwriters will put shorter people on the outsides of pinwheels to make it look like the whole corps is moving faster [the same way the cavaliers "extended step size" footwork works for them])

However- good is good. Obviously the Cadets had no problem with their center snare in '05. If you can prove to the audition staff that you can look just as good, well hey, you look just as good, and proved that you're willing to work harder to get there.

One further note on the height-difference thing: I used to stand next to a rather diminutive brass player who often had to hold her bell higher than the reccomended angle to see well in horn arc. It usually wasn't very noticeable, but occasionally I would get a few words from the staff for having a horn angle that low compared to the member next to me. :thumbup::shutup:

Edited by comeonfhqwhgads
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Endurance, probably....where are you marching?

Ah good question. World class for sure. I think the actual corps changes every 2 months. I'm going to be living in socal, so it does make sense to stay in California. At the moment I'll probably be auditioning for scv and bd. Pc if I'm way out of the league for scv and bd.

I referee touch rugby a lot in our summer (youtube "touch football" if you're at all interested), so I have at times been running for 3 and 6 hours at a time. That is 20 minute halves with a couple of minutes of breaks between halves and games. I'm guessing/hoping that will help for fitness/endurance, but I don't think I can hope to match that when I'm in the U.S. so it'll probably just be downhill from there. What would you do to work on endurance? Interval training? Just long jogs?

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In keeping with the usual standard or perfection that we all strive for in corps you should aim for a 0.00 minute mile :tongue:

something better to look at might be local 5k races. I don't know a whole lot about what sort of numbers you should aim for but under 1/2 hour for a 5k seems to indicate good general fitness and endurance. I can not emphasize enough that any gym-hitting you plan on doing happens sooner rather than later. If you don't start getting in shape for corps until you show up for move-ins you are not going to enjoy the summer as much and will constantly wish you had given yourself a better chance to succeed.

also: obviously you can't change your height, and having shorter legs might make things dicey. (I've heard rumors that when possible, good drillwriters will put shorter people on the outsides of pinwheels to make it look like the whole corps is moving faster [the same way the cavaliers "extended step size" footwork works for them])

However- good is good. Obviously the Cadets had no problem with their center snare in '05. If you can prove to the audition staff that you can look just as good, well hey, you look just as good, and proved that you're willing to work harder to get there.

One further note on the height-difference thing: I used to stand next to a rather diminutive brass player who often had to hold her bell higher than the reccomended angle to see well in horn arc. It usually wasn't very noticeable, but occasionally I would get a few words from the staff for having a horn angle that low compared to the member next to me. :thumbup::shutup:

lol. I could almost see the 0.00 mile coming. I'll work at it :D

Ah good, a half hour 5k gives me something to aim for. I absolutely know what you mean by sooner rather than later. And how it's easier to maintain than rake back fitness. Fun times. It'll probably a case of butt-whooping either way, just a question of degrees.

Also, I had to think for a moment when you used km instead of miles. Out of curiosity, does anyone use metric over there? I ask because I'm going to be doing engineering at college and I have a feeling it's going to be paaaaaaaainful. Not as painful as the 0.00 mile though.

Haha, outside of pinwheels. I'm sort of used to being told like I always look like I'm moving with "urgency" because of my short legs turning over faster (or something). It's funny. I guess I'll just have to work at making looking good easy then. 0.00 mile.

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