Marching Technique Question

[Kamarag]

To another comment: I am not a fan of the bent knee style (like it's used by the Cavaliers et. al) because it's too hard to clean at the HS level.

Understandable, but straight-leg is incredibly unhealthy, especially on younger bodies.

[hrnguy500]

Toe stops are a good thing but it takes HS kids a little while to understand that concept.

Placing the foot in the direction of the next move is a good thing (what the OP stated as a prep step) Pivot turns tend to pop out at the audience but they sometimes result in injury

I'm used to placing my foot 45deg to the next direction change.

Straight versus bent leg. I'd go with "straight" for HS. My band has done bent leg for last 3 years and we get hammered in marching technique even though most of the band was in step and hitting dots. It just looks sloppy. We have changed to "straight" leg this year and it's already a marked improvement. Plus the band will look taller from a distance.

[Latrobe's Finest]

Understandable, but straight-leg is incredibly unhealthy, especially on younger bodies.

I agree. That's why I teach what I call a "straight-er leg" style. Striving for a straight look, without the rigidness of a traditional straight leg style. Frankly, with the time we have to teach visual in HS, we would never achieve the unified straight leg style that a corps like the Cadets might teach.

[fsubone]

About the foot drag versus lifted foot thing, in the bent-knee techniques, the foot does lift up, about ankle height between counts. It's not much, but it retains the fluid motions of the technique

[Kamarag]

I agree. That's why I teach what I call a "straight-er leg" style. Striving for a straight look, without the rigidness of a traditional straight leg style. Frankly, with the time we have to teach visual in HS, we would never achieve the unified straight leg style that a corps like the Cadets might teach.

Good call. Plus, Cadets don't even do the super straight leg anymore. They've added a slight bend to their technique, and it's really paid off for them, especially musically. What a lot of high school instructors don't realize (or worse, refuse to acknowledge) is that super straight leg for high school band will cause all kinds of havoc musically. Very few bands can pull that off without having musical issues as a result.

Slight knee-bend is natural, and it promotes good posture and good musicianship.

Straight-leg for backwards is a different deal, and is completely fine. It won't cause injury or musicianship issues.

[hrnguy500]

I agree. That's why I teach what I call a "straight-er leg" style. Striving for a straight look, without the rigidness of a traditional straight leg style. Frankly, with the time we have to teach visual in HS, we would never achieve the unified straight leg style that a corps like the Cadets might teach.

I like how you put it in those terms. My band is nowhere near a corps style straight leg and I myself have tried it before and it does wear on the body. However, we just say as "as straight as possible or with as little bend in the knee." The kids still bend their knees but it's not the bicycle step.

[Latrobe's Finest]

I like how you put it in those terms. My band is nowhere near a corps style straight leg and I myself have tried it before and it does wear on the body. However, we just say as "as straight as possible or with as little bend in the knee." The kids still bend their knees but it's not the bicycle step.

Exactly. Plus if your group wears dark pants, a lot of the individual differences will be masked.

[Spin Cycle]

All I know is, in high school we marched straight-leg military style with no "prep steps" or anything dumb like that, and we won 1st place at championships for the first time in school history. Bonus: I was the student marching instructor.

[Drum Corps Nation]

picking a marching technique/style is less about what technique is best and more about picking a lane and driving in it.

For those who are saying "bent-knee looks sloppy", you have to understand how to teach the style in a way that is easy to understand and universal. The best marching bands that I have ever seen (most of which are in Texas) use a very Cavaliers style of marching, but most of their directors are teaching it in a very similar way to how the Cavaliers have taught it.

And by the way, yes Cavaliers, SCV and Pacific Crest do bend their knees, but that's not the defining characteristic of the marching style. This technique is more about the positioning of weight between the feet, the position of the toe as the legs and feet cross, and completing the visual phrase (getting your body over the dot). And when the heal hits the ground, the leg is as straight as anyone else.\

As for the OP's question, I watched Crossmen's visual warm-up tonight, and they are using a prep-step and they are using toe-stops. The last corps I ever saw that did pivot turns was Santa Clara Vanguard, and I think they stopped doing that around 2003 or so.