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Should physicals be part of corps?


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With the very very unfortunate passing of a corps member this past weekend, I was wondering if considering the average age of all age corps is much higher than that of junior corps, if senior corps administrations and directors will start to explore the possibility of requiring their members to have complete physicals and get releases signed by their personal physician's prior to membership in a corps? Or is this being done already?

And while I'm on the subject--I know with Dream they try to do physical fitness as part of their warm up routines, and members are encourage to exercise during the week. I was curious if other senior/all age corps have something in place along these lines to help keep folks in good shape.

This very tragic loss may actually have some positive impact on the activity if indeed no one is thinking outside of the box on personal heath for corps members.

Just thinking out loud...

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IMO, i dunno if anything could have prevented it. age varies from corps to corps...some corps are very young. and to me, it seems every corps has some tyoe of conditioning program

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IMO, i dunno if anything could have prevented it. age varies from corps to corps...some corps are very young. and to me, it seems every corps has some tyoe of conditioning program

YES!! All drum corps--Junior AND Senior Corps--should require each and every member, regardless of age, to get a full phsyical before the season starts, and should certainly have an exercise/conditioning program in place throughout the season.

Look at Junior corps: Some of the corps at the very top each year (Cadets, Cavaliers, etc) have extensive conditioning programs in place from the time they start practicing at the begining of the season, on through the end of tour. Some even have sports trainers, physical therapists, and doctors on staff. I think that this is great!

Drum Corps is "music in motion", and there is certainly a physical aspect to it. Members NEED to be in great shape, need to have a full phsyical performed by a doctor at some point during the season and get the doctor's "ok" to participate in this activity, and need to stay on top of any health-related concerns. Drum Corps participants work hard, pushing their minds and their bodies to the limits. And as such, we need to take extra special care of our bodies AND minds. Periodic check-ups, a well-structured conditioning program (this is the responsibility of the corps), and well-balanced meals are all essential throughout the drum corps season if members are to meet the demands of today's drum & bugle corps.

Of course, each individual member should take care of themselves outside of drum corps: eating well, exercising daily, addressing health concerns, and doing a bit of conditioning too. BUT... it is the responsibility of each drum corps to have a strong, structured conditioning program in place from day-one of auditions/rehearsals through Finals night performance. If you want your corps to succeed, give them the tools. We teach them music and expect them to excel in regards to music. We teach them drill and marching and expect them to excel in that as well. But to excel in marching, and not get hurt, you need to be in great shape, and your body needs to be conditioned.

I am not familiar with senior corps very much, but it would be interesting to know how many have a conditioning/exercise program in place throughout the season. Simply "stretching out" is not enough. Lots of corps "stretch out" and maybe go for a run. That is not a conditioning program. That's a start, but it needs to be done on a regular basis, not once per week. Especially when on tour, it needs to become daily routine!!! Because some senior corps have older members, it seems like this becomes even MORE important. And it also seems like senior corps are now putting shows on the field that rival that of junior corps in regards to drill demand, show design, and overall difficulty and demand, which means that if you are not in shape, you are going to have a lot of marching members sustaining injuries, getting tired and worn out, passing out, getting sick, and on and on.

So in my opinion, both Junior and Senior Corps should absolutely require each member to get a full physical and a doctors approval to participate, and each corps should have a well-balanced, structured conditioning program in place from day one of audtions/rehearsals. Having a sports trainer and physical therapist on staff would be ideal.

We only live once, and we only have one body. Take care of it. When I was marching tenors in junior corps back in the early 90's, I started off overweight and out of shape. I had a HARD rookie year. One of our guard instructors was also a physical therapist, and one of our horn instructors was a sports trainer. They told it to me straight, and helped me change my outlook on how drum corps and phyical fitness went hand in hand. In the off-season, I took their advice, lost weight, got in shape, and returned the next season in much better shape. I wasn't winded after run-throughs. I could keep up with the morning running block on tour. I had more energy, which meant I also had more focus. I felt like I performed better. It was an all-around better experience.

Please take care of yourselves, get a physical, and urge your corps to implement a conditioning program if they don't already have one in place.

Thanks for reading.

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