Equipment knowledge

[byline]

Hi Sue!!!

Good luck to all who are beginning!

Nancy Scopa-Vetrano

Hi, Nancy! Good to read some of your comments, as they're very close to what I remember working on in guard. Especially learning to be ambidextrous. That was especially important when guards mirrored one another (side to side, every other one, etc.). I always loved it when work you'd learned on the right hand had to be switched to the left . . . with no rehearsal time to work through it. My instructor just said, "Do it on your left hand. You figure it out."

[LancerFi]

Great points Sue!

I did forget to add one thing and that is, if at all possible, at rehearsals, try to put your stonger members up front. There is a lot of incentive not only for timing but wanting to emulate the strongest people in the guard. Yes it is a little bit of competition, but it's your own competition to be the best you can be, or at least try to emulate a very strong guard member. Whether it's a pyramid, file, whatever, there is a big incentive to keep up as it were, or go home and get it right!

Zingali used to pull people out to show the whole corps (from a marching standpoint) and sometimes just the guard (equipment or body) how it was supposed to be done. A little embarrassing, and there were snickers here and there from people who had been there longer, but longer doesn't necessarily mean better!

The heel toe or roll comes to mind as well as the high mark time without either of your heels ever touching or barely touching the ground. This done correctly would give no head bobbing what so ever due to the even weight distribution. Looonnggg stttoooorrryyy.... B)

[SBrancheau]

Hi Nancy and Sue!

First of all, to Nancy (27 Alum):

:::bowing low:::

Not worthy to be in your presence! 27's guard was what I aspired to in high school! Thank you for your example! Do you realize how awesome the 79-80 guard was???! The standard for which all guards should be measured!

Okay, I'm better now! Let's go on, shall we?

I agree with everything you both said and add this:

Having taught guard (just flags, unfortunately) for about 8 years, I can't emphasize practicing CORRECT technique enough. My current pet peeve in high schools is that (and I mentioned this in a previous post) little Suzy Flag or Amy Rifle who've recently graduated are back teaching at their high school. In high school, they were not the strongest on technique. So guess what? That guard learns bad technique...and it goes on! Ralph Pace was right about the way things are practiced.

I also judged for a few years and the things I notice now! Yes, the corps is throwing the equipment up at the same time and catching at the same time...but what about height and rotation of the toss? Is the equipment caught in the same "orientation" (i.e., top pointing at 4 o'clock, level, whatever)? What ARE the hands/arms doing? I'm sorry, but I HATE the current school of thought that says that during a toss the arm should remain "up" during the rotation of the equipment...it looks like the person is afraid to get hit! These are things I personally picked apart during rehearsals. It's not just the equipment work, but the EXECUTION of the equipment work! I don't care how good the choreography is or how well the guard can dance...if the equipment technique isn't good or clean, it detracts from the whole choreography book.

Whew!

Sally A. Brancheau

P.S. To all equipment instructors: PLEASE go back to teaching your guard to tuck hands/arms during rotation of a toss. It's not pretty or clean to leave the arm UP during the toss! Because you know what? It looks like your guard members are afraid they'll be hit! It's ugly, unprecise and detracts from the toss...there should be NOTHING between the person's head and the space that the equipment is rotating in!

Thank you!

[masterles]

I would love for my guard to tuck their hands and arms. But...they ARE afraid at this point of catching certain tosses. They are Regional Class A. When reading the adjudication manual, I focus on technique, which means as long as they do it together and the same way, they have succeeded. Please remember there are gradations in difficulty in all things. My group is at the bottom of the pyramid working their way up. And we'll get there, just takes time.

[UNTrustyboi]

I have recently started colorguard as a seperate class in the fall in a public high school. This is a brand new world to me and I was wondering what are considered normal ability levels for equipment.

Obviously flag, rifle, and sabre but what work should be expected by a sophmore vs. a senior. I am trying to build a core foundation of work for a curriculum.

Thanks

Throwing large objects really high into the air, and catching without them coming down onto your head and knocking you out in the middle of your show is considered good.

Correction, throwing large objects HIGH into the air is not considered good unless its a toss meant to be thrown high (ie rifle quads and up) ... Make sure the spin in the toss is fast and that it matches the others in the guard. To have a clean guard, everyone must spin/toss consistently in time with each other. I will agree with the person that suggested to look into your circuit's defintion of levels of technique for each class (A, Open, World).

[jojo]

I would love for my guard to tuck their hands and arms. But...they ARE afraid at this point of catching certain tosses. They are Regional Class A. When reading the adjudication manual, I focus on technique, which means as long as they do it together and the same way, they have succeeded. Please remember there are gradations in difficulty in all things. My group is at the bottom of the pyramid working their way up. And we'll get there, just takes time.

I agree. I teach a Regional A guard and we focus a lot on technique, hand positions, etc. We break it all down count by count so everyone knows each check point (equipment and body). It doesn't guarantee that they will perform it that way every time, but it cleans things up tremendously. Clean still equals good in my book. I'd rather they be clean and look confident than do "difficult" work and look like a train wreck! Don't get me wrong, their vocabulary is sufficiently difficult for a regional A guard ... but I think it's important that they feel a sense of accomplishment when they come off the floor ... taste success ... improve with each performance ... and go from there with something to build on.