Perfect Drill Team Rifle Tosses

The picture, below, is of a winter guard (a marching band color guard that performs indoors, see WGI) back in the 1980s. In the picture you can see the rifles are at the exact same angle while in the air and the arms, legs and bodies of the guard members are very close to being the same. 

Drill Teams: this is what you want. You want to be as close to exactly the same all throughout the performance. But how can you do this? Technique. This is for both unarmed and armed drill teams.

Here is how we can describe technique. Where you put your hands on the rifle, angles of your head, arms, legs, feet and torso.

Techniques need to be the same for each of the members of your team, they have to be the same. If they aren’t your audience will notice right away. It also impairs the effectiveness of synchronous movement like marching, hand and arm movement and rifle movement, just to name a few.

Rifle and arm angles

Arm positions and rifle angles

Rifle angles along with body and arm positions

So close: Foot angles

Arm positions and hand angles

So, now you can see technique is extremely important in all you do out on the competition field or any performance. Technique begins with initial training and must be reinforced through consistent revisiting that initial training. Without that reinforcement, techniques will begin to vary over time.