Competitive drill is very much a different world than the drill and ceremonies that are taught in America’s military services, unless one is part of a specialized unit. Even in JROTC, the drill taught to each class during the school day, is not to as high a standard as the competitive drill teams and color teams (why, “Color Teams“?). Minute …
Cocoa Beach Drill Meet Color Team DrillMaster Performance Critiques
My first time being able to judge Color Team (Color Guard) and use my audio commentary technique for the teams! There was a big learning curve for the cadets and most were appreciative. In no particular order: (click to listen to or download the MP3 file) MIHS Female MIHS Male Cocoa Beach Female LET1 Cocoa Beach Female Cocoa Beach Male …
Exhibition Drill Performance Levels
When a Driller or team performs, there are four aspects of a performance that should to be measured.
January: Drill Season is Here!
While some JROTC units have a busy first semester that includes drill meets, for many across America January is when the competitions begin. Some states, like Florida, do not have any drill meets until the end of January, leaving the first semester to Raider meets. Maybe, like the school where I teach, Merritt Island High School, you have been having …
The Difference Between Training, Practice, and Rehearsal
It may seem strange, even silly, to define practice, training and rehearsal down to the “nth” degree. Always remember, “Education is key!” Note: there are JROTC units that do not have the luxury of an experienced drill coach. Many JROTC instructors have never marched much past their Basic Training or Boot Camp days and that’s OK. Our military jobs came first …
Programming, Continued
Apparently “dropping the base” can have something to do with describing how one creates a routine and, while that may have some sort of relevance at the moment, this description could very well have lost its meaning in a short time. I’ll stick with terms that designers have used for decades. Below, are the Seven Parts of and Exhibition Drill …
How to Restart a JROTC Drill Team
DrillMaster answers a cadet’s question on restarting her school’s JROTC drill team
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 …
Creating your own Exhibition Drill Uniform
Military-type exhibition Drillers around the world are looking more and more into developing their own uniform…
What is “Flow”?
This is Flo at the Top Her name is right there on her name tag. However, we are talking about, “flow” in armed and unarmed exhibition drill which is broken into three different types. This is not Flow Before we get into the two types of flow, let’s quickly go over what flow isn’t. Flow is not a sequence like this: …