Designing an exhibition routine is a tall order for many schools. Training to execute that routine, whether armed or unarmed, is another feat in and of itself. This week, we’ll focus on ARMED exhibition and the processes you can implement to help set the team up for success.
1. Master Regulation Drill
Before you begin working on exhibition drill, you should have a firm grasp of regulation drill concepts. This doesn’t simply mean knowing how to execute all your basic standing, marching, and rifle manual movements. It means that each member of the team should have a confident command of these movements before even attempting basic exhibition drill. While exhibition drill may be the “flash” of the team, good regulation teaches the fundamental mechanics required for good exhibition: handling of the rifle, body control, and proper form. Don’t fall into the trap of blowing past your regulation drill training in an attempt to get to exhibition! Even the coolest of tricks falls short when it becomes clear that a driller hasn’t mastered basic control over their body – a skill honed in sharp, powerful regulation drill.
2. Safety First!
Your collective ability – not the ability of any individual driller – should dictate the types of movements you’re attempting to learn. Our expectation is simple: no cadet will work on or perform a spin or movement not being actively utilized in the routine during practice time. Returning, experienced drillers are far more likely to be accident-prone due to their wanting to branch out and practice more advanced tricks. Focus the energy and drive of your experienced drillers on teaching the new members or on honing routine-specific skills. Team practice time is not the time for individual progression or for advanced solo maneuvers. Progress as a team and within the capabilities of the least-skilled or experienced drillers. Always put safety before anything else in the training of exhibition drill!
3. Don’t Leap Into Spinning
While spinning and tossing the rifle continuously might seem to be the aim of exhibition drill, the fact of the matter is that most successful exhibition routines contain very little spinning relative to the other sorts of movements utilized in the routine. When we travel to schools and begin teaching exhibition drill, we teach units to develop first a set of standards for exhibition drill. This means learning a version of Port Arms (we recommend a vertical Port position) for exhibition drill, as well as a version of Right Shoulder, Left Shoulder, etc. These standards will form the core of how you move from position to position in your drill. Train the snap, pop, and precision just as you would in regulation drill.
4. Develop A Base of Manuals & Movements
Rather than leaping into developing a routine, first teach your team the components from which the routine will be created. When we teach exhibition, we teach that 3-count, 4-count, 5-count, and 6-count boxes are the basis around which most sequences can be created. You can see an example of this movement style here:
Using these movements as the core of your routine makes teaching and creating sequences very easy. Just specify which movements will be used to create the sequence and your team should know how to execute them because of their previous training!
5. Teach to the Body, Not the Rifle
As you continue to teach and train your new members, remember back to when you first started drilling. Don’t forget that the rifle is a new implement to these cadets. As you teach, focus on what the body should be doing at any given movement. This may take some introspection on your part as the trainer. Learn to recognize what actions with the body cause what reactions with the rifle. This way, you can more quickly and safety identify corrections! Handing a new cadet a rifle and simply telling them to, “Figure it out” as we’ve heard countless times around the country may result in their learning the movement but it will take far longer than taking time to explain the mechanics of the movement. Check out this video that explains one way to break down the mechanics of basic rifle handling in a way that doesn’t reference the rifle but instead focuses on how the body should move:
Drill-Team Dynamics Inc. wants to help you succeed. Connect with us via social media on Instagram (@drillteamdynamics) and Facebook (Facebook.com/DrillDynamics) and leave any questions you might have below.
Be sure to check out our training services to learn more about how we can help your team take the next step towards success!
Leave a Reply