Category: Tip of the Week

It’s important for coaches and commanders to know the strengths and weaknesses of each team member both on and off the drill deck. This will allow you to fill each competition spot with the best possible person for the job! Do you have a cadet who has difficulty spinning but makes straight A’s? They are probably well suited for inspection. Put them in and remove the exhibition master who has trouble remembering his own name under the pressures of inspection. Do you have a cadet who wants to join a team but can only attend training periodically throughout the week because of other commitments? Perhaps they can assist in taking care of the team’s gear and weapons or help train new members. Everyone has their own set of unique abilities. By learning about your teammates, you’ll know who fits best in each phase of competition! Struggling to find enough people just to have a team? Getting to know one another will make the experience more rewarding and fun; this is a huge draw in recruiting new members!

This week’s DTD Challenge:

Post on our Facebook page and tell us about a teammate you value and what he or she does that makes them stand out!

Want to learn more? Check out our Drill Team Training Workshops to find out how to bring our world-class Staff of coaches to your school!

Did you know winning regulation team at the National High School Drill Team Championships actually had a cadet make a mistake during competition? The cadet, realizing his mistake, immediately froze and was corrected by the cadet commander on the spot.

No one wants to mess up and let their teammates down! When it comes to training, no one wants to be called out or punished for their mistakes. While repetitious practice is needed to build muscle memory, learning takes time. Create a culture on your team where committing to mistakes is important. This will help you quickly identify consistent mistakes that result from poor initial training, mistakes that are flukes which can be corrected on the spot, and mistakes that are caused by others in the block. Furthermore, while you should actively practice recovering from errors in exhibition, mistakes should be committed to and corrected by the cadet commander during regulation, even when they occur on the competition deck. Because of his decisive corrections on the drill pad, the commander of the winning team also won the award for best cadet commander in the country!

This week’s DTD Challenge:

Post on our Facebook wall and tell us about the most embarrassing mistake you’ve ever made or witnessed!

Want to learn more? Check out our Drill Team Training Workshops to find out how to bring our world-class Staff of coaches to your school!

When it comes to competing and performing, especially in exhibition, your job on the drill deck is to minimize and cover up any mistakes you make to avoid detection from the watchful eyes of the judging corps. However, in an effort to do so, you may be missing key factors preventing your team from sharpening their performance. After you complete a segment of drill or repetition of a movement, insist that each cadet freeze. The natural urge of each cadet is to correct their mistakes immediately, sometimes without thinking. Insisting that each individual freeze until given directions otherwise is a good way to catch and prevent any bad habits before they slip through the cracks. After all, if everyone moves and adjusts immediately, how will anyone know where the issues start?

This week’s DTD Challenge:

Try this method with your team and tell us on Facebook how it worked:

1) Tell your team to execute a movement or sequence of drill. Instruct them to freeze immediately when the movement is completed.

2) When you command, “Check!” have each cadet visually inspect themselves WITHOUT moving or adjusting their body positioning. Instruct them that they may move their heads and eyes only.

3) When you command, “Adjust!” have each cadet fix the mistakes they noticed.

4) Have the cadets complete the same sequence again using the same process. See how many errors are fixed without any correction from the commander or coach.

Want to learn more? Check out our Drill Team Training Workshops to find out how to bring our world-class Staff of coaches to your school!

The foundation of everything you do as a drill team starts with regulation drill. Even though exhibition is fun, make sure you spend enough time developing unity, snap, and pop in regulation drill. The fundamentals of drill – alignment, precision, and execution – are the first things judges look for in every drill event. Keep regulation practice interesting by creating specific, targeted goals for each block of practice and challenge your teammates to be the sharpest, most squared-away cadet in the block. The more you push each other to excel, the more solid a base you will create for your team!

This week’s DTD Challenge:

Film your team’s sharpest facing movements (left, right, and about) and post the video to our Facebook page! Let’s see who has the best standing manual out there!

Want to learn more? Check out our Drill Team Training Workshops to find out how to bring our world-class Staff of coaches to your school!