Breaking Down Drum Corps Technique

100% agree, when I marched straight leg my hips hurt for 6 months post season, when I marched bent leg, I felt great!

I have never marched bent leg. but in my 12 years marching in this activity, I can say that my knees are not the same anymore in terms of strength, and shin splints are a frequent occurrence with straight leg. Especially on extended step sizes/stoping on a minus one etc. Side note: boi, that straight leg technique in the video? 🔥🫡

After coming home from the 2023 season, my knees were in so much pain for 3-4 days. I had no problems at all during the season really, but as soon as I stopped using them it was just a lot of stagnant pain. Part of that might have been from poor techinque, but straight leg causes so much long term problems as well. Hoping to see bent leg return more not just because of staff movement through the activity, but also due to people realizing it's physical benefits, especially in an era where marching safety is taking such a high priority over other things. Awesome video

As someone who started bent leg this year in Corps I love it! We march straight leg at my university and my knees were killing me during football season. I didn’t realize how big of a difference it can make.

i’m going into my second season with the crossmen and we marched straight leg last year and are marching bent leg this year and so far, i am loving the bent leg technique and the way it looks as well as the way it feels

I prefer the Bent leg technique. I remember when Jeff Fiedler left the Cavies and went to SCV and I saw SCV doing their Les Mis show I could tell right away that they were doing the bent leg technique like the Cavies🤣 Awesome show… I Love when a Drumcorps tells a story… SCV, Phantom & Crown used to be good at that. Nowadays it’s slim pickings for those kind of shows… what ya gonna do? Keep up the Great work!!! Good Luck at Boot Camp!!! -Nick Giardiello

Corps place such a large emphasis on running during the off season. While that's typically to reach a cardio/endurance goal, I would not be surprised if those who run the most have the most conditioned knees and as a result don't feel as much pain during and after the summer. I find people often have pain to the point that they have to take 4+ ibuprofen a day, or don't have much pain at all besides tiredness/soreness. Wouldn't be surprised if that is a result of impact training the knees via running (or the lack of it)

Loving this type of content man. As a proud dotbitch myself, very interesting to hear from the other side.

Dope video!

the issue of physical pain/discomfort in marching is a pretty common one. i wonder if the implementation of more intentionally-designed training programs in modern corps will see a change in that, or maybe corps might popularize a new approach, where technique changes at different tempos to accommodate the performer’s well-being. who knows!

As someone marching an all-age (formerly DCA) corps, I'm not sure anyone in our class marches bent leg, simply because of the time it would take to break down the technique, like you mentioned. Especially considering that all-age only rehearses on weekends. I'm sure other corps in the class march a more relaxed straight leg, but we try to emulate the Blue Devils style. That being said, our visual staff has also put a lot of emphasis on dots when learning drill the past couple seasons, but that philosophy might be changing as we get later into the spring. We'll see.

You could get into the philosophy, if there is one, behind some groups choosing to lead with the right foot. The Cadets for example. Not sure if there’d be enough info for a full video though.

Nice

Great Thumbnail choice😎

very epic video. idk if you'll have enough experience with it but i'd love to see a similar shorter video about straight leg vs bent leg CRABBING. bent leg crabbing is extremely rare, but any person who has done both has told me that they prefer bent. seeing the bent leg crab at 8:30 in the video from the cavaliers is probably the first time i've seen bent leg crabbing in a while. i don't even think any drum corps have used it since pacific crest 2019

Seeing so many people affected by pain from straight leg technique always has me second guessing myself. I marched exclusively straight leg for my 7 years of the activity, never had pain as a result. There were times when I accidently tweaked a muscle in the offseason but it was never marching related. I just wonder what could be done to decrease the number of people suffering with something I had the good fortune to escape

yea i'm gonna stick to the front ensamble ty

My girlfriend’s daughter was cut from a corps she was trying out for due to the lack of experience in straight leg marching. The positive in this was that her actual playing wasn’t a factor in getting cut. She’s so bummed and now I’m trying to figure out a way to help her practice so she has a better chance next year against seasoned drum corps members. She loves everything about drum corps and her dream is to march with the Blue Coats one day. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I've never marched straight leg, but it looks like your hips have to absorb all the impact of movement in order for the instrument/head to "float". That's a LOT to put on that one joint in terms of not just flexibility/mobility, but also wear and tear. Again - that's just how it LOOKS to me. I could be wrong.

To your point, i think shin splints pop up more in straight leg