Perfect your rifle catches - How to color guard

[@lizzylife3651]

Hi Jackie! I just wanted to thank you for all these color guard tutorials!! They've helped me so much, I got my flag back in October and since I've learned so many things thanks to you! (I've had no experience with being a part of a guard at all so I'm trying to get up to speed) I'm planning to try out for winter guard soon, hopefully I'll make it in, and if not I'll try again next year :) Merry Christmas!

[@SpintronixGuard]

Good luck and Merry Christmas! Let us know how it goes!

[@lizzylife3651]

SpintronixGuard thank you so much! It's today so I'll keep you updated!

[@lizzylife3651]

SpintronixGuard I MADE IT!! I'm going to be an alternate this season but I'm so so happy to be on the team! 😀

[@SpintronixGuard]

That's awesome, congratulations!! Being an alternate puts you in a great place to learn even faster than you can on your own 😁 Have a great season!!

[@lizzylife3651]

SpintronixGuard Thank you so much!! :)

[@courtneysartinmotion6657]

Love your rifle technique

[@SpintronixGuard]

Thank you!

[@lilphillips5981]

Thx for this I have been struggling with the perfecting part. But the good part is once I have the catch down then I’m good from there because I’m throwing quads right know. Also do you have any recommendations on gloves because my gloves are wearing down really fast and ripping which I don’t think is supposedly happen because I haven’t had them for more than a year so if you have any place I should go for those that would be great. Merry Christmas 🎁🎄

[@SpintronixGuard]

We are currently testing out the McCormick's gloves this season with one of our members. However, I have used Ever-Dri in the past and really like them.

[@Ellie-mx2cc]

Yea I’ve been using McCormick’s gloves and they are actually really good. I’ve been using them for over a year now and I still have them lol

[@alexmaria2929]

This is hella late but good god I love my ever dry

[@evenspookier]

hi, do you have any tips on not pushing the rifle away or tensing up on the release? i had back surgery about a year ago, and i find that i'm really struggling to get back into the swing of tossing weapons, particularly with rifle

[@SpintronixGuard]

My best tip would be to take a deep breath to release the tension. Maybe do a gentle full-body shake on the breath out.

[@Red_Beard13496]

Where did you get that beautiful rifle?

[@SpintronixGuard]

Glad you asked! I actually did a whole video on this lovely little rifle here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGeleXirrd6jeNE

[@HaircolorNERDist]

I am so glad I found this channel! I marched Crown, Crown Guard and NEI. I miss it soooo much, I’m trying to get back into teaching

[@SpintronixGuard]

We are glad you found us too!! What years did you march?? Jackie has a lot of friends who have been on Crown's staff.

[@Jennypeas11]

Random question: where did you get those FABULOUS sweats?! I absolutely need a pair!

[@SpintronixGuard]

They were at Weissman Designs for Dance a few years ago!! I LOVE them because it's INSANELY cold in our studio and these sweats are super warm...

[@enriqueolguin3601]

I have a question on hand positions. While tossing your right hand is should be down to right side correct?? When you catch you catch with palm facing up instead of showing your hand forward then catching under. (I’m just asking I’m not correcting it’s because I’m captain for my guard and I’m also rifle leader. I just wanna know if that’s something)

[@SpintronixGuard]

Yep that's right. :)

[@paige1281]

my biggest problem is my free hand. when i toss, especcially with quads and 5s when i can get those out, my free hand comes up to where my release hand is. and as much as i try to fix it, i cant. any tips?

[@SpintronixGuard]

Give your freehand a very specific and weird spot to be and make sure you put it there every time. A lot of times guard people will say grab the seam of your pants or whatever, but I say do something ridiculous like grab your butt cheek or put your forearm on your spine. Do that a bunch of times until you can train your body that you don’t need your freehand up in front of your face In order to catch properly!

[@paige1281]

SpintronixGuard thank you!

[@lindsey2557]

Slap your thigh!! That seems to help me!

[@mrslimjim2219]

You look amazinggg

[@SpintronixGuard]

Thanks! :-*

[@courtneysartinmotion6657]

Hey there, I did guard about 16 year's ago in high school and for the Marion Cadets. I was just a student and make Captain and now this summer I will be volunteering as a assistant coach for my daughters School color guard. It's not winter guard it's for there marching band. I feel like you super knowledgeable and I've been searching for answers so I thought I would just ask your opinion. What length of rifle should I purchase? like I said I was just a student and now fairly new to coaching so I'm not sure on what to buy as far as it comes to rifles. I'm also on a budget. Do you recommend any online shops? Thank you so much for your help :) I love watching your videos. It's been really helping me brush up on flag and rifle because like I said it was about 16 years ago. I know the basics I just need to improve and be as good as I was in high school so I can teach :) I've also noticed that color guard these days have more dance involved?

[@SpintronixGuard]

It’s hard to find good rifles nowadays! The best one I can probably recommend to you right now is King. You can get them from multiple different sources, we order all of our equipment through American Band Accessories. If you are doing outdoor Guard I would definitely recommend a 39 inch, but really you want to spin whatever length your students use. And if you’re new to teaching you might consider coming to our summer camp! We have a coach certification program you can participate in.

[@courtneysartinmotion6657]

@@SpintronixGuard oh how I keep wishing and praying that one day I can join in on your summer camp. I know that I would learn so much. The school I will be coaching for during marching season don't get alot of funds or support for their color guard or marching band. The school is in a small village and the middle school and high school is together as one school. So the color guard has middle school students and high school students. I'm volunteering as a coach because they don't have the funds at the moment but that doesn't bother me because Color Guard is my passion. I'm also paying for online classes that are required for that school to coach there students but they're going to try to reimburse me for that. I'll try to ask them about sponsoring me for your camp once I'm in for a little while. Maybe I can make a fundraiser or something to get me to your camp. I noticed that their flags are only 5 feet tall and when I was in school are flags were 6 ft tall. I think they do that because they have middle schoolers spinning as well with the high schoolers. I went ahead and ordered My rifle yesterday from DSI Elite and it's a 36-in. I purchased it out of my own pocket so that the students can mess around with it this summer and then hopefully eventually the school will fund some rifles for the color guard. I thought since I'll be working with middle schoolers that maybe that length would help with the starting process with learning and practicing rifle. They've never had rifle at that school but they do have Flags, swing Flags, and they do pom line with some dance and also they added some hoops last year. Me adding rifle with my experience. I feel like it's going to help them stand out a little bit more in the community hopefully. The band director is excited that I know how to do rifle. So we've been going back and forth on how to raise money to get the girls some rifles. If we can't get it this coming next season hopefully the season after will have some rifles for the Color Guard :) I would pay out-of-pocket to go to your summer camp but I only get Social Security disability from battling cancer for 12 and 1/2 years. I've been in remission for a few years and have been looking for something that I'm passionate about to do in the world. I feel like being apart of coaching a color guard would be so amazing and I can't wait to start :) during my high school years when I was in Color Guard it really fulfilled my life especially during hard times. It was my source of Refuge :)

[@jacquelinepollard904]

How can I help a member who is consistently under rotating and catching at the half?

[@SpintronixGuard]

It's difficult to give advice without seeing exactly what she's doing. You are going to need to watch the height of her toss compared with someone else who tosses properly. If her toss isn't as high in the air then she needs to extend her release arm more. If her toss is spinning slowly then she needs to push harder with her supporting arm before she releases.

[@Dancindiva0311]

Isn't he the best...I need this lol. Thank you for the video.

[@SpintronixGuard]

You are welcome!

[@courtneysartinmotion6657]

I see you said that There's no certain way to catch the rifle just as long as everyone is consistently catching it the same way. But to win competitions is there an exact way of catching Rifle tosses?

[@SpintronixGuard]

Nope! I will say that the most widely used way of catching is in right flat. However, I don't think that's the easiest except for the fact that it's usually the first way performers are taught to catch, so they will feel it's easiest. But if you watch performances, especially at the world class level, you will see a wide variety of ways to catch. As long as the entire team catches the same way and doesn't wobble the will score well.

[@courtneysartinmotion6657]

@@SpintronixGuard okay awesome! Thank you for your help🌸🌸🌸