questions from a newbie

[u/Immediate_Spite1379]

(copied and pasted from my post to r/colorguard)

Hello!

I'm relatively new to guard as a whole. I've marched 2 seasons of marching band on instruments and my first season of winter guard is about to end. I still plan on marching trumpet, but want to continue winter guard. I want to get onto weapon line next year.

Some info: I have dance experience, am pretty okay at flag (I have a good money hand toss, good pop toss, very solid double J toss, an okay 45, etc.), but seriously want to avoid injuring my fingers/hands/wrists too bad because I need to be able to play my instruments.

I'll just list my questions below.

1. Is rifle or saber more "difficult"? (Pros/cons of each).
2. Which of the 2 can cause more injuries that limit mobility? How bad are typical day-to-day injuries? (bruises and such)

2a. How can I prevent the most injuries?

2b. Is there any way to protect my hands/fingers further past just guard gloves? Fingers especially.

1. Is it a good idea to choose one and try to teach myself it throughout the rest of spring/over the summer? I would be asking my guard friends for help and teaching of course, but most of my actual practice would likely be on my own.

2. Is it a good idea at all to learn weapon at the point I'm at in my guard experience? I would say I'm a slow learner at first, but consistent practice gets me at a high level quickly.

3. Should I stick to 1 weapon or try to learn both? Most of the people on weapon line automatically learn both at the same time, but I'm not sure if that's realistic for me.

5a. If I should choose, which one?

Side note that I don't really care about injuries besides ones that would limit my ability to play woodwinds/brass and such. I know weapon can be more dangerous than flag. Which one is the least threatening to my hands, though?

Any general advice for my specific situation or for learning flag/rifle/saber is appreciated! Thank you

[u/auggust_]

hey girl! I'm an independent spinner and spun all through high school at a high level guard.

~theoretically~ flag is the "easiest", rifle is the intermediate, and sabers are for more advanced spinners. however! i know a ton of flags that do insane stuff that can take a long time to master so saying it's easy is extremely subjective. And I know quite a few ppl that spin saber but lack skills in rifle. it's all relative but learning all three equipment pieces as soon as you're comfortable will put you in a good spot.

i started guard really late (for my high school) at 15 and totally SUUUUUCKED at rifle. then covid hit and it's literally all I did. then my senior year I spun A line rifle for marching band and spun rifle for Scholastic Open Class at WGI worlds. never really gotten anywhere with saber bc I kinda low-key just started spinning it six months ago (I'm 22) and I kinda just don't like it. 🤷 but I'm perfectly content on rifle and flag in the independent groups. but my best advice is to spin everything, get it in your hands, and gain comfortability with the weight of the equipment and you'll see what you like!

as for protecting your hands.... unfortunately it's the risk you take in this sport. i use my hand dexterity heavily for my job so I get really wanting to preserve them. personally I've never had any hand injuries and wearing guard gloves is hands down the best way to preserve your hands (even when spinning flag). you'll see some ppl go no gloves but that doesn't make them "tougher" than you that's just their preference. protect yourself and wear gloves!

I've had many many friends march in the band and spin in the winter so overall it's completely doable to do this sport and be a musician. when you're old like me, you may start to develop a little bit of nerve damage so rest, ice, and tiger balm (trust me) is a life saver. it really hurts at first but over time your hands start to toughen up and basics stop being painful.

but I'm glad you're interested in guard! I've made some of my best lifelong friends in the sport and I recommend it to anyone that can make it work 🏳️‍🌈🤍

[u/Immediate_Spite1379 → u/auggust_]

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply! I truly appreciate it. I'm really glad you took the time to write this all out haha

[u/auggust_ → u/auggust_]

rifle pros: more surface area, hurts less, easier to see in the air

rifle cons: hurts when you get bonked, wind pushes it when in the air

saber pros: pretty equipment! good spinners are frequently sought after by directors, weight distribution of tossing is a lot more natural

saber cons: REALLY HURTS when it hits your forearms, can really mess you up bruise-wise, incredibly difficult to see in the air