Overview
When we think about drill team, we tend to think about DOING. How are we DOING the movements? Are we DOING them with precision? Are we DOING them with uniformity? Timing?
But what many fail to realize is that without also developing the ability to SEE issues and correlate those issues to how it FEELS to execute, problems will continue to persist.
See, the fact of the matter is that drill team largely relies on outside observation to correct mistakes and errors during practice.
It goes something like this…
Commander: Gives command
Team: Does the thing
Commander/Coach/Instructor: Gives feedback
Commander: Gives command again
Team: Does the thing again
When we work with groups, we’ve observed that probably about 90% of mistakes, misfires, or other errors in execution are instantly felt. Of those 90%, a sizable portion of them are due to something OTHER than not understanding how to execute the move at the highest level. Perhaps someone was spacing out or perhaps their foot slipped unexpectedly – things like that.
The 10% of remaining mistakes, unsurprisingly, often go unnoticed or unaddressed because they are so much less obvious in nature the big mistakes.
Because only a limited number of cadets, instructors, or coaches can be observing from the outside, you’re only likely to improve by X each repetition.
But if we train our cadets to SEE and SCRUTINIZE their performances to a higher and higher level as the season progresses, the individual tolerance for error will decrease and we should see mistakes improve by 2X each repetition because everyone has been taught how to be part of the process of seeing, addressing, and correcting a mistake!
Video Review
Video review is one way we intentionally teach our team members to see and hear what’s happening around them. However, sitting around and watching the video is not enough. We need to have an intentional, thoughtful process for dissecting game day footage that…
- Helps individuals see their own personal performances
- Helps individuals see the team’s performance overall
- Focuses not only on what to FIX but also what to MAINTAIN going forward
- Helps everyone track improvement week-over-week, month-over-month, season-over-season, etc.
Here are the steps to accomplish such a video review!
Step 1: Gather the Materials
For this process, we will need a variety of materials gathered in advance:
- A video of suitable stability and quality to see the entire team but also individual drillers
- Adequate AV equipment to view this video
- A classroom area free from distractions
- Paper and writing utensils for each cadet participating
Step 2: Prepare for Viewing
The next step is to prepare the team to watch the video together. Cadets should divide their paper in half vertically and label one half “Me” and the other “Team.” Everyone should be briefed to watch the video carefully and take notes on the issues they see making note of things that need work and ALSO things that are EXCEPTIONALLY well done. Cadets could use a “-” and “+” before each comment to indicate whether their note is positive or negative in nature!
Step 3: Watch the Video for INDIVIDUAL Performance
Now, you’ll watch the video all the way through instructing cadets to focus and make notes ONLY on themselves. Have everyone do their best to annotate what they see about themselves.
Step 4: Share the Notes
Have each cadet share what they took notes on. Make sure to continue to emphasize that the comments should only be about their INDIVIDUAL performance, and not the performance of the group (this is a learned skill developed over time.)
As each cadet delivers their list, if you hear a comment that is the same as one you wrote down for yourself, place a check mark next to it each time it comes up. For example, if both Cadet Garcia and Cadet Jones mention their alignment during a flank and you also mentioned this, it should have two check marks by it on your sheet of notes!
Throughout this process, make sure to moderate the conversation and continue to emphasize respect for the speaker. Create an environment in which it’s comfortable to share your own shortcomings!
Step 5: Repeat Steps 3 & 4 but for TEAM Performance
Go through the exact same procedures again: watch the video but this time for TEAM performance and make notes of what you see. Most importantly, this is not time for cadets to make notes about other cadets’ INDIVIDUAL performance issues; this is often confusing for teams going through it for the first time. It’s not “Me” then “Others.” It’s “Me” then the ENTIRE TEAM.
Again, share the comments, both positive and negative, and repeat the process of placing a check mark next to repeated comments.
Step 6: Identify Overlapping Issues
The leader of the session should next ask for examples of INDIVIDUAL issues with multiple check marks and make a list of them. These are the individual performance issues that each cadet should work on between practices to the best of their ability and be aware of during practices going forward!
Do likewise with the TEAM issues. Those issues with many check marks can become goals for the next practices going forward.
Use the overlapping issues to establish a plan to address them.
PS. Don’t forget to mention the overlapping POSITIVE items as well! These are things that perhaps need less immediate focus in the practices to come! This is why identifying the POSITIVE qualities of a video is just as important as isolating the NEGATIVE ones!
Step 7: Collect & Document
After you’ve created the goals for your coming practices, collect everyone’s notes and keep them together in a binder.
As you repeat this process throughout the season, you should look for comments to become increasingly more detail-oriented.
What starts the season as “- Alignment bad” should end the season as “- Left foot placed slightly too far; inconsistent with my marching step size going into the halt,” for example.
By documenting and seeing the improvement (or lack thereof) between video review sessions, we can help guide our team to see things, both good things and bad things, with a more critical eye.
Conclusion
By engaging in this process regularly, we help develop our team’s eye for details. We help them see what is GOOD as much as what needs work. And ultimately, we create drillers who can quickly identify issues and problem-solve to correct them both individually and as a group.
Neglecting the development of the brain removes an element of individual leadership and ownership for one’s mistakes that a process as simple as regularly dissecting videos in an organized fashion can address easily!