Guardie of the week- Caitlyn

This week's guardie of the week is 

Caitlyn Louramore

from NC

Caitlyn is a spinner from Dixon High School Color Guard. She found out about color guard during an 8th-grade night at her high school. The middle school band was invited over to play with the high school and during this time she played trombone. Originally, she hoped to join high school band with her trombone, but when the band performed at halftime, She became  instantly in love and in awe at the flags and movements on the field. Three years later, She is so grateful to had the chance to find Colorguard. It has helped her develop more confident in her work and in what she does.

Caitlyn's favorite thing about Guard is definitely the performances and the feeling of joy after a competition. Some of her favorite tosses are a Pizza toss or a strip toss and the reason she loves guard is because it gave her a home away from home.

" I feel my happiest when I'm performing or helping others become their best."

This is her third year on guard and she plans on never ever wanting to stop doing what she loves. She is hoping to continue with guard throughout college. Afterward, she hopes to become an instructor and teach others and help them find their passion!

"I've always longed for a place I felt I was at my best and guard has helped me realize that it's alongside my teammates on the field."

 Congrats this week's guardie of the week 

Caitlyn

Things to know about sabre

This week I wanted to help out the freshmen out there who are starting guard, starting on a new equipment, or just for the people who wanted to know. This is a three part blog where I talk about each equipment and give you the tips on how to survive the equipment. For today, these are a few things to know about Sabre.

Lethal piece of equipment

Don't sleep on sabers, they very powerful and very dynamic so I suggest that whenever you pick up a saber, that you take it with all precautions you need to spin.

NEEDS to be tapped

if sabers are not tapped, they're more likely to break as well as injure you so make sure you tap every place needed.

It WILL hurt, there is no doubt about that

let's not get things twisted, the fact that people think they will not get hurt is preposterous, YOU WILL GET HURT ON SABER BIG FELLA 

very fragile

even though saber has so much hype about how dangerous it is, it's actually pretty fragile. A saber is like a spider or an ant, they put up a deadly attack but, you can easily destroy it by stepping on it 

keep your eye on it when tossing

I know you are already taught this but, make sure you keep an eye on that saber because it will disappear during your toss and you will be looking for it and whined up either getting injured or missing the toss. 

hilt death trap

please watch your finger in the hilt because there have been people who got there finger broken because of the hilt.

tosses lightly caught heavily

remember this is a saber, so when you toss it may feel light but, it's so much heavier when you catch it than how a rifle feels or a flag feels.

Very pretty piece of equipment

through this all, I really want people to know that saber is a graceful piece of equipment. Yea it may be dangerous but, that duality of it being dangerous yet elegant and beautiful is what gets people spinning it and using it every day 

 I hope this helps you guys. If you have any questions about this post, don't be afraid to ask.

Things to know about flag

This week I wanted to help out the freshmen out there who are starting guard, starting on a new equipment, or just for the people who wanted to know. This is a three part blog where I talk on each equipment and give you the tips on how to survive the equipment. For today, these are a few things to know about Flag

literally cant do guard without doing flag







Flag is a necessity, so much so that it is even part of the rule book for most local guard and band competitions. Its the first equipment you see and most used equipment.

technically, didn't start with a drop spin



lets be honest, it all started with how to hold a flag then you moved into the basics, THEN....... the drop spin.

we all have used a flag as if it was a blanket



when its cold outside, the silk actually absorbs body heat so when we wrap it around our bodies, it feels so warm like a blanket.

my aesthetic: the whoosh of a flag





literally the best part of flag is the sound it makes when you move it. Its like listening to angel wings.

you can get so many pretty action shots with it











Most of the actions we get are pretty decent but its mostly the few you get on flag that really takes your breath away because is big, bold, so noticeable.

its a 6"ft pole, CATCH SOMETHING!!!



you will hear this phrase at least a couple of times through out your guard life like.. no joke at all, its about catching it don't let hit the floor or you will hit the floor if you get what I'm saying.

don't think flag is easy

all the moves you see on rifle and sabre are based on flag moves because what you can do on flag you can do on any equipment from rifle to sabre even with air blades.

its way harder to be clean with flag than rifle or sabre





for rifle and sabre all you have yo do is just get back in tempo, with flags , its more of than just a tempo, you have to flow the same way and make sure that the work itself looks just like the person next to you.

if its not weighted right, it will not toss right

the bolts in the flag are a necessary item for spinning because if weighted wrong, it will not toss but, if weighted too much it will be too hard to spin, so remember that bolts are needed to be weighted right so you will be able to toss.


I hope this helps you guys. If you have any questions about this post, don't be afraid to ask.

Things to know about rifle

This week I wanted to help out the freshmen out there who are starting guard, starting on a new equipment, or just for the people who wanted to know. This is a three part blog where I talk on each equipment and give you the tips on how to survive the equipment. For today, these are a few things to know about rifle

Its the second most dangerous equipment out of the three

Being that you would usually do rifle after a year of guard, It may be time to warn that Rifle can kill you even though it doesn't have bullets and is made out of wood. With a List of injuries ( blunt force trauma, head trauma, broken bones, contusions, fractures, cuts, gashes, swelling, bruising, comma, etc.) Its best to say just be careful when spinning.

mostly likely why you broke your finger

with rifle, your finger can get caught in between the strap or get jammed while tossing the rifle, or if your the lucky one, A BROKEN FINGER YAAYYY!!!

kind of sexual



if you ever put your rifle between your legs you will notice it lines up with your butt and your....... well you get the rest.

great for biceps and triceps





spinning rifle is good for muscle building that's why your arms get bigger or bulky when you spin because your using all your upper arms strength just to spin.

you will lose your thumbs

when you sign up for rifle, your signing over the rights to your thumbs because you are not gonna want them after spinning rifle.



we all love the sound of the strap

that's one of the main reasons you do rifle because of the sound the strap makes, its so soothing!!!



you got to fix the strap 

when you first get your rifle you will have to stretch out the strap, when it gets too loose your gonna have to tighten it, either way your gonna have to fix it almost all the time.

 



watch how you catch

one simple mistake with the catch can ruin your show or make it awesome, trust, it helps to pay attention.



very dangerous when cold





you may want to invest in DSI finger gloves. Just to warn you when tossing in cold weather, your rifle gets cold also your hands are cold and cold + tossing = PAIN!!!!!

I hope this helps you guys. If you have any questions about this post, don't be afraid to ask.