Taught me for a few years while in was in high school.Smart guy. cool guy. Last I saw him (fall 2008), he was a grad assistant at U of M, pursuing a doctorate or two.

Okay...just so I'm clear...center awareness is now outer awareness? I guess everybody has their reasons for what they do. Unfortunately, you can't really "drown out" a drummer by hiding him/her in the middle of the line. If a player can't play clean then it doesn't matter where you place him in the line.

I have known groups who have placed a weaker player inside of a stronger one but to put all your less gifted people in the middle of the line is ludicrous.

i think it makes since to have your weaker players surronded by good players.

...so your good players have to listen through dirt to lock into one another? I'd rather have a solid core.

just throwing this out there, the lines I marched in @ madison, the strongest 4/5 were in the center. the next two were the ends, and the weakest were one or 2 in, depending on the year...It was more to get the younger/ weaker players surrounded by guys who would push them, as members. Keep them motivated in rehearsal, ad keep them driving mentally and physically. it had nothing to do with dirt. Also by putting strong guys on the end, it would help with drill sooner as well.

That sounds reasonable. I just have a problem with the idea of a cluster of weak players in the middle of the line, especially when we're talking about weak players by high school standards.

You beat me to the punch. It's a different thought process when you're talking about a top DCI line than a high school line. Your weakest player in a good DCI section is not generally someone I would classify as "weak." In most cases they are still good players so it's not like your putting a horrible player inside to try and hide them.

I did It!!!