Take the Layup!
According to Wikipedia…… A layup in basketball is a two-point shot attempt made by leaping from below, laying the ball up near the basket, and using one hand to bounce it off the backboard and into the basket. The motion and one-handed reach distinguish it from a jump shot. The layup is considered the most basic shot in basketball. When doing a layup, the player lifts the outside foot, or the foot away from the basket.
If you’ve read a few of my entries, you may have found I like to use sports references. I blame this partly on the fact my “real” job involves a good amount of athletic band. Plus, I am a pretty big sports fan (I only tolerate soccer while watching Ted Lasso). College Basketball is one of my favorites. When you grow up in Kentucky, you don’t have much choice. I think basketball is part of the DNA of every Kentuckian.
Anyway, you’re probably asking yourself, what does a layup have to do with visual design for marching groups? That’s a legitimate question. Here is where I’m going. I’ve made the intentional choice to “take the layup” while designing this fall. Especially as I finished the university design season.
You sometimes hear sports analysts use the layup reference in football, saying the quarterback should look for the easier of 2-3 throws. Maybe instead of forcing a 40 yard pass trying to make the big play, the QB should find the mid-range open receiver/tight end for a more sure thing. For some reason, the temptation of the big play seems to win out and push the QB to make an ill-advised pass. To paraphrase a Bear Bryant quote, “When you throw the ball, 3 things can happen and 2 of them are bad.” Does the potential gain outweigh the inherent risks? To bring it back to pageantry arts terms, “Is this drill move’s effect worth the hours of instructional/rehearsal time that will be needed to perfect it?”
Not that I don’t usually ask that question regularly while sitting at the computer and designing, but I will admit this fall I spent much more time pondering that question. I wasn’t as fast to dismiss that little voice in my head that continued with, “Is there another design choice that would be better?” Designers out there, do you listen to that little voice when doing your work? I know, I have at times ignored it and then I had regrets because I was having to deal with applying that design choice myself while teaching/cleaning a particular sequence of my own design. Sometimes, we need to listen to that cautionary voice.
What I found is that by taking the layup, I was able to complete my work quicker, making deadlines easier to achieve which made my clients happy. And in turn made me happy, too. Now I’m not saying to NEVER take a risk. What I am saying is I think it helpful to sprinkle some layups in your design. This may help keep the creative juices flowing by avoiding fatigue on the part of the designer. It may also lessen the chances of fatigue for the instructional staff and the performers.
One caution however. A designer can make the most obvious of design choices and the effort required on their part to execute the actual design may be minimal. However, the effort on the part of the performer may be very taxing. Lower required effort on the part of the designer does not automatically equal lower effort from the performer. In fact, many times they are opposite. It may actually take more effort on the designer’s part to execute the design work to take the layup. Now think about that for a minute. To create the situation where a layup can happen, it may take a lot of effort. Think of it this way. A basketball point guard may need to go to great lengths to break down the defense with their dribbling to create a layup opportunity for a forward. The designer may need to do the same thing to create a layup for the group that will execute the design.
So, as a designer, don’t be afraid of the layup. Take it. The rewards will make it worth it.—DB