Supporting the Auxiliary

Icebreaker

What the Auxiliary Actually Does

• Twirling batons, spinning flags, and dancing full-out for a whole show is athletic—it takes strength, timing, and hours most of you never see.
• They memorize as much choreography as you do music, and they perform it while nailing a toss or landing a turn on an exact count.
• They train through blisters, drops, and bruises to make it look effortless—and effortless is the hardest thing there is.
• The auxiliary is not the "extra." On most fields, they are the first thing the crowd's eyes find.

You Are Their Floor

• The auxiliary doesn't perform to music in general—they perform to your music, on your counts, in real time.
• Your sound is the floor they dance on. A solid floor lets them take risks; a shaky one makes them play it safe.
• When the band is locked in, the aux can push harder, sell bigger, and trust that the hit will be there.
• Supporting them starts with a simple mindset: your performance is part of theirs.

Hold the Tempo

• Every routine is counted to an exact tempo. Rush it or drag it and their toss lands wrong, their turn finishes late, and the whole visual breaks—through no fault of theirs.
• The aux can't "feel it out" mid-routine the way you might. They are locked to the count you set. Be the count they can trust.
• Watch the drum major, not the excitement. The moments you most want to speed up are the moments they most need you steady.
• Rock-steady time is the greatest gift the band gives the auxiliary. Give it every rep.

Hit Together, Give Them Dynamics

• A unified hit gives the aux a sharp visual accent to nail. A ragged hit gives them nothing to catch.
• Dynamics give them levels to perform to—a swell to grow into, a drop to get delicate on. Flat sound is a flat canvas.
• Consistency lets them trust it. If the hit lands in a different spot every rep, they can't build a routine on it.
• Clean, together, and the same every time—that is what lets the aux design something great on top of you.

Give Them Room

• Flags and batons need airspace; dancers need floor. Drift into their zone and you don't just crowd them—you can hurt them.
• Know your spacing and intervals cold, and know where the aux sets up in every drill. Your form protects their performance.
• Never make the auxiliary dodge the band. On a clean field, everyone has room to be great.
• Awareness is support: eyes up, know what's flying near you, and hold your form so they can hold theirs.

Know the Show Together

• Know where the auxiliary features are—the moments the show is built around them—and know them as well as you know your own.
• Learn their counts and their big hits so you can lock to them, not just to the page in front of you.
• Understand the whole show: what story it tells, where the visual lives, and how your part serves it.
• A band that knows the aux's show performs with them; a band that only knows its own notes performs next to them.

Be Their Hype

• When the auxiliary takes the spotlight, your energy amplifies them. Play bigger, sell harder, and lift their moment.
• The crowd takes its cue from the band. React to a great toss, and the stands react with you.
• Be their loudest fans on the field—visible support tells everyone watching that this moment matters.
• You are not competing with the auxiliary for the crowd. You are handing them the crowd—and they hand it right back.

One Unit, No Cliques

• No "us and them." Dancers, guard, and twirlers are Marching Force, the same as any horn line or drum.
• Don't let the band and the auxiliary split into separate worlds—warm up together, eat together, celebrate together.
• Back them up when it's hard: the long days, the tough reps, the crowd that doesn't clap. Have their backs the way you want yours had.
• One unit is not a slogan. It is how a show becomes seamless instead of stitched together.

Communicate

• Talk to the auxiliary and their coaches. Ask what they need from the band—then actually give it.
• Share feedback both ways, with respect: "that tempo felt rushed there" is a gift, not a complaint.
• Learn each other's language—counts, phrases, and cues—so a fix in rehearsal takes seconds, not arguments.
• The bands that look like one unit are the ones that talk like one unit all week long.

Supporting the Auxiliary: The Playbook