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So, I am an upcoming sophomore in high school and after making second chair in all county even though I have only played for a few weeks I am a bit concerned. This is not due to playing, this is due to when marching band season comes back around, will I be able to handle a sousaphone. Because my section leader is probably about 5"9 and when he fell with his sousaphone he could not march for over a week and a half. I, on the other hand, am 6"4 and much heavier than him, so if I fall I can only assume it would be worse. So, with that being said have there been any recorded serious injuries involving sousaphones? and if so should I, being as large as I am more or less concerned about the chances of that happening?

heh-heh...heh-heh-heh...heh-heh...heh-heh-heh-heh...

https://vine.co/v/eT96reItmHr

Beavis wrote:heh-heh...heh-heh-heh...heh-heh...heh-heh-heh-heh...

https://vine.co/v/eT96reItmHr

XD

In my opinion the risks of NOT enjoying the fun of being a sousaphone player outweigh the risks of occasionally bashing into a ceiling or a trombonist.

Watch out for doors, and wind will send you flying if you're not paying attention. You will however have a blast dancing at the games (at least I do). Also, clarinetists make great crumple zones (...according to a friend )

Garrett_Blake wrote:So, I am an upcoming sophomore in high school and after making second chair in all county even though I have only played for a few weeks I am a bit concerned. This is not due to playing, this is due to when marching band season comes back around, will I be able to handle a sousaphone. Because my section leader is probably about 5"9 and when he fell with his sousaphone he could not march for over a week and a half. I, on the other hand, am 6"4 and much heavier than him, so if I fall I can only assume it would be worse. So, with that being said have there been any recorded serious injuries involving sousaphones? and if so should I, being as large as I am more or less concerned about the chances of that happening?

The solution is simple.
Don't fall.

Just be careful if you adjust the mouthpiece position. I have a busted off tooth from pulling back and smacking myself in the mouth in high school. The wind can blow you around but bigger guys can usually handle it.

Garrett_Blake wrote:So, I am an upcoming sophomore in high school and after making second chair in all county even though I have only played for a few weeks I am a bit concerned. This is not due to playing, this is due to when marching band season comes back around, will I be able to handle a sousaphone. Because my section leader is probably about 5"9 and when he fell with his sousaphone he could not march for over a week and a half. I, on the other hand, am 6"4 and much heavier than him, so if I fall I can only assume it would be worse. So, with that being said have there been any recorded serious injuries involving sousaphones? and if so should I, being as large as I am more or less concerned about the chances of that happening?

Just make sure you land on the little guy.

I am a short/wide middle aged woman with some balance issues and bad knees. I march with a King brass sousaphone (but not when there is lightning about). I have (knock on wood) never fallen, but have caught trees, door frames, and wind gusts, overhead ducting with the bell. At you height you are probably much more cognizant of the upper limits of things like light fixtures and door frames than I am; just maintain your awareness and you should be fine. +100 on the mouthpiece positioning...

This kid may be doing a lot more "marching" than just parades. Competitive bands nowadays may move at tempos of 180+bpm. The players may be crabstepping, or running backwards on their toes. And backwards marching means trusting that nobody else is in the wrong place behind you. It has turned into a risky occupation.

That's what happens when you don't wear spatz or pick up your feet!!

Garrett_Blake wrote:when he fell with his sousaphone he could not march for over a week and a half

Wait, so that's all it takes for a 10-day vacation from marching band? I should have fallen over more often.

the elephant wrote:a flag to the throat.

I never see Memorial Gym at Vanderbilt on TV without thinking of the donk to the head I took at an indoor color guard competition in 1982. (My fault entirely. I was supposed to be leaning out of the way as the flag came over with my rifle in the air. I was a beat behind, it turned out. The flag wasn't. No hospital trip though.)

Back to sousaphones...

Paul Collins has a mobile shop which he brings to drum corps competitions. He does a healthy business in brass instrument bodywork.

One day I found him ironing out a bunch of marching tubas from a major DCI corps. He told me their players had just learned a drill change . . . . . . but the tubas hadn't.

bloke wrote:

aqualung wrote:This kid may be doing a lot more "marching" than just parades. Competitive bands nowadays may move at tempos of 180+bpm. The players may be crabstepping, or running backwards on their toes. And backwards marching means trusting that nobody else is in the wrong place behind you. It has turned into a risky occupation.

marching insurance...??

Nah, just lawyer up.

That's the American Way!!

Kontrabass is right: you've gotta assess and accept risk and then go have fun.

I recommend that the OP prioritize ahead of time in case of an event (slip, trip, fall, collision, blow-over etc.), and consider sacrificing the horn.

Prioritizing health over horn is probably heresy to some, including the "tough-it-out/body-sacrifice", the "body can heal itself, but the horn can't", the "it's borrowed property, so return it in as-good or better shape than you received it", etc. folks.
BUT
after 50+ years, I suffer some aches & pains that I could probably have avoided if I'd understood that money/property can be caught up with, but life/time can't.

An example of non-consideration with bad result: when I was young, I reflexively stuck out my foot to catch a falling glass tumbler (in my defense, this happened very fast, and I was reacting to "something" falling out of the corner of my eye while I was focused on another activity). The result was a spurting artery and severed tibialis anterior. If I'd surveyed my environment and thought ahead . . .

As an example of good prior consideration: when I was in the carrying-infants stage, with (typical situation) child on one arm and something in the other (especially something fragile or valuable - and yeah, the armchair QBs say "take two trips", but this was real life I was living in), I would pause and remind myself to sacrifice the material object and cradle the child if something untoward happened (slip, trip, or other unexpected event). Fortunately, I never encountered that circumstance, but I was primed to react according to my considered priorities.

Likewise, when I'm performing (acceptably low likelihood but high potential damage) home maintenance (in a tree, on a roof, up a ladder, etc.) I always take a moment to consider what I will grab, where I will land, where I will toss the sharp tool so I don't land on it and it doesn't hit anyone, etc., so if/when it happens, I can react a bit faster along a considered exit strategy.

Hopefully the OP never encounters the worst-case, but if s/he does, an action plan (let the horn go to swing & suffer while releasing your hands for stabilization/landing; duck out and throw the horn away; land as best possible on top of the horn, regardless of damage to it; etc,) can mitigate the personal health risk (and perhaps allay some anxiety).

Don't pay any attention to them.

That sousaphone is paid for with taxpayer dollars.

Your parents can always just have another kid!!

One word, son - "rubber."

Simple. Don't fall. I'm a junior in high school, and they besides loading them on and off the band buses and maneuvering tight spaces, it't not hard at all. Just remember, during pep band, just play as loud as you can.

Garrett_Blake wrote: Because my section leader is probably about 5"9 and when he fell with his sousaphone he could not march for over a week and a half. I, on the other hand, am 6"4 and much heavier than him, so if I fall I can only assume it would be worse.

You're big and the Sousa will be easier for you to handle than your section leader. Don't sweat it and have fun.