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Are there any specific rules for left handed mace drum majors regarding the beating of time? Are they required to beat time with the mace in the right hand? We compete in NCBA, I have a student who will be competing in the L-Pattern competitions this spring, he is a novice. We want to make sure that he is fully prepared and practices appropriately.

Most of my mace drum majors marched in scottish uniforms and beat time with their left hands as is tradition in England. Let your drum major beat time left handed....it should be ok....but it's NCBA so you never know.

Never heard of special rules regarding left handed drum majors. I also never seen or heard of a drum major beating time with their left solely because they are left handed.. But I don't recall any rules in NCBA that states that a drum major can not beat time with their left hand. It does say though that the uniform must reflect the style in which the drum major performs, so if your uniform isn't Scottish, NCBA might catch you on that..

There are no rules in the NCBA regarding left-handed drum majors and in what hand they must beat time. That decision should be predicated on what style your student performs. If it's British/Scottish, I recommend beating time in the left hand, as is the tradition and custom of such a drum major. If in the American style, drum majors almost always beat time with the left hand. There's no rule explicitly stating such a requirement, but it's best to do some research in order to not look silly. Best of luck in preparing for competitions.