Pay special attention to stick heights. A tenor section that has matching stick heights will be visually appealing. Except for very loud accents, your arms should not be flailing around, and instead, your wrists should be providing most of the power to hit the tenor drums.
When not playing or doing a visual, sticks are generally held pressed together a few inches in front of your stomach, with the butt of the sticks alternating (for example, one of the butts should be gripped with the left hand, while the other is gripped with your right hand). Often, two counts before you begin playing, the sticks are then flicked out into playing position. Another option when not playing is to have your arms fully extended down with the sticks at your side.
Cross the sticks between the drums to create a visual. Hit the lowest drum (the drum on the far left of the tenor configuration) with your left hand, while simultaneously hitting the second lowest drum (the drum on the far right of the tenor configuration) with your right hand. Then repeat, but alternate which sticks hits which drum, so you're now hitting the lowest drum with your right hand while hitting the second lowest drum with your left. Doing this quickly can create a powerful visual effect.
For the most powerful rim shot, hit the drum near the rim, not the center of the drum, while hitting the rim at the same time with the neck of the stick at about one inch from the tip of the stick.
Perform "sweeps," which are double strokes played on two drums. One motion is used to hit both drums right after each other, not simultaneously. "Inside sweeps" are sweeps that go towards the center of the tenor drums configuration, from low to higher tenor drums. "Outside" sweeps" are sweeps that go away from the center of the tenor drums configuration, from high to lower tenor drums.
Playing position is sticks out an inch or two above the tenor drum you are about to play. A tenor line with matching playing positions can provide the look marching bands and drum corps are looking for.