Fukuoka: A Retrospective

Coming to Fukuoka, playing here with very little opportunities to play because of work and the less than stellar level of play/commitment/motivation around me was frustrating at first. I barely got to play and there were stretches of months during which I did not get to play at all. I felt myself grow weaker, become worse, and lose confidence. But then I learned to step up.

I went back into my rhythm of being one of the most outgoing and unabashed people I know and got to know not just the Hakata Hackers but Fukuoka University Peace, Fukuoka University of Education Kyuchan, and Nishikyushu University Spankies. They taught me the joy of coaching and teaching, as well as helped me realize how difficult it is to balance intensity and allowing players to come into their own.

I learned to internalize goals more instead of waiting for people to give me goals. While it is a constant struggle, I've learned to bring the intensity out from within me rather than be a product of my environment. I've learned that by leading by example, I could bring the intensity out in my peers and perhaps even inspire less experienced players. Manning up is easier said than done, but it must be done. But if you can man up, it brings everyone's level up.

I feel that I have done what I always want to do: Inspire other players to see the fun in ultimate. To think about ultimate at a deeper level. To me, ultimate is intoxicating; It is addictive and its always at the forefront of my mind. This passion is something I try to pass on to others. Not only that, but to see alternative ways of playing ultimate. As one veteran player said to me yesterday, "(I) arrived like a storm and left like a storm." Another remarked that I made a very big impact on the ultimate scene in Kyushu. I am humbled by these words and simultaneously make me beam with pride. I'm sure I've talked the ears off of the poor university players with my endless ultimate drivel, but hopefully they have taken at least some of those things to heart and opened their minds to a different world of ultimate.

Bugle-san, the patriarch of Fukuoka ultimate, thanked me for bringing out an international crowd to the Fukuoka Open, and I could say without any sense of flattery that it was my absolute pleasure. Fukuoka Open is a very different tournament as compared to many, if not most, Japanese tournaments and is deserving of a good crowd of people to continue its glory. I am glad I got to share a fun Japanese tournament with non-Japan players, as well as share Western ultimate and ultimate culture with Japanese players. It's a world of difference, and perhaps things like this can help bridge the gap.

It was at Fuk Open that I realized that my last year and a half had culminated into this. Being greeted by people left and right on that Saturday and actually knowing most of the people on my hat team as well as the teams I played against. Being about to banter and joke with so many people. Being asked to captain a hat team by Bugle-san. Leading the team with intense fun and fun intensity; people knowing and understanding my brand of ultimate; and people buying into that. Feeling that connection. Needless to say, it was a stark contrast from Fukuoka Open the year before.  I don't think it had really clicked until that very moment, but in that moment of clarity, I knew. I was a part of Kyushu ultimate and it was a part of me. For all the frustration, loss of motivation, and moments of weakness, that fact has totally and completely made up for. I feel at ease knowing that being plastic chasers, I will undoubtedly run into some if not many of my fellow Kyushultimaters. So I'll be looking for you on the field with a huge grin on my face, disc in hand, with a large possibility of me motioning you deep and chucking it regardless of whether you are looking for it or not.

Thank you for everything,

Niji 0 comments

Devious Endzone Set Play

http://youtu.be/DUzuARtqS94?t=6m28s 0 comments

Raw Stuff: Reaction to Coaching

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I can't sleep; too much ultimate on my mind.


I realized that my life revolves around ultimate. It's clear and simple. I coached the Fukuoka University open team on Thursday. It made me realize how much I enjoyed coaching and teaching. I take a lot of pride in my playing, but at this point right now, I think I am taking a lot more pride in the Fukudai team. My mind is filled with things that they can do to improve. Drills that will help them understand. Strategies that can help them win. For the most part, the kids are the team have responded well to my feedback, and some even show excitement. But I think I outshine every single one of them in excitement.

I wish I had known all the things I know now. Obviously, the strategies, drills, and the lot are important, but also the things I've learned other than ultimate, such as effective feedback, team building, and how to lead. I can't help but to look back and reflect on how much better WM could have been: I still think, and perhaps I think even more now, that we had the personnel to do quite well in the college series. The talent was there. What wasn't, was the training. The strategy. Talents individuals, yes. Team, no. There is no way to know if I could have lead the team any better than the people who did; granted every single one had very large obstacles to face every year. I don't know if the way I would conduct practices now really would have an impact on the results. Moreover, it doesn't matter, because I didn't get my chance to prove it, so I have no results. But looking at the Fukuoka team now really makes me wonder, "What would it have been like?"

I see much potential in the Fukudai team; they have a number of individuals who are definite threats. Namely: Yuusuke, a quick handler with beautiful throws (especially his backhand). Shun, a smart player with height (amazing field sense). Kishin, a super intense defensive player able to lay out for anything on both O and D. Kani, a lanky handler with quick and intense cuts. Yuuji, a lanky cutter with speed and good timing. But the first three stand out by far. They are what the Japanese would call "keyman". Each holds an important role on their team as the guys who can reel in the win.

Yuusuke, by far, has the best throws, and his handling abilities would be equal to my own, if he were able to get some more knowledge under his belt. His throws, field sense, and awareness are all top notch; the only thing he needs to being a dominant handler is believing that he is, and acting like it.
Shun is the key offensive cutter; his height makes Japanese defenders scared of him taking off deep (especially if Yuusuke could learn how to better utilize him with floaty throws), and his throws are good enough to make him a threat with the disc. More than anything, his superb field sense and instinct to sniff out the most devastating move makes him an important asset as a game changer.
Kishin's intensity is key to pumping up a team. He is unwilling to give up and is aware that he can be the one to bring back the momentum with one big layout D. He is single-minded about improving, both himself and the team. Only being a junior, he is the future of the Fukudai team, and I expect him to step up quickly, and get large.

It is vital that these three further step up and grow into their potential. Their team depends on it.
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Je-what?

JEJU!


Honestly, this past weekend has been the best weekend I've had in a while. I had the honor of playing with Kuru, and I did my part to play up to every expectation. As a testament to this, every inch of my body is sore and even my soul hurts. Why? Cuz I played my heart out, duhhh.

For the past year or so since I had graduated, I was afraid of slowly stagnating and perhaps even get worse: This weekend has proved otherwise: I played the best ultimate I have ever played, by far. Sure it was windy, and sure I had to bomb is deep all the time to give our team the best chance we had, but I played extremely well. I wish you kids coulda seen me. :) With some of the strongest winds I've played in (other than that one tournament junior year when we were broken something like 7 times in a row after clinching game point on a callahan) I still was breaking people left and right. I was superbly honored to have so many players come up to me and remark about my great puts. As one Jeju player put it, (to paraphrase) "my buddy was almost in tears because he was playing his best defense on you and still couldn't stop you." I really felt unstoppable. I never got point blocked, and I never felt like any mark stopped something I wanted to throw. I was great to get that feeling back. I ran like a maniac, barely sitting out any points. More importantly than my offense, this was the first time that I felt my defense really was turned up a notch. While I wasn't laying out left and right, I was playing a great players and I felt I was holding my own. Anyway, enough about me...

Yet, I have to give it up to my teammates, who were catering to me. It's not always the most fun to have a dominant handler and to not even really get a good look up field. Hell, I know I wouldn't enjoy that role. But they trusted me, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for everything they have done this past weekend. Some of you have even gone so far to say that we could not have done it without me, but let's be real: I couldn't have done it without any of you guys.

There's Wilson, who was playing like a champ all weekend and so few turnovers. You were a solid reset handler who was always there for me.

There's Shag, with awesome defense all day, everyday. Your speed is incredible, and you used it. Your run-thru D in the last game against Jeju was ridiculous, and you even sacrificed your body to get it. I can't wait until you click even more and start laying out, because you will be even more of a D-machine.

Andre, geezUS, you've come a long way. You were my go-to deep look all day. I can't think of a single time that you were not open deep when I was looking for you. Keep on improving; I'm so excited to see the player you will become.

Hitomi, you were open all the time! I know the wind was tough for you to handle, but once you get that down, you will be deadly on the field.

June, you were always making the right cuts, at the right times and your presence on the field made our offense click.

Rob, there are many great things I can say about your playing, but the culmination of all of that is that sick. fucking. grab. JEEZ. That was huge. Hell, we even TOLD the other team exactly what we were going to do. Amazing.

Ellie, you were the quiet force behind our team, always holding it down whether on man, zone, or offense. I can't remember you ever getting beat deep, nor do I ever remember you having trouble getting open. I remember when we first met several years ago, when you were still figuring how to throw a flick. Now you stepped up to running as the third handler if needed be without a second thought. Improvement much?

Yuhki, it was an absolute pleasure running with you this weekend. I am so glad to hear you are playing with Vege, and it shows. I feel like we think about ultimate in very similar ways, and it really showed on the field. We just kept clicking better and better as each point went on, and the one play I was excited about was when I made in the Jeju game, where you were already throwing it (backhand, upwind) before I turned the page to go strike. That connection is what I strive for, always.

Jen, though it was our first time playing together, I think we got a lot of connections in between us. I loved that you trusted me to throw it to you darkside, and you were just beasting everyone left and right. Run through D's, skying dudes, and you brushed it all off as if it were nothing. Beast mode.

Adam, you were the rock in our offense. You were there every single time I needed you to be there. You were my first, second, third, and last option. Everything we talked about before the tournament came to use and I can't wait to run people into the ground with you again. We already talked a ton about everything, I don't feel the need to retype it all here. What it boils down to? A true bro, for life. Makin' mos, mos def.

And last but not least, Doug. You are the whole reason all of this happened. You were a superb captain this past weekend. You held it down on and off the field. You've come a looooooong way since I first met you. In fact, I can't believe its been almost 4 years since I first met you when we went bowling... That summer with Eric and throwing in Yoyogi at dusk. Back when we were relative newcomers and fringe characters to Iku ultimate. A world of things have happened since then, but I can say one thing: I am glad to have met you. I can't wait for the adventures we will have next.
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Hitting a Plateau (and getting over it)

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So as of late, I feel that I've hit a plateau as far as improvement. This is obviously frustrating, and my initial reaction was to just blame it on the lack of ultimate (and players to aspire to play like). But this is nought but a rationalization: As always, the answer lies in no other than myself. Moreover, I feel that I played the worst ultimate in recent history last Sunday.


So what do I do? I could sit around and mope about it, then be frustrated when I suck on the field, but that's not fun and does no one any good. What I have to do is pick a focus. Lately, I've just been so happy to be on the field, that I've let myself slip into a nonchalant way of playing. It's mostly more like organized pick up (and mixed, not to knock on mixed but) and I've found it really hard to focus on my game. I let myself get sort of swept into this lull, because the people around me aren't as focused on improvement (so much as just playing). I never want to play ultimate just because "that's what I do". Don't get me wrong, its not just situations like these that you can get into this mode; You can totally be in a rigorous program, say elite college or club, and still let this happen. My point is that humans are creatures of habit, and its easy to get sucked into a habit. Just don't let yourself think that you are trying to improve, when improving yourself just become a part of your routine. Or to sound more articulate, don't let improving become the status quo.
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Niji: Number of Touches

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I was talking to a Japanese women's player, and she mentioned that American teams in general don't touch the disc as often in practice compared to Japanese teams. Basically, American drills are focused on certain situations and the application of set plays than getting a high number of touches. I thought about this and I would have to agree.

(Kind of like Soccer.)

Drills run at WM are a good example; there are very few drills that focus on getting a high number of touches and throws. Even the ones that do are hampered by the fact that you have a lot of wait time. My friend even related this to the difference in the way Japanese players develop their throws versus American players. While this is a little iffy, the point that catching and throwing 5 times more would make you better at catching and throwing seems to be fair.
More Touches! (actually those are iPhones but we can pretend)

So, what can be done? The answer is elegantly simple: Just more run drills that involve more throwing and catching per minute. One such drill is where you are in groups of three, and basically do the box drill, just with 3 people. (this is also a great warm up drill) 10 flicks to the open side, 10 io flicks, 10 open side backhands, 10 io backhands, 10 hammers, and adjust cuts to make sense.
Basically, this is part of the puzzle of how to develop players faster that I've been overlooking.

So, what I would recommend, is getting drills that focus on touching the disc often and quickly (with actual catches and realistic throws). I think that it would especially help if captains would take a moment to explain what is being accomplished in each drill, and what skills one is supposed to glean from each. This will help players focus on what they are doing, as well as actually help improve players, rather than drills just being a glorified and prolonged warm up.
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Niji: Getting Rid of Drops

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Drops. Drops. Drops.


Something needs to be done differently in practice, or else this drop syndrome is *going to kill you guys.* Honestly, WM has the worst case of the drops I've ever seen in ANY college team. Even shitty teams don't drop as much as us. So what can you guys do?

1. Running drills seriously (every throw, every catch) and making sure people are focused and putting pressure on themselves.

2. Play elimino: Run a drill (like the 4 corners box drill) with lots of quick movement and throwing, and a player is eliminated when they either mess up a throw or drop a disc. Keep playing until either you hit 100 consecutive throws or too many people are eliminated.

3. Run a catching drill. Have 4 people with a bunch of discs in a zigzag, and just make cut after cut towards each thrower full speed, catch and run the disc to the thrower, and continue to the next person.

4. During scrimmages, make drops a joint liability. What I mean by this is at the end of each point, run a sprint (or a half field suicide) for every drop your side committed.

5. Focus on catching when throwing around. If you're dropping the disc when you're casually throwing around, that mentality *WILL* bite your butt at some point.

6. Think of other stuff on your own, too.
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Niji: Zone Offense and Strategically Subbing Players

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So last week, we played a team called Peach, which extensively used zone. In fact, they never went man if they could help it, and frustrated our o-face. Obviously, this would have been avoided, had we practice more together, and knew who would do what against a zone. But alas, this was not the case.

So what should have we done?

1. Thought of the huck and D as an option sooner. We had height, by a lot.
2. Taken a time out and chilled out. We shot ourselves in the foot because constantly turned it over *down field*. We would break through the zone (after we figured out how to do so), only to turn it over.
3. Most importantly, figured out an offensive set against the zone.

This third point is what I want to focus on most:
We kept subbing people in somewhat haphazardly, and we never got a working rhythm against the zone. I think this may have been our biggest downfall.
At some point, to me it seemed that a handler set of Ishii-san, Osho-san, and I was able to open up the zone, but we didn't really stick to this. The handlers I was working with kept changing, as did a lot of the other personnel, which makes it hard.
blah blah, you get the idea.
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Niji: Defense - Heads Up or Lock On?

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Re-post (excerpt):


Nick Hargreaves: Just some preemptive advice: watch your man's eyes and hips. I don't know if you've ever noticed but when I'm playing D I hardly ever look at the disk. I always stay right on my man's hip and look him right in the eye. I also love to keep a hand on his back/hip, it helps you know where your man is at all times, even if you're looking at the disk.



Interesting point about watching hips and eyes Nick! I definitely agree that this is a great way to play shut down defense, and is a very necessary component in the overall scheme of defense.


In response to that though, I would recommend that you try to be more aware of where the disc is as well as who has the disc. This way, you will be able to:

a. anticipate the next throw which lets you

b. anticipate the next cut as well as

c. play help defense.


This way, you can play smarter and not fall for cuts that wont lead to anything, e.g. if the thrower is looking dump, there's no need to stick to your man like glue on a deep cut. In fact, in this case, if you do, then a smart cutter will short-change that deep cut and cut in dark side, which will be a perfectly timed continuation off of the dump-swing, leaving you miles behind.


My favorite example is a vertical stack in front of the endzone:

The disc is on the trap-side (let's say force flick), and is being dumped and swung all the way across the front of the end zone. A smart defender will see this happening, and *switch positions* to shade in the *dark (break) side* to stop the easy IO or around backhand throw for the score. Obviously, the further the disc gets to the dark side, the more you should shade in towards the dark side. In fact, is the disc is all the way on the backhand corner, and the stack is in the middle, then I as a defender, would 100% be standing on the break side on my man, i.e. as if the force were backhand. The point is that at this juncture, the IO flick or the around backhand is pretty easy to put (especially since there is a high probability that this person is a handler), so you want to force a much harder throw (like a blade-y flick to the opposite corner) rather than give up the much easier IO flick score.

Again, you must quickly anticipate and switch positions before the disc is swung back to the force side, because if you are caught in this position, then the obvious result is your man taking you force side for an easy score.


That being said, there is a time for both methods of defense. In my opinion, no player is complete without both, and the best way to utilize these strategies is in tandem. Mixing it up and doing both (many times within the length of a point) will definitely make you guys monster defenders.

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Niji: Scrimmage vs. Bombers, DiscMania, Nomadic Tribe

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Overall individual performance: B

I actually didn't have too many turns for the most part. I had one stupid turn when I tried to float one over a guy, another where my finger slipped and bulleted a flick too IO, and one where I misread the wind and put a flick huck deep that had an IO touch that got swept by the crosswind. The last one was a rushed throw: my guy went straight up on me so I faked a hard backhand, and even though I lost my mark, I hurried into it. Obviously I need more practice with that.

I always got the disc when I wanted to, and so I never felt like anyone was able to deny what I wanted to do. Same goes for throws, for the most part.

Defense was a bit more dubious. I got beat deep twice in 2ish 3ish games, one of which was because I looked for a poach D too long, and got burned by my guy. I haven't been beat deep like that since sophomore year or something, damn.

Otherwise I played okay shutdown D, and concentrated on stopping the next throw if my guy got the disc. I had more than one chance to layout D swing passes to my guy, and I am kicking myself for not pulling the trigger. But, now I have a good mental image of what I need to do, so when the opportunity arises, I will be sure to capitalize.

Oh, one time when I was playing wing though, in the end zone, I should have just manned up on one of the guys, and I didn't, which was stupid and it led to an easy score. Bad Niji.


Nomadic:
This is the first time in a while that I felt that I really felt pressure when I was on O. Still not a lot of pressure, but more than usual, so that was fun. Etc
got tired of this post so Imma just post it even though its really only half done.
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