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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Niji: Tuesday Night Pick-Up 09/07/10

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Today I showed up with 45 minutes of pick-up to play. This, in turn, made me play a lot harder than usual, and was probably good for me. I played the best D I've played in a while:

I had poach D after poach D, as well as many D's on my man on in-cuts.

The down-side to my playing was that I would go and play help defense when the disc is near the endzone and there was a wide open open-side cut, which was good because it prevented the easy score; Obviously, that left my man wide open, which was utilized more than once. Aw shucks.

So what should I do in this case?
I'm not sure. I'd be much more frustrated if the other team scored on an easy open side cut, but it sucks to help out in that situation, and then get pwnd for it. In a perfect world, this wide open force side cut would never be open, and in an almost perfect world, who ever I am picking up for will pick up my man. But sadly, we don't live in either. :/

Another mistake I made was a huck from Yoshio to me. I burned my man deep, but Jei poached in on the throw. I could have jumped early and gotten the disc, but since I wouldn't have ended up in the endzone, I decided to divert my run to box Jei out and milk the disc into the endzone. This resulted in me slightly misjudging my run, and I set myself up for a very difficult catch, and missed the catch. Embarrassing.

Bulleted a couple of my IOs. Definitely a sign that I need to be throwing more.

Playing O was eh. Alright, but nothing stellar. I get frustrated when I'm open but people don't hit me. But its just pick up.
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How to Take a Dump

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Force backhand, disc tapped in on the right sideline. What the hell are you supposed to do?

Creativity comes into play here I think. Oh, and a competent team who know what is going on.

The dump can either setup in the regular place (inline with the handler) OR (OR!!!!) IN THE FRONT OF THE STACK!!
How cool would that be? I mean, yeah, the handler would be "stranded" if the dump chilled there for awhile. But that's not the point so shut the hell up. Start the cut from the front of the stack. As dump, try to position your man to be inline with the mark's back, negating the use for the man-on (and the mark to a lesser extent). From there either cut strike (if the handler can handle a force side fake to a break throw) or fake into the "break side" or right sideline then cut for a dump, most likely for yardage. Going strike or dump would always get some yardage out of a commonly difficult situation.

Here are some diagrams: 2 comments

O-line and D-line

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If your o-line scores every offensive point, you will never lose.

But, unless your d-line can break your opponent, you can never win.

The best o-line is not simply about having no turns. While this has happened, its near impossible to actualize. So then what? It's tough on a smaller team like WM, where we have to draw from a smaller talent pool, but this problem remains: An o-line player has to be able to play defense when the disc is turned over. In fact, no player who does not play good defense should ever be allowed to play offense. Because doing so makes it clear to everyone on your team that that is okay. And it most certainly is not.

Your thoughts?
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Picking New Recruits

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With our coming decisions on who should make the team and who should not, I have to wonder what should be the correct process for picking people for the A-team. Do you want to go for a kid who has played his entire life and therefore really impresses based on the fact that he is straight up more experienced than his peers? Or is athleticism/enthusiasm more important? There are obviously a few kids that are pretty much shoe-ins to make the team as they have a little bit of both, but Ultimate remains a college sport and the ability for a person to pick it up freshman year in college and soon become a valuable contributor to the team remains, so the peripheral kids I kinda feel like it would be really hard to truly pick who should play A-team and who should be "cut".

Anyway, my real question is, to what extent should personality play a role in who is accepted onto the team and who is not? If a kid shows that he has a fair amount of experience coming in and is also pretty athletic, but is a total creep do you really want to take them? To a certain extent exclusivity is bullshit, but still i dont like weirdos. Hmmm, this probably has less to do with ultimate than just picking friends ahaha, but it is still a club sport, we are here to have fun in the end and we don't have an obligation to take them. On another note, if you see a kid who is a little bit better than another kid, but your not sure he will stay with the team (join frats and whatnot) who should you take? Basically at what level should you value your perception of a kid's devotion? 3 comments

Niji: My Flick is Blady, What Do I Do to Fix It???

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Now, I've probably heard this next phrase more than any other question I've been asked concerning ultimate: "My flick (huck) is blady, wompwomp lolz how do I fixxorz it?"


Why? Cuz every n00b ever always has the same problems, unless you're Asian like me, or have big balls like Alan.

Tonight I just broke it down for my good friend Bobby Corroon, who shall not be named.

Basically, if your flick looks like this:


These are probably, definitely, the reasons why:

1. Slow your motion down: you're probably rushing the throw.

Remember: You want minimum effort for maximum output

Also, when you rush a throw, all hell breaks loose and your form goes to poop. Like the above visual.


2. You're probably (definitely) turning your hand/arm over: i.e. make sure your arm motion slices through parallel to the ground. Imagine that your hand is like a blade cutting through let's sayyyy a cucumber. If you turn your arm over mid-slice, it probably wouldn't work out so well would it?

- The Important Point: Make sure your palm is facing up the whole time. Yes, even during the follow-through.


At this point this-Bobby-Corroon-who-shall-not-be-names said something to the effect of, "Wompn00bsauce I don't think I do that, that much at least, I'mma n00b."


To which I said, Bobby, trust me, you are 100% doing that or else it wouldn't turn over.

"Well look at it this way: Every time the disc turns over, your hand definitely has turned over...

Otherwise it wouldn't have."


Moral of the story?

STFU and learn.

Cool?

Cool.


3. Your elbow is probably too close to your body. Figure this one out on your own. Or don't.


4. Wind up is too big. n00bs of the first class all do this: HUGE wind-up, so little follow-through. Kinda like how they "mack" on girls. Aka, they've got no game. When fixing your flick, or any throw in fact, pay attention to your wind up. This affects the way the disc flies more than anything else, unless you have a giant ravenous grizzly bear with lazer beams and grenade launchers on auto-fire chasing you in tornado-level winds.




5. Start the throw more IO. IO for your n00bz means: inside out. And if you don't know what that means, grow a pair.


Not These.

But these.


"e.g. remember the pictures of me throwing against alabama?

it looks like the disc is too IO and going out of bounds at first

and then, nope

its definitely going inbounds"
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Niji: Change of Pace & How to Practice It

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One of the things I pride myself on is getting rid of the disc as fast as possible. Though I am still not mature enough of a player to always heed by this, as long as I am playing with players I am comfortable with, the disc rarely stops in my hands. In fact, one of my biggest pet-peevs in ultimate is someone holding on to the disc for no reason.


Fact: You do not need to look up-field every time you get the disc.
Fact: If the dump is poached, you should hit it right away.
Fact: While "looking dump by 5" is a good benchmark, it is not an excuse to look upfield even if there isn't anything there until then.
Fact: Waiting on a cut leads to poach D's.
Why?
Cuz other smart defenders are watching you wait on a cut, and since its probably the only thing happening at the time (cuz otherwise, why would you be waiting for a cut to develop, right?), its easy to see coming.

So this is a change of pace, compared to most American style teams, that tend to wait longer on cuts, and dump on a higher stall count. Japanese teams are different from this in that they always hit a poached player right away, especially dump or IO break. They like to get rid of the disc quickly, and to capitalize on the break side. I think this play-style would really fit WM and would love to see it implemented.

So then how do you practice this?
Well, its not too hard if you keep the above facts in mind, but a great way to get it across team-wide is to make the stall counts come in at 6. Basically, with a shorter amount of time to do something with the disc, you force players to move the disc quickly and thus, naturally generate a less stagnant offense.

If you consider yourself an upper level player (or handler) on the team, try this one for kicks:
Make yourself get rid of the disc within the first 3 counts. Remember, this is not to *look* dump by 3, it is to *hit* the dump by 3. It's a tough job, but I believe that you can do it.

Anyway, if you try it out, let know how it goes. Individually, and as a team.
'Till next time.
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1st scrimmage of the year

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Yesterday we had a little scrimmage mostly A-team guys, a couple B-teamers. Anyway, it seemed like everyone played incredibly well and it was great to play some frisbee with people who are actually competent.

Few thoughts on my play: I was able to get open on incuts at will so that was sweet, Fickley said that I need to cut deep more, definitely true, im not used to playing with people that have deep throws so i guess ive kinda got used to cutting one way all summer

I have to get rid of the disc earlier, had a few times where i got up to stall 6 or 7 before looking dump, this did not lead to any turns or anything, but in the future I need to get it moving quicker

Anyway other than that I think I played fairly well, I was glad to see that I am actually in shape to play, kinda worrying about that


Team as a whole played really well, everyone was commenting on how it was pretty fluid, no real problems with tremendous amounts of turns or anything. Also, I have to say that the sophomores as a whole really got a lot better over the summer, Im really pumped for the rest of the year 1 comments

Niji: Sunday Pick-up 8/14/10

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Played really beast today. At least on offense.

Really clicked with Jei and Sunshine today, and my hucks were on point and caught in stride. UPWIND. Against 7ft Eric and Yosh. Filthy.

Threw the best backhand breakmark huck I've prolly ever thrown. Awesome.

Played like my usual squirrely ass self but running diesel. I did work.
Sunshine described my playing as fun to watch because the "disc never stopped in (my) hands". Cool.
Shredded defenses with one two punches and then deep shots or large gains. I love this style of play, cuz its so low risk, yet you just get to SHRED. woohoo
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Bobby Summer League: 8/11

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Sweet game today, won 15-14 after being down 10-4 soon after half. We played really well 2nd half: 11-6 is pretty heavy domination so that was sweet. Both teams only had 7, so it was a bit of an endurance match and I think athletically they lined up a little bit better than us in terms of speed and we were able to grind out the win as they got tired.


A few cool happenings: caught 3 scores in a row that all got called back... kinda cool, obviously annoying, decided to go for an in cut on the 4th chance, shoulda gone for the score again to one up those bitches from gainesville.

Threw for a couple of assists, some nice hucks which was cool after not playing for almost 2 weeks

I am in a pretty good place athletically as I didn't get too tired playing for like 1:45 straight (we skipped half time and used only 1 time out collectively lol)

The ability to catch well with either hand is pretty important, i have been working on using both hands just throwing around with my brother and it was super helpful on a couple of scores where i went up and grabbed them with my left hand instead of my right

Handler on our team complimented me on an IO break flick, im pretty sure i could be the best handler on the team if that's what i had wanted to do, I'm glad i've worked on cutting though, biggest thing i've learned so far= patience is key, its actually pretty damn easy to get open just wait for your chance

Got some sweet poach D's

Couple not so good happenings: I still try to force throws a little too much especially in the endzone. Also threw a real shitty huck because I hadn't completely committed to the throw, its almost always better to throw it a bit long than short, let your man run to it. 2 turns in all is ok, but not where I want to be in the end especially cause im not handling on a consistent basis

I'm excited for playing with a real team again, the general lack of speed and athleticism on my team is frustrating to say the least, people were getting beat consistently deep which is why they were able to jump out to such a commanding lead early. Also, throwing to slower targets is annoying



Interesting things: Main handler for the other team went to Emory and said he had practiced with chain lightning which is sick. He is a nice guy and a pretty solid player that we will have to watch out for if we play them again next year, super quick and pretty good throws though not very tall. Loved running strike, so I just decided to take that away and almost give him dump throws, then play super aggressive mark, almost came up with like 3 point blocks, which is a definite meh, but forced some bad throws. Anyway, we talked about his team getting thrown out of the movie theater at regionals, that was frigging hilarious. Hopefully, we will play them at some point.

Missed a couple of chances at bid D's because the field was like running on chicken wire and i bitched out, again reinforces the idea that you really need to be aware of the terrain around you before you start playing. Whether the ground is soft in one spot and therefore hard to run through or whether it is too rough to bid on you need to be aware and play your man accordingly.
On a side note to the grass on the field sucking, the field had a major slope to it which affected both the way we forced as well as some of the game play. We forced downhill the entire time, not completely sure why, but i guess it seemed to work out, not sure if this is better than forcing the other way. Practical application of this knowledge=0 but is it kinda interesting? I think so. Also, one of the major issues I had with the slope was on a floaty throw into the end-zone where i judged my jump to catch it at its highest point but came up short because the slope took the ground out from under me, and we missed what could have been an easy score... frustrating.




Anyway, my finals are on Saturday, wish me luck. I'm really pumped for a real tournament and hopefully we will at least make the finals(we are the 2 seed) because probably the best guy I have played against this summer is on the top seeded team and I want to D up on him again and hopefully shut him down with some tournament adrenaline going. 1 comments

Niji: Weeknight Ultimate 7/27/10

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I think the practice right after a tournament is when you show the most improvement, so long as you get to practice soon after said tournament. My motivation was much higher than it had been in a long while, and I played very good defense on strong players. I was definitely able to limit the range of what these players did, and in one case, was able to D an ever so slightly late throw. (It was a give and go up the line.) But that's what D is all about isn't it? Capitalizing on the slightest mistakes. Otherwise played solid defense, even followed my man well into the breakside lane and prevented those throws from ever going off. Rarely let my man get the disc on the open side, unless he followed into that space too far, but subsequently boxed me out. Got beat deep once on a curvy bladey throw and was skied by a guy a good foot taller than me. But, I was there, and had I read it better, I would have put more pressure on him, which I will be sure to do.


On offense, I was working it beautifully with CJ, whom I had trouble working with Saturday, but I guess third time is a charm. We were understanding where each other wanted it, and it worked great. I threw up a couple of bombs which were narrowly missed by CJ, but they were put with vision and to the right place, so I just need to adjust slightly for headwind and throw it slightly lower, because the placement was just right otherwise. And I think we had a considerable amount more connections than missed connections.

I've started to just put my head down and run to the spot instead of watching the disc fly, if I thought it was going to be close whether I could get to the disc or not, and it has mixed results. There are probably more times that it's allowed me to get to the spot quicker and then read the disc (which is easier) but there have been times that the wind affected the disc more than I thought and it in effect backfired. Tough.

Also, my stamina is returning. Yay.

Things to take away from other people's playing tonight:
1. The value of breaking the mark right away. If the other team is forcing line, the dump and thrower should work together to dump it off the line right away. Yoshio would capitalize by throwing it around to the dump right away. Or if I forced him upline, he would immediately hit the IO. BUT for this to happen, you need a) aware dump/front of stack and b) defenders who are poaching.
2. Thaaat's about it.
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Questions and thoughts on Redzone offense

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For some reason i feel like you guys talk a lot about scoring and for some reason, i dont really remember scoring all that much every game this summer. Perhaps this is due to my team clogging the lane like crazy and the fact that my team's deep throws are for the most part non-existent. Or perhaps, in an attempt to not clog the lanes in the endzone, i shy away from making endzone cuts unless they are truely wide open, limiting my chances. Anyway, I was thinking, I don't exactly know what the best way to cut is when you are in the endzone. Is there a particular strategy or place (position in the stack or from the handler position) that you cut from that works best for you? Or is it pretty much the same as cutting anywhere on the field but with less room. Its pretty nooby to be asking this at this point but hopefully we can share and improve on this aspect of the game.

At risk of ranting horribly, my thoughts on the issue: the cuts that i see generally working in the endzone are cuts to the front force-side cone or either break-side cone. This generally is true regardless of where you cut out of the stack unlike on the rest of the field. The real problem with endzone offense, obviously, is clogging as people become a lil glory hungry and cut when it would be better if they did not. Realistically you can only have 2 cuts happening at a time in the endzone/ever and hopefully you should always have a breakside and a forceside cut, but oftentimes you will get many more so probably you would want to assign certain positions from where to cut for endzone offense. That being said, im not completely sure what would be the best place to do this from, traditionally we used the front of the stack in the endzone, but i think that in some ways the middle would be almost more effective as the defender is generally not on his guard as much. On another note, the right cut will not always materialize so the best handler strategy is probably to be super patient, as the worst thing is to work it down to the endzone and then turn it over on a bad throw. You should always have only 2 cuts at a time, forceside/strike and breakside, to maximize opportunities for the handlers. Maybe we should have set plays, that go farther than just the ones we already have as those tend to sometimes force unnecessary throws, called that make it so that this is constantly happening w/o clogging. 2 comments

Sean: WAFC Advanced #4

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Played against Alan's team today. Lost on universe 15-16, I think. Great game. I'm pissed to be honest haha.

Comments on Alan and his teammates:
Alan: As a handler would exploit any poach, to any cutter. Breaks no matter what.
Trevor: Seems like he's a cutter if he plays club. Dunno if he handles, maybe. Reason why I say he is a cutter is because he was so good at it haha. Always moving, aware of where the disc was.
Jenny: I mentioned to her that she exploited space really well. I'm gonna officially retract that and say Alan and her work well together on the field. They both know where they want it, and what the other is capable of. Invaluable.
Others: They had two guys on their team that were really terrible haha. Clogged the lane, predictable cuts, easy to cover. Well, harder to cover if Alan had the disc.

Mistakes made:
1. Shouldve bid twice. Once for a possible callahan, another for a score. Womp.
2. Let Alan go strike too much.
3. Sometimes terrible body positioning on D.

Things to work on:
1. Catching D's.
2. Fakes.
3. Not poaching on experienced players. Only happened once, but it fucked me over anyways.

Things done well on:
1. Handler and Dump D, for the most part...maybe haha.
2. D in general.
3. Finding the open space for cuts, timing.
4. Popping.
5. Rarely let the better players poach off of me, and exploited it when they did.

So, back to why I am pissed. We lost on universe. Turned it over near the endzone, other team sent it back for the score. Our vert stack was clogged as fuck. Everyone was to blame, including myself. Definitely would've won the game if we cleared up space and kept swinging the disc. And what makes me even madder was that I macked the disc to Alan twice for scores. Catch the fucking D Sean. On the bright side, two more assists??? Lol, no. But I turned it over only once, and got a few scores. Honestly a good game for me, but I want to perform so much better. Disappointed. 0 comments

Wildwood Revelations- Bobby

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I was thinking about writing a post about Wildwood cause it was such a sweet tournament and was definitely a lot of fun, but I really don't wanna talk about all the fuck ups I had (there were a lot) and overall i think I played pretty shitty for the most part, but there were a few good things that I gained from it which I realized today during my summer league game.

First thing is that I realized that I have become a little bit impatient/I am trying way too hard for big throws and cuts, instead of being more team oriented. This is really really shitty and i think one of the reasons that I feel i had such a crappy tournament. However, going into summer league today I was thinking about this and adjusted my play accordingly and I feel that I had a pretty awesome game. Worked more on looking off throws that were unlikely to be completed and focused more on working the disc more (still forced a couple things as I was getting tired but playing a little bit more chili definitely made me play better.) Though I didn't score as much or get as many assists as I normally do, i felt that I was instrumental to many of our scores, which i feel is just as good. I have determined to play defense in more of a role that myles took last year as opposed to the way Aric did in the sense that Myles was a great cutter all year but rarely took a huge risk and in general made really smart decisions to limit turns. Not to bash Aric's play style, but the amount of stupid turns i had at wildwood helped me to decide that i dont necessarily want to be as aggressive with hucks yet until i become more sure of my decisions and ability. I know I have the ability to throw pretty good flick hucks and i will still practice it among other things and may use them in the right situation, but I have decided to try to limit my usage of this and play a lot smarter. In general I want to work on focusing more on defense and contributing positively in smaller ways on offense.

Another thing that I found that is extremely important is the role of adrenaline in a game, as I had a hard time walking due to a cut on my toe but when I got into the game I found that I could run pretty easily. Also, in the last game of the day on saturday, I kind of got "on fire" a little bit, scoring or assisting i think 5 of our points in a row after just missing a layout d, but I was also a bit flat at other times during the games (dehydration also a big problem with this for me this weekend). I think for a team to do really well they have to rely on the boost that adrenaline can give you by striving to keep it pumping by keeping the team in the game and excited.

The conditions of the tournament were a bit difficult, as running in sand and throwing in strong wind are not easy at all, however they are really good for improving your game. Practicing throwing in the wind is the shit, after getting that down regular throws are ridiculously easy. Also, after cutting and running in sand, using cleats on grass makes everything so much easier and im pretty damn sure it has made me more fit. maybe we should have beach training days in williamsburg?

One thing i definitely appreciated from wildwood as opposed to summer league is the way that our team was much more enjoyable to play with than my summer league team which has a couple of real big douches on it. Made me realize the importance of team chemistry that I'm glad we have to a good degree but that we should continue to improve.


Thoughts on the A team players who were there:
i think fabio came in great shape to play and seemed to be kicking ass all over the field, bidding and skying real high. His throws could still use work i think but im looking forward to his play next year, and i need to get in a bit better shape too i think.
Sean your throws are damn tight now, maybe you need to be a little bit more chili with some of them, but it was not fully serious frisbee/the wind sucked balls. also great cutting
Fleming was awesome as usual not much more to say there
Kyle needs to not fuck up his shoulder

EDIT: due to being retardedly harsh on myself/ranting and forgetting stuff 2 comments

Shakaijin Open: 07/24+25/10

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I went to my first open tournament in Japan.

First off, I had a lot of fun. I just want to make sure that gets through, because this post is mostly about my failures during this tournament. Oh yeah, and we "practiced" once before the tournament.

I. Too many turn overs. A result of a lot of different things. I had probably about 8 turn overs a day. And not the apple kind. I didn't drop anything, which is good. I had too many throwaways though. Reasons why I turned the disc over:

A. Bad decision making. Actually wasn't too bad until day 2 but then it was not stellar.

1. Unable to adjust to various cutters' speeds. Threw some too far out for people to get. I threw away more than a couple on in-cut type stuff, which I haven't done in forever. Threw them out too far into space, even if it had a lot of touch and was floaty. Probably too used to playing with speedy Nittai kids. But its my fault for being unable to adjust enough.

2. Unable to trust the cutter. - Stemmed from 1. Because I became unsure of myself and the cutter's ability to get to the disc, I threw up some hucks that were short, or too floaty, and thus incomplete. I have to remember that if there is any doubt when throwing a huck, it should never ever be put.

B. Cutters did not know what I liked to throw. I didn't know what the cutters wanted.

1. More than once, I would make eye contact with the cutter, and start my throwing motion, only to realize that the cutter did not understand where I wanted him to go. This hesitation would either make me needlessly focus upfield or throw a scrappy throw because of the hesitation.

2. The cutter would make a move, but it was hard for me to understand where he wanted to go, so I would wait for a more obvious move, which would force me to hastily make throws.
3. The dump along with 2 other cutters would crowd me at stall 5 or 6. No one would cut break side for me. This would result in 3 not-so-good options and no space for me to throw anywhere.

C. Not trusting my teammates with the disc.

1. Honestly, I had a hard time trusting others with the disc, and it is something I need to learn to do, but also something other players need to prove to me.
2. Everyone had too many turnovers. Including myself.
3. Needlessly felt the pressure to punch it in myself. To make plays on offense so that we would have a better shot of scoring. Getting ahead of myself in trying to play above myself.
4. This will get better with more experience with teammates.

II. Defense.

A. Poaching.
1. Lesson learned: Against Japanese teams, poaching out on the force side lane does not work.
2. Why? They will run in towards you into the force lane (in a ho), and then cut to the IO breakside. Japanese throwers all have the ability of making this throw. This throw leads to more break side throws. WM should run similarly.
3. Poaching deep from the far side in a ho didn't really work either, I think. It's hard to say. I never got a D deep like that, but I also think I stopped the thrower from making that throw a number of times as well. But thing to watch out for is that throwers will quickly throw a hammer to my poached man, which is a pain in the ass. There were a couple times that I should have layed out and D'd that shit. I will. I have to.

B. Laying out (on D). Had some opportunities, but failed to pull the trigger.
1. Just do it.
2. Just. Do. It.
3. "Do not think, feel." - Bruce Lee
C. Playing loose versus poaching versus playing hard on.
1. I had more chances to lay out and/or make tight plays when I played loose, but would give up more throws, especially IO breaks. Also, when the mark would get broken, I would give up too many yards.
2. Poaching allowed me to stop easy scores, especially in the end zone. But sometimes this would mean that one easy score would be stopped in place of a slight harder, but still not-so-hard score because of my poach. It's hard to figure out what to do in this case... But I suppose I'd have to trust my teammates here as well. Now if people wouldn't get beat force side in the endzone, this would make my dilemma a lot easier :/
3. Playing hard on worked. I rarely gave up position on the force side, and forced tough throws to the IO break, or was close enough to discourage those throws. Problem: I can shut down people when I do this, but I can't get D's. Refer to playing loose.

III. Getting frustrated.
A. Don't.

IV. Need more structure in the endzone. Too many cuts. Stay the +$"#` out of the way. Let one person do the deed.

THINGS I DID WELL! WOOHOO

1. Zone breaker. I smashed zones left and right. Only one turn during Zone O, and it was because the throw happened right as my far handler moved into the dump position. So it was a miscommunication thing. Otherwise, Jei would put me on the line as the main handler and I would single-handedly destroy zones. How? Aggressively cutting and moving the disc quickly, throwing through the holes, finding space and making cutters run there, etc.

2. Only got beat deep once, on a break mark huck, which I almost got to. Probably my best defensive bid on a huck ever. Too bad I just missed the D (had a hand on it). sidewayzies face

3. Rarely was broken around. Sometimes IO, but not too much. Forced some turn overs, and rarely drew (once?) a foul.

4. Other stuff too. Put up some good hucks. Dictated the offense. Played a role when needed. Brought energy onto the field. Blah blah blah.

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Impossible is Nothing.

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Never give up, never surrender.


You can also see the pictures from the stands:

Wow, just... Wow.
1 comments

Sean: WAFC Advanced #4

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Played near savage this time, but I got just as much playing time as before. The other team had numbers including Nardo Zatch and some totally irresponsible dude named Sergei. He has a thick Russian accent. I think he's a spy, like all the other Russian-Arlington Spys. Lost 15-16.

Note on Sergei: Sometimes a complete newb is better than an experienced player who plays dumb/selfish. Sergei is a great example of a dumb, selfish player for many reasons. First he would cut into the force-side lane whenever he saw fit. Second he would not look dump till stall 7. Finally he would risk an upfield force side scoober for the score rather than dump to the two open guys behind him. Lol. For future reference, when building up a team whether at the Club or College level it is best to include people who are willing to enact on advice given or can be molded. Sergei is unwillling to do either, thrusting him into the damnation that is eternal league play.

Things to work on:

Something was wrong with my throws for about three points. I would try risky shit and it would work half the time, too small of a margin. So I logically made sure to take my time on my throws, patiently waiting for a strong dump. Sadly I messed up these throws too. Twice in a row haha. As Zatch ironically told me, its better to get out of your head in the game and just play the game. After the unforced turns I "just played the game". Soon I was laying out and getting scores and D's.

1. Faking in order to setup a breakside throw.
2. High release backhand hucks.
3. Bidding, though I finally had a legit bid D, just not for the turn.
4. Foot position on D. Twice caught off balance when the rest of my body was otherwise prepared.
5. Warming up. Do it for longer and harder until I feel tired. Then rest. Then I'm warmed up.

Things I did well on:

1. Got some D's. The two most remarkable were a dump D and a sky D.
2. One huck (I threw two total, both for scores) was great. Flick huck near sideline for a cutter in between two defenders. The other was floaty as shit. Laughably I did not see it complete because I was covering my face with my shirt in shame. Hahaha.
3. Cutting. Still nigh impossible to cut efficiently in a Ho when fellow cutters DO NOT CLEAR QUICK ENOUGH. As a result of lead-foot, I am forced to make shitty sideline continuation cuts. This cut can be useful for movements sake because I would dump it middle immediately. Teammates opt for a short sideline continuation cut.
4. Defense. Just remembered, D'd some handler BS between Zach and some teammate of his. Hehe. Though he did score on me twice. Though I scored on him twice...and D'd him once. Bwahaha.
5. Transition D near the endzone. Backed off the mark ten feet for about three or four seconds. From there collapsed in for dump pressure. 0 comments

Sean: WAFC Advanced #3

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Played savage vs. savage. Won 15-13.

Things to work on:

1. Leading the receiver, hucks. Put one waaayyyy deep and high, and the dude caught it in the endzone. But any competent defender could have D'd it. If the receiver is slow, put it where he can get it.
2. Take initiative. Don't allow lesser players to put themselves in critical situations, including myself. Except it's summer league and not that serious. So I can mess up all I want haha.
3. In Hydra wait for the cutter to make his cut.
4. Catch then think of throwing.

Things I did well on:

1. Cutting, almost always open whether short or deep.
2. Continuation throws, continuation cuts to a lesser extent.
3. Defense. Only got beat once, break side in the endzone on a swing.
4. Got me some bookends. Beat my guy deep for a D and then beat my guy deep for a score.
5. Pulls. Floaty and near the back of the endzone.

Maybe another game of savage today. Woot. 0 comments

Sockeye vs. Revolver (WUCC Open Finals)

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Sockeye vs. Revolver (WUCC Open Finals)


Part 1 of a 6 section final vid. Check it out.

Here's some homework for you two kiddoes, though:

Watch the video, and write up two or three things (good and bad) about the offense, the defense, and something you want to integrate into your individual ultimate, as well as things you want to integrate into your team. Finally, why, in your opinion, did Revolver win and Sockeye lose?
1 comments

Sean: QCTU w/ Floodwall

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Fickley invited me to the club version of Queen City Tune-Up. Nothing else to do so fuck yeah!!

Things to work on:

BIDDING!!!!!!!!11!1!1!!!!! ALL FOR D's!!!! MEHHHHHH!!

Handling, overall. I think this might come from experience, in time. Hard to work on controlling a point when you dont get the disc much. Specifically, handler movement and knowing my receivers. Some people arent as fast as those on the WM squad.

Getting enough sleep before a tournament. Affects my physical readiness, but more my intuition. Made a few dumb decisions due to a lack of sleep (10 hrs in two days).

For some stupid reason, my cutter movement in the endzone was stagnant at times. Stagnant as in I watched the game unfold rather than take action. WEIRrrrddDD. Another player thought this was due to the stack cutting before setting. Teammates would all cut at once, and jog clearing out. Womp. Regardless I should've been more aggressive as to make myself available.

I wanna throw more hucks.

Conditioning, as always.

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Things I did well on:

Huck for a score. Highlight of the weekend, for me.

Cutting was quick, but not necessarily efficient. Got open a bunch.

My D improved, huge. Shut down two teams best cutters multiple times, on day 2. First day they burned me a bunch. For me, this time, it's all about body position. Looking forward to playing better teams to see how I do.

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Conclusions:

Constructive criticism is absolutely crucial to self-improvement. Because fellow players gave great feedback, I improved immensely on defense over just two days of play.

Personal commitment has an immense impact on how quickly one improves.

Looking forward to having Fickley as a captain next year. Most definitely has his head in the right space. 0 comments

Bobby: Vermont Ultimate

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So yea, like 2 weeks ago i played some really good ultimate up in vermont, it was pickup but the players where all either quite experienced with great throws or young and fast with decent speed so it was a solid game, thought I'd write about it now cause i dont really have anything else to write about and im bored.

The Good:
Caught a Callahan- pretty stupid, just stood in the endzone and the guy put it up high stall count, floated right to me after being caught by the wind

Threw a pretty damn nice full field flick for a score, not much to say about that except that it feels good to have the ability to do that

Got a nice D as I pursued my man through past the handler as he was clearing through on an in cut to the dump, was pretty much a point block thats how close it was, anyway i was reminded of a pretty obvious lesson in ultimate which is to not clear close to your handler(kinda a nub move by the guy i was covering)


The Bad:
Learned the importance of really having some kind of connection btw the handler and the cutter as I threw multiple turns when i was trying to throw io flicks to the break that were relatively catchable, only to have my target not follow the throw or not be ready for it. Frustrating

Dropped an easy score early in the game, just plain stupid... I think I might have gotten the D after that so made up for it but its still annoying

I'm probably a little bit out of shape, found myself winded after a couple of points, pretty damn annoying, have my work cut out for me to hopefully get near game shape for the start of school

I still find that I don't throw backhands with regularity, this is potentially due to the fact that most people force flick assuming that that wont be as good of a throw (suckers) but i think I will start trying to break people with the backhand at least in pickup/summer league just to try it/for fun

Our lanes in the endzone were really clogged, probably an issue that most disorganized teams face as people have too strong a desire to get the disc (kinda disheartening that we had this problem to an extent last year though)

No bids, I think the way the field feels makes a huge difference in my willingness to bid cause the field was a bit bumpy and hard whatever, although i was contemplating bidding over this one woman, woulda been fucking awesome but definitely would have crushed her, so i backed off at the last second






Anyway there was probably a lot of other cool stuff that happened but 2 weeks later i can't really remember so whatever, anyway it was a really good set of games that we played at a relatively high level which was kind of refreshing 1 comments

Niji: Nittai Recap 7/8

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Worst practice in a while. Even though it wasn't even that bad.

When I was playing with a bunch of the underclassmen, it was fine, at least for the first half. I was moving the disc and putting up bombs that were working fairly well. Had some really close ones that were just out of reach too. But, I started to hold on to the disc and not moving it well, which was contrary to what I told my half to focus on as well. Then things didn't go so smoothly.
Even though we had been neck and neck with the upperclassmen team, all of a sudden, we were broken 4 times in a row. Damn. I was moving the disc until this point, but since a lot of the turns were not my fault, I think I started to try to dictate the game and look for big gains, which didn't work, cuz my cutters were tired and not looking for the same things as me. Then, I held on to the disc too long, in perhaps some handler-I-know type fashion, to the frustration of myself and my teammates.

Second game, we switched the team around, and I was with two really good players with whom I had not played together with yet. But, it was even harder for me to play with them, because they would hold on to the disc a lot longer and be looking for different throws. Also, to my frustration, these players would not make the cuts for me right away, they would linger on it, and then cut, which only resulted in the stall count getting higher, and me not being able to throw within my own rhythm.

In other news, I've decided to stop thinking about my offense, play as a role player, and focus completely on getting D's on intense man defense.
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Niji: Nittai Recap 7/6

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Yesterday's practice went with decidedly unstable results.

I rushed into scrimmage since i was late, and started playing without doing any active warm ups or throwing, save biking a couple of km (google maps says 3.9km). This had immediate effects...

Right away, I dropped two throws to me, perhaps in a row? First point on, throw to me from the catch off the pull, and then a dump throw to me right after we got the turn back. To my defense, the first was lazered to me from point blank, and the second was thrown to me as someone was clearing out from in front of me. But, to my not-defense, I should have caught both. Obviously, the cause of these drops was an inadequate warm up and mental preparation, and perhaps the giddiness that remained from sprinting 4km through traffic on my bike. I haven't dropped a disc like that in a long time, and I was pretty pissed at myself, to say the least. This led me to commit other simple mistakes, such as rushing a throw to an in-cut and launching the disc a little too high for my receiver (another mistake I hadn't committed in a long time). But I recovered somewhat quickly, and got my head in the game. I proceeded to forget about my drops, and thus, never dropped after that.

As the first 50 minute game progressed, I started making more and more plays, which was nice. But, at first, I had committed a couple of turnovers, where I threw deep (break side) to a streaking cutter (who had beat his man by probably 5 paces at least every time) only to be poach D'd by a vigilant defender. Now, obviously this is my fault for putting it, but had those defenders been more occupied with defending their man, the result surely would have been different, too. Especially since the throws would have been easily completed if not for the poach. They were really pretty throws too... :/ Anyway, I had a chance to layout on this senior kid, which I should have done, and I rued it even more when he turned around and threw a blady flick that I forced him to throw with a lot of pressure that somehow still landed in his targets hand with 3 defenders on him. Note to self: lay out first, ask questions later. I started getting a bunch of D's deep, by positioning myself well and baiting throws to my man, as well as help D'ing by poaching.

Important point to take away from today: All my upwind hucks, most (all?) of which were flick puts worked. Perfectly. Hit my targets in stride. On the other hand, my downwind hucks, perhaps from fear of putting the disc too far, did not work as well, and in fact would end up a little too short, and a little too floaty. Now that don't make no sense at all does it? Oh well. I'll figure it out. I also had a couple of miscues to freshmen who didn't know where I wanted them to go, but then they adjusted, so its all good.

Cool new thing I did today: IO flick half-field+ in cut throw. In a ho-stack, everyone was cutting into the open side (in and out), but this left the break side wide open. So, I made eye contact with a senior cutter who had been cutting deep until then, and preemptively threw a low IO flick to the break side for at least a half field gain into that receiver, who had started to cut into it. Then I did a similar thing but with a high IO flick for 1/3 of the field, to an in-cut. Boom, roasted. 0 comments

The Role of a Cutter

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As a cutter, you must always be dangerous.

What I mean by this is that one must be scoring deep, catching stuff under in positions where one can destroy a defense. Essentially picking holes in the defense....

In order to do this properly, you must cut to places where the handlers want you to go, cutting to places where the defense doesn't want me to go, cutting to places that make the handlers realize where they should be throwing.


The role of a cutter is to bring the potential out of a handler, to bring the best out of a handler.

1 comments

Labels

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So I went through all the posts, or almost all of the posts, and added the useful labels so that you can look at relevant posts more easily in the future.


For instance, everything about summer league can be seen with a click of a button.
Same with reflection, or recap, or defense, or whatever.

So, please take the time in the future to use relevant labels so that it'll be easier to find posts and read back on things that people are interested in.
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Summer Update

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Ready to get back to college ultimate. Forgot how to play basic defense, for a time. I think this is because upperclassmen aren't always advising me on how to play. Didnt realize it till now but what they say is of immense help.

The league team captain told me how to play dump D. I needed it. Womp.

My right hand is trying to adjust to two different flick grips. The problem is my overall arm movement. Womp.

I threw two turns to the same woman. The second one I put as much spin on the disc as I could. Womp.

I was told to be the third handler twice. Both times for a vert formation. Womp.

I played slow in a game because I ate only Lucky Charms that day. Told someone later about it, she said no excuses. Womp.

Couldve bid for a D. For the zillionth time. Womp.

Womp. 3 comments

Niji: Nittai Recap 6/22 + 6/24

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Well, if you read the last post about them, you know how they are, generally. And interesting aspect they put together is that they scrimmage with sophomores/freshmen vs. upperclassmen. Kind of fun. It's a little hard to assess the way I've been playing because I'm basically just doing whatever the fuck I feel like. For the most part, it seems to be working. I've been just working the disc really quick, hitting upfield stuff by 3 or dumping it, and then getting the disc back right away if the opportunity is there. The Nittai kids trust me with the disc, so they all tend to dump to me at a low count, which makes my job easier, and I haven't really felt any pressure while on offense. I've also just been hucking it whenever, and they've been working at a surprisingly high rate. I feel like my deep throws have gotten much much better in the past 4 months. As Alan described it, I can pretty much put it wherever I want. So, I don't think I have too many turns. On defense, I've been playing pretty loose, and mostly just cutting off the most dangerous cuts. Obviously, I've been looking for poach D's at the same time, which I've been getting so that's fun too. I got one as the far handler D on the flick side (ho stack), on an incut throw. I just barely missed a D on an upline deep throw. I hesitated on the poach because the thrower hesitated on the throw, but I was close enough to get the D anyway, so I should have.


Abrupt ending, because I drifted away from this post, but yeah.
2 comments

Sean: WAFC Advanced #2

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Two reverse bookends, one bookend. Two fuck ups and one game winning play. Which matters most? The play that wins the game. Cause you play to win the game, right?

Reverse bookend #1: Dont know how I turned it, but got beat break side for the score.
Reverse bookend #2: Messed up an upfield throw (SIGH), got beat deep.

The latter was the worst. Both are terrible and harsh ways to mess up. Obvious things to improve upon. Fake throws more often in order to prevent a messed up upfield throw(less pressure from the mark) and position myself better and quicker for the jump D.

Bookend #1: Near Callahan, break cut from back of the stack for the game winning score.

I say near Callahan because I D'd the disc near the endzone. Looking back I am unsure of whether I could've caught the disc in the endzone for a Callahan. Nevertheless I am glad that I hit the disc instead of catch because our team had no more timeouts left. Our offense was able to setup a calm and structured offense and the go ahead game winner followed. Decision-making in frisbee can be complex because it depends on so many variables.

Final score: 15-14 2 comments

Setting your Goals High

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One of the most important things that you can do as an improving player is to set your goals as high as you possibly can, strive to be the best player on the field even if you are seriously under experienced or overcome by the athleticism of the players around you. One of the biggest shifts that I experienced last year that I think made a huge difference in my improvement was that after winter break I really stopped viewing myself as a freshman and stopped comparing my abilities to freshmen but instead I tried to compare my abilities to the players on the team that were above me. I wanted to play shut down defense like myles and vereb, have sweet throws and decision making like Niji and the rest of our senior handlers, and be a beast cutter like acie.

Obviously, I was unable to match up to the performance of these players best qualities due to lack of experience and probably general impossibility which made practicing and games slightly frustrating at times for me, a great example of this is that I would get down on myself if I perceived that I had made a bad decision even if it turned out well also I probably underestimate my own value to a degree. However, I know that this mentality enabled me to push myself really hard on defense and helped me become pretty solid on D. Furthermore my throws and decision making improved tremendously to the point that I got chances to handle in practice towards the end of the year, something that no one really envisioned to start the year and I hope that more experience will continue to improve. The biggest thing however was my focus on cutting as it was the thing that has given me the most trouble, I often watch the upperclassmen and feel that I could be able to get the disc with as much ease as them but when I'm on the field I somehow this does not completely translate. I set my goals high and I felt that was unable to reach them, however this does not mean that I set them too high as the drive to reach them definitely made me better as a player. Just now remembering back on looking at the stats for roll call I realize that I actually had a good amount of touches on the disc, and far more than I remembered having and I realize that this mindset helped me improve tremendously and I need to focus more on my accomplishments and progress towards these goals than my inability to reach them immediately as a freshman.

As my dad always cornily but truthfully says, "set your sights high, and you will go far" 2 comments

Niji: Nittai vs. WM

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Man to man top to down match up:


Speed: Nittai as fast or faster


Throws: Most of the sophomores have throws as good as AC, Almost all the seniors have better throws than AC, at least several probably have about the same ability as I do but have different throws.


Quickness: all or most are as quick or quicker than me


Ups: WM is better in the air in a man to man match up


Strategy: Hard to say. The older players are just kinda fucking around and they're missing a few key players.

Both Alan and I agree that as far as players go, they have the potential to be better than WM but they have no coherent strategy and throw it away far too often. If the top five players from Nittai played with WM, they would immediately make an impact. Moreover, they would be easily amongst the best players on the team, especially if they learned our system and played into it.

And for being so athletic, they don't play defense *that* well. But again, something that can be worked on.

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Bobby: Quick Defensive strategy

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I tried this today, I think it should work pretty well:

When playing against a ho-stack and the disc was on the sideline, I covered my man in on an in-cut but the throw didn't go off to him. I heard the the stall count at 5, so I quickly checked behind me and saw that I had a teammate deep so I stopped where I was and clogged the lane expecting my teammate to cover me deep (should have yelled but it slipped my mind, obviously very important to do), playing a poach D to try to get the stall for my team. Probably some holes in this strategy as in all poach D's, but I felt that this was a particularly good opportunity to poach, we forced them to throw a stall 8 wobbly dump throw which was disappointingly not D'ed, but it did put a fair amount of pressure on the thrower and we got a good result out of it.

The real point of this though is that on D you should always be looking for opportunities to play a little bit of poach D if it is beneficial, for the beginner player it is something you should observe and register but perhaps not act on, but it can be a play that makes getting a D possible for your team while conserving energy and can therefore be extremely valuable. 2 comments

Making the First Move

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First point of the game, first offensive point you play.

What's on your mind?
I'm always thinking about making a big first impression.

As a handler, there is nothing more important than the first thing you do. The second I get the disc, I try to immediately break my mark, or at least pivot quickly the second I get the disc and let him know that I can break him like a bitch around backhand. Why, do you ask? Well think about it. If you were that defender, what would be going through your mind?
"Oh shit, this guy likes to break around backhand, and he has a good one."
All of a sudden, in one fell swoop, you're dictating how he plays.

Boom. Roasted. (Game over man.)

You can do the same thing as a cutter. Or as a team. Set up a big play right away, for a good deep cut shot. A little bit of a higher risk, but the benefits are bountiful. You show that you can take your man deep. You show that our handlers have the deep shots. Immediately, the opposing d-line has to respect your deep cuts, opening up the in-cuts.
Again. You dictate how THEY play.
Try it out.
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Sean: WAFC Advanced #1

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First game with a new team. Mainly older players. Not too many standouts. Handling core is weak. Our women are strong. I believe that I need to become a handler for the team after losing the game 12-8. Our captain has his head in the right place, firm yet not overbearing. This league will be fun!

One assist, three scores. No D's. One turn (early on, again).

Played as a cutter for the entirety of the game. When I got the disc I took a quick look up field followed by a quicker dump. Basically it for most of the game for me, offensively. When I got to the endzone I cut without thinking about it, looking for holes. This reflex didnt serve me in the area between bricks so much. Part of it was due to my indecision and another part due to a weak handler-cutter relationship. By this I mean they havent played enough with me to understand what I do. This will come with time, but it will come quicker if I am more decisive about cutting.

My assist was pure luck. Their teams best player against our teams fastest woman. He thought it was out the endzone, but she kept with it, perfectly timing her jump to just barely toe it in. She saved my ass and taught me a lesson: never stop attacking the disc, even when against great odds. Flick huck by the way. It slowly floated up, not sure if it bounced or not but it was certainly a low release so some bounce might have come into play.

I got broken way too often. Overconfidence in the mark and my fellow defenders. I'll play more conservative. For some reason I covered handlers most of the time. Their handling core was experienced and quick. I tried to force them to cut a certain way, which they would do, but then immediately cut where I wasnt expecting, where I didnt want them to cut. The way to improve upon this is quickness and experience. Really concentrate on staying on the balls of my feet.

I want to play defense more. Need to work on my body position and forcing my cutter to go where I want him.

If my man poaches off of me, cut deep immediately.

As usual, I want to get back on the field. Couldn't happen sooner. 9 comments

Sean: An Idea

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It is difficult to consistently get a good camera angle on ultimate frisbee play. The best and easily accessible game video comes from a high vantage point. At our school there are few easily accessible vantage points. At any tournament there are virtually none. Whats a good solution to these problems?

BAM!!

$300 dollar drone. Attach a (light) camera to its under belly, control it with an iphone or itouch, fly it high above any ultimate game in reasonable wind conditions. Every teammate chips in 13 or so bucks, and you got great game film in a jiffy.
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Bobby: Summer League- 6/14 updated

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First time playing ultimate in over a week, damn it feels good. Been busy lifting boxes all week, annoying and painful: my back was bugging me all game and I am out of shape from where I want to be due to this, I don't mean to make everything a lesson but physical fitness and well being are vital to be most effective when you play, make sure to take good care of yourself to stay in prime ultimate condition. Otherwise, it was a great game, we played easily the best opponents we have played so far this summer season, they worked the disc well and had a lot of experience/a couple of them were wearing the same college jerseys, it always helps to have experience playing with people. We definitely had the advantage physically though which lead them to run a strong defense that i'll talk about later. We ended up winning a hard fought 15-13 game.

Not too much interesting going on for me today offensively, played very consistently mostly of my catches were on in cuts, only had one turn which honestly should have been caught also threw 2 assists and one score. One thing that worked particularly well on a deep cut was that I started to clear in then busted deep again, kinda like a little stutter step, worked well and burned my man really easily

We played a different type of zone than I'm used to today which was a 3-3-1, kinda interesting basically you have the 3 front men in the cup with one of the side guys switching off to the mark (force middle so when its on the sideline the man who would be guarding the up line part of the cup is the mark and forces towards the 2 remaining members of the cup). Then there is the next three with the 2 on the outside playing as wings pretty much like in our zone where they play the area and pinch in to cut off the field but kinda play man within their zone (our wings were not very strong which weakened the effectiveness of our zone. In the middle is what they were calling the shallow deep, its basically his job to cover the over/through the cup throws and the position of the offensive zone players is relayed to him by the deep-deep who does the same as our 6 and guards against the huck, I played the deep-deep which was really fun as there were d chances all over the place I think I had like 5-6 in our zone defense (like 3 more playing man with a few damn close misses on bids), not sure how this style of the zone matches up with the one that we run definitely seemed to work well though despite the lack of wind, though much of this can probably be explained by the general lack of coordination that a summer league team playing in their 3rd game is sure to experience, can you offer your thoughts niji?

On a funny/weird note, my team calls me either monster or animal cause of my play its pretty flattering i guess but i cant really take it too seriously, its kinda funny how the quality of play in college is so high

Finally got a semi point block (hand) wooo, barely fouled the man though so i guess it doesn't really count, but im definitely improving my mark, in fact you might say it has improved markedly, its all about intensity (make sure not to over commit though) in the past I definitely treated it as a little bit of a break, that is just inexcusable

The other team played a defense that worked remarkably well by forcing no hucks on the mark and then forcing us out on cutter d, I think apart of this d's success was our team's inexperience in some ways but they also had some inexperience so I feel like its porbably relatively easy to run, also I know we ran it a few times last year, but i definitely think we should in the future

We started doing the same thing at one point and it definitely worked quite effectively, though I don't like that style of defense as much as this made me realize that the way I play defense is that I try to react more to what the thrower is trying to do than my man (while still keeping up with my man) therefore I always like keeping the handler in my field of view, I think this tactic works pretty damn well for the most part i guess sometimes I can tend to lose my man a little, you guys want to elaborate on how you most effectively play defense/the potential weaknesses of mine? 3 comments

Pitt: High School Players

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Check this out.
Basically, Pitt has a large pool of experienced players coming in as freshmen. This number is obviously growing, as we can see from the growth of 5/15 to 20/24 players with high school experience, from 2005 to 2010. But damn. 20/24 have high school experience. How many of ours have high school experience?

Regardless of this, I think its kinda cool to see the growth of ultimate.
I guess the ironic part is that the kids with legit high school experience were in my class (Sami, Zach) and the class above me (Alan, Hodges, and uh.. Pat Mallin). Oh and Ankoor.

On an entirely different note: Holy fuck.

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