The Single, Biggest Liability.

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Drops.


WM drops like no other.
We lose games because we drop.
What in the hell is the point of running hard, playing smart offense, playing shut down defense, if we just drop? It's frustrating to watch us play so well, other than drops. And we drop on everything. Not just bladely highly contested hucks. Not just throws that are almost out of our reach that people have to lay out for. We drop it on goddamn, everyday ordinary well put in cuts. On dump throws. On swings. Honestly, if we cut out half of our drops, we would have won probably 50% of the games we lost last season. And its not any one person, for the most part. It's an entire team of drops. Everyone has one drop, but the result is not too hard to imagine...

So now what? What's the remedy for a team with drop troubles? Well, the cure obviously lies in the root of the problem. Once a wise man said to me, "Drops in practice are drops in games." What he meant by this is not simply in scrimmage, but rather in drills, when throwing around, etc. Every time you are catching a disc, you should be focused on catching the disc. Drops, under no circumstances, are acceptable. What I see is a team-wide culture of lackadaisical catching, ah hah, the root of the problem. The team, as a whole, must come together and provide a culture that focuses on catching. We (the seniors) probably were too lenient on drops; we all went through dropping spells ourselves because of the culture our freshman year that abhorrently looked down upon drops. Basically, it got to our heads. But last season, we let it slide too much perhaps?

One person said:

Sumon: i used to drop shit tons freshmen year

at the time, the captain practiced with me one on one

and just gunned the disc at me for an hour straight with me running straight towards him

full speed

Niji:

Then you stopped dropping?

Sumon: yeah

like my hands hurt but it helped


So this might sound kind of laborious, but hey, if it gets rid of the drops, why the hell not? Now, obviously this would be sort of a waste of time to take up valuable practice time away with this drill since you can easily do it with just a friend on your own time. But sometimes, its okay to do that to set a precedent.


Your thoughts?

6 comments

Pickup is Shitty- 5/28

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Basically, I played in a really shitty game of pickup yesterday, good news is i got my brother playing for the first time, and although the vert stack we were running was complete shit he realized how cool real frisbee could be, now i just need to teach him to play cause he honestly kinda sucks (not an indictment of him, he just started, definitely could have some potential and hes starting far earlier than a lot of people). There were a few cool things to take away from the game though

1) Don't play too far off of your man at the back of the stack even if you can beat him in on an incut to either side from where you are. I realized this as this guy threw up a 50 yard hammer bomb that connected just in front of the goal line and was indefensible from where I was standing, i haven't seen this throw before and it was impressive to say the least and although im not sure most people could pull it off its something to be wary of, a break backhand huck could probably achieve the same effect

2) Had a SICK poach bid D at chest level in the endzone it was awesome, a guy said, "that was inspiring" haha sorry to brag but its a funny story i think maybe you needed to be there, on other bids i needed to bid just a step earlier need to readjust my mindset on how far i can get extension/explosion through the disc

3) People kept commenting on my speed which was nice, but i was neutralized in a way by an inability of my teammates to throw big hucks so i couldn't cut deep and people not clearing out was pissing me off, i could get open underneath at will if noone was in the way but the level of disorganzation/ lack of communication was bullshit, I prefer playing with non-noobs

4) Need to work on getting a quick read on the disc when playing D and retreating on a huck

5) My Mark still sucks a big one

6) Want to face better opponents as I could break the people in this game at will/ was getting lazy on in cuts and got run through when i stopped coming in

7) Better concentration needed too many stupid throws and dumb ass drops

8) Left this for the last cause its the most important thing I got from the day, I got to experience the world through Niji's eyes a little as I had NO cuts coming for me the entire day kept looking for hucks and noone ever gave me that cut which was awful (finally just threw one away in frustration) also like no in cuts, it is very challenging and frustrating to play handler when no cuts are coming, keep this in mind next year

Now for a quick question to our venerable Sensei: Is cutting deep on the breakside out of the middle of the stack if the lane is open a good idea? I feel like in general as it can cause confusion if the other team switches leading to poaches and your man will not be expecting it 4 comments

Thoughts On Pick-up/Practice 5/27

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Um.


Marks: people's marks suck. IE, its way too easy to throw through a mark.
- Point to take away: A team that prides itself on its marks will give opponents a really tough time. Really stress the importance of a good mark; it'll pay off.

Fitness: Mediocre, somewhere in between not wanting to hurt my knees and not being in shape, I'm taking it too easy on myself. Push myself a little harder. Also, playing good defense and shutting my man down for the first 4, 5 seconds doesn't count. Don't rely on the mark to let me play lazy. Smart does NOT = lazy. That being said, I was doing a good job of anticipating and choosing some points within the flow of the game to make some plays. Being able to make plays when I choose to felt good.
- Point to take away: Smart never equals lazy. No matter what.

Throwing/decision-making: Pretty good for the most part, only had one or two turns because of a throwing error. One turn on a miscommunication, one turn throwing deep. One huck went way farther than I intended, but still hit my man in stride. Otherwise, on point.
- Point to take away: Focus.

Offense (cutting): Good overall. Never had trouble getting open.

Defense: Just play harder. "Go for it!" mentality is lacking. Aka, too close to too many D's to not get them. One extra little push.

Quick movement: When McCoy, Ted?, and I were moving the disc, we worked it beautifully. Why? Quick movement of the disc. We never lingered on any one cut/cutter for more than a second or two. Defense never had a chance to even set up a mark, let alone get close to a D. This worked because we all saw where each of us were cutting and anticipated where the next open space would be, making it so that we all had easy options to throw to, while never clogging each other.
- Point to take away: Quick decision making + quick cutting to adjust to the quick movement + awareness/anticipation = flawless offense.

Deep balls: Experimented a bit with juking out my defender. If the disc was coming in a little slower and a little floatier with my man right on my heels, I would pretend to set up my jump a second earlier than I actually was going to, and thus, slowed down my man who also would try to set up his jump. Then, I'd just run under it for the easy catch.
- Point to take away: Little tricks can make it easier for you on offense: You don't necessarily need to play a disc straight up and sky your defender.
1 comments

Pickup, 5/26

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Finally relaxed a little. When that happens for me I play happy and efficient. Woot


O:

Cutting was irrelevant. The only cut that comes to mind is where I baited my D deep then cut in fast. My fake deep pushed at least two defenders deep, with no one to cover haha.

Handler movement was nonexistent.

Throwing. Got point blocked, thoroughly. Bleh. After that I threw fakes when the mark was straight up. It worked. As for the throw....well yeah haha. The few flick hucks I put up worked great. The backhands were mediocre. They had the distance every time though. The angle and positioning (in relation to the receiver) is something I can work on. Dont put it right over their head, and bank it into their position.

D:

Yay I got alot of D's. I learned to be patient with blade-y flick hucks and boxout the receiver. Worked like a charm. Got a bunch of poachy d's too. Got bored of playing man/being put on a jogger so I began to experiment with blatant poaches. Didnt work so much haha. Better to appear to stick to a man then poach from there.

Never let up whether horizontal or vertical.

Pulls:

Ehh. Too IO but I got the distance. Woot.
0 comments

A Year in Retrospect Pt. 2

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Here we go...


Athleticism

For the most part I am skeptical of any workout schedule or routine. Same goes for theories on when to stretch. Luckily my stretching suspicions are founded in a lack of science. Here's a good article on stretching:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/health/nutrition/13Best.html

Sadly, my workout doubts do not hold water. There seems to a certain way to workout/stay in shape. Even though the field of physical fitness adjusts to scientific discoveries pertaining to the development of muscle and such, this does not give anyone an excuse not to workout. This is what I tell myself haha.

So, Ill go on and do all the workouts doled out to me by my captains. It'll keep me in shape. But I will begin to change when and how I stretch. The variables will be types of stretches, whether to stretch after warmups after practices (or both), and for how long. My gut says to vary the stretches every two weeks, always stretch after practice ends and stretch for a moderate amount of time (around 10 mins maybe). Sidenote, I think a swimmer told me that you should stretch a quarter of the time you spent working out. Sidenote on that sidenote, I hate unsubstantiated workout advice. Pisses me off. For all we know they made it up.

Athelticism wins games. A team that has better athleticism can keep up/beat a team that has everything else but.

Bids

All mindset? Sure, at first. But once youre over that hump, I think it's more about physical not mental commitment. If youre running all out and your body is low youre more likely to bid successfully than when youre standing straightup. Of course body positioning and speed become irrelevant after youve done it a few dozen times on the worst surfaces imaginable (e.g. The Barksdale Desert)

"All about the toe" - Andy

Reading the Disc

"Decide where its going to go immediately after its thrown" - Niji
"Take a few steps back in preparation for the catch, then attack" - William
Only intentionally backpedal from the disc.
Oh and attack that shit.

Cuts

I dont like turtles I like cutting.
Stuff I need to work on:
1. Instinctively I know when to make a cut. Go all out when it occurs to me, and already be cutting when it occurs to me. Trust yourself Luke.
2. More than one fake is ok.
3. Try both playing off the defender's position and cutting where you want to cut
4. Alternate feet in which to pivot
5. For handler cuts, always move right after a throw. Quick.

The Mark

A certain demotivational poster comes to mind.
1. Staying close is key for the first six counts or so, after that backup.
2. Hold that force, dont get faked out of position.
3. On a turn it, depending on field position of the disc and players, it helps to go strike for two seconds max to cut off the huck.
4. Bring the condoms.

Conclusions for the year: I have learned alot, something Im proud of. Alot more to go, to put it simply. Looking forward to all of it.

Aight. Thoughts on high school pickup to come.




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A Year in Retrospect Pt. 1

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Fall '09


I honestly didnt expect to make the team. I saw more potential in so many other players. Because of this I felt as if I would not stick out (even though I threw a once in a lifetime flick huck). Sectionals left me satisfied, but I still thought I wouldnt make the team.

I wanted to make the team because of something I heard from a friend during sectionals. He said that you are as good as the people you play with. Even though I had heard this type of saying in other types of competitive settings it didnt make sense until I saw a dude named Max play. He's a handler with UCSB (who're now going to nationals I believe). To put it into plain terms he was awesome. Great throws, physicality and bids. Man his bids were awesome. He got all of this in three years I think. It all started with him throwing with Alan Kolick. All they did was throw with each other for a summer. And look at Max now. He was/is as good as those around him. I wanted to play with the best available for a purely selfish reason: to get better, quick. Luckily I got to do this and more.

So, I made the team. The first serious thing I heard from the upperclassmen was "freshmen dont get much playing time, and if they do its on defense." I was fine with that, it made sense. I never want to be put on the field unless I deserve to/am good enough. So I put it to myself, "Sean, work your fucking ass off and then you might get to play." And that's what I did. I worked my ass off haha. I never doubted myself because I felt I wasnt good enough yet. I still think "Sean, you can start doubting yourself AFTER you get the basics down. Then we can talk".

At the time the "basics" are as follows:
1. Throws
2. Field Awareness
3. Athleticism
4. Bids
5. Reading the Disc
6. Cuts
7. The Mark

In the first semester I picked up the "basics" of 1,2,3,6 and 7. For some reason I didn't think defense was something I had to learn, that I would pick up on it really quickly without too much practice. How wrong I was hahahaha.

So I located some talented people to play with, explored how far ultimate could take me (Max), arranged in my mind a good way to learn ultimate and rehearsed the hell out of it. I only had to demonstrate all of this in a serious setting, kind of a final test. I guess this either happened over time or hasn't happened yet. Some part of me still feels like I havent faced that final exam yet. Prolly a good thing. Maybe I never will. I'll just keep pushing myself, never allowing myself to think there is some ending to all of this. Mmmm warms the heart thinking about that. That me getting better at ultimate will never expire, only I will.

Spring '09:

I did a majority of the team assigned workouts over winter break, about a months length in between the fall and spring seasons. Through this I found out that I could run four miles, better yet that fact that I was in shape haha. That was and will be an important mental obstacle going into each season: "Am I in shape?". Back then I felt I was in shape, but not the best I could be. Luckily I have next winter to improve upon that. And the winter after. And after. And after. Haha :).

The best of the freshmen started to step forward. I think its safe to say Bobby and I were the ones to step forward first in the Spring season. It's also safe to say none of the upperclassmen saw this coming for either of us. We didn't either haha. I have tried my hardest not to let this fact get to my head. A few times it slipped out (like correcting a senior on how to throw), but I think I held it together.

The consistant absence of so many freshmen was something else I didn't see coming. WTF. So much potential yet the gotta go frat it up. Pussies. Fuckers. All frats get you is drunk as fuck (we do that too) and a bunch of really hot william and mary chicks (ugly by any other standard).
In conclusion, fuck you freshmen that didn't come to practice. Have fun trying out next semester with the rest of us.

One thing I found disappointing in myself was my fear to mess up. During important games, where deep down I knew I could have made a difference, I sat on the sidelines scared. I now realize that I have to make mistakes in order to learn. This is something I know I will overcome in the coming months. I have lost that fear of messing up. I feel like I have picked that up from two friends of mine, not from how they play, but how they face adversity. They laugh it off. At first I tried it jokingly, but then it started to help me brush unimportant things off. For instance, when i made an S-cut in the endzone during a game, I was similing/laughing while I read the disc. It floated above my head for awhile resulting in a misread. For some reason I was ok with it because of my laughter. I know Ill do better next time and at least I was having a good time when I messed up.

Here are some personal conclusions/improvements for the coming year. These are things I am not able to do yet to my liking. A "Con" section I guess.

Throws

1. Flicks
a. Flatten them out for better hucks and low releases
b. go easy on them, allowing the throw to flow from my hand. No jerking off.
c. Don't over-emphasize the angle of my IO low release break flick.
d. High release flick, get better at short throws then hucks can come after
e. Follow through my flicks with an upward open palm. Think about making it look like it possesses finesse.
f. work on the lefty flick
g. get the airbounce out (yeah I know, how the hell can you airbounce a flick. Well I can so fuck off haha)

2. Backhands
a. Get to the point where i can better control my high releases, i.e. be able to throw them in practice, not just during a game
b. work on the high release huck
c. learn to reach out as far as possible for each level of the throw
d. practice stepping out on my low releases in order to surpass Sami at his breaks. Goal: I will get better at them than him.
e. practice stepping out on the huck. straight out. curl the arm more. go out quick, not slow.
f. get the airbounce out of low releases.

3. Hammers
a. get to the point where I can do a bunch of different types of hammers (flatten out quick, distance hammers, higher than lower, lower than higher, quick release etc.)
b. get them game ready/actually get good at them haha
c. be able to throw one in any sort of footing (flick stance, stepping out etc.)

4. Scoobers
a. actually get good at them
b. flat ones and high ones and distance ones, all at different angles?

5. Misc.
a. Pushpass: Now that ive had fun with them, think of a situation in game where I need one. Do I need one? Can't I just do a lefty backhand instead? Something to experiment with.
b. Biscuit: start doing jumping biscuits, i.e. Greatest's
c. Jersey Wheel: purely to show up Kyle haha/i wont ever practice this
d. Thumber: I heard Conger uses these in game. Explore this. They defenitely have a different flight pattern than a hammer. If and what ways is the Thumber flight pattern better?

6. Hucks
a. experiment, experiment, experiment
b. practice putting them to different places on the field relative to where the cutter is
c. try every type of throw for a huck

7. Zone Breakers
a. blady flick? (e.g. "The Ankh" "The Key of Life" Ankoor Patel)
b. scoobers, improve in general (see above section)
c. quick release hammers??

8. Fakes
a. experiment, experiment, experiment
b. at this point fake even when you dont have to
c. remember faking isnt juking, it's using your body language to get your mark into a position advantageous to yourself
d. practice the grip transition in time with the pivot transition
e. workout for it maybe, get quick at pivots
f. think of throws just in the context of fakes

9. Experimentation
a. at times try to do stuff that is totally random. it might just work/be totally awesome

Field Awareness/Defense

This is where I need to improve upon most. This summer I should work on getting more D points that O points. I dont care if you think I need practice as a handler for next season.
There will be less in this sections because I feel I know less of this subject. Maybe you could expand upon/reorganize this for me Bobby.

1. Cutter D
a. all about body positioning, figure out when and where to better position my body
b. force the cutter where I want him to go, but not in wildly obvious ways maybe
c. always stay on the balls of my feet. marking too. thats where all the manliness is anyways. har har.

2. Handler D
a. experiment on when to look at the dump and when to look at the handler
b. never let the strike off, always push/body them back in
c. try to read the dumps body language i.e. eyes, center of gravity

3. 50/50 Discs
a. decide where the disc is going to go immediately and position myself accordingly
b. be confidant in jumping

-----to be continued-----



2 comments

Thoughts on Pickup Game- 5/23

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A few thoughts from my first game of pickup for the summer:
We had only 12 to begin with so we played savage 6's for the first 7-8 points, needless to say i played all of about the first 12 points that we played with very little down time, i was disappointed that i got quite tired after these points and my ability to make plays was decreased for the rest of the game, i guess this is somewhat expected considering i haven't played in about 3 weeks but i would like to improve my stamina and maybe learn to conserve energy more effectively, tips for this- remember to eat and drink before playing/ bring snacks and water as my lack of doing these obvious things definitely did not help. On another note, we ran a really sloppy vert for the most part (not wholly unexpected for a pickup game) and I found cutting to be challenging without a structured stack due to lanes being clogged, this really enforced the importance of having a structured stack

Good to take away from the day-
Threw some really good flick hucks, some that i thought were good were unfortunately not caught I'm assuming its because it was a pickup game
Threw a really good backhand huck for a score.
Worked on my fakes and break mark throws and definitely felt some sort of improvement as the game progressed
Played pretty good defense (on a random note I was called out for bodying up on a strike cut)
Made good short throws and dump cuts, played relatively good handler
Realized the extent of my improvement over the course of the year in both throwing, cutting, and defense playing against players that were not on a collegiate level as i was able to dominate the game until i became fatigued

Things I still need to improve-
My mark is still kinda shaky (though macked one or two, need to work on being lighter on my feet, got semi-broken a few times
better decision making with the disc, threw away too many discs of throws that i did not need to make; make sure communication has been established before throwing
Remember the rule of thirds

A lot of these observations are a bit basic but still vital to improving my ability on all levels going forward, furthermore pickup games are obviously not the place to improve on a lot of aspects of the game as hard man D and cutting deep are quite a bit easier due to an overall mismatch in athleticism. 0 comments

Defense: Versatility

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If you can play a perfect offense, you can't lose. While this is true, its equally as true that if you can't play defense, you certainly can't win. Then what is the key to defense?

"Play hard on your man!" We've all heard and yelled this before. This system of aggressive man-on-man defense definitely works, and works best when you field a team of athletes who are bigger, faster, stronger, (and harder?) than the players on the other team. But what if you don't? What if you come across a team that has an arsenal of players more athletic than yours?
You try to play hard man defense, and time and time again, your players are juked left and right, up and down the field, open cut after open cut... Your opponents are used to strong, aggressive physical defense, and they don't even think twice when you bump and grind in the lane. Your force is being broken at will as they just throw right through the in-your-face marks. At this point, do you simply concede? Of course not.
It has always been my opinion that defense is about mixing it up. Never to linger too long on any style of defense. The hardest times I've had running an offense is when I don't know what's coming, and I have to constantly change the mindset of the way I play. On defense, all we have to do is make the o-line screw up. If we can do that using an array of tactics, hell, that's just as good as getting a layout in-cut d. The changes can be subtle; force backhand to flick to straight up; or they can be dramatic; man-on-man to zone to clam back to man. As a matter of fact, why not throw in a force middle, or a poach system on a ho offense? Get creative, be versatile. Nothing is easier than beating a defense with only one style of defense. Nothing is more devastating than figuring out a defense, finally, only to have it changed up on you.
1 comments

My First Year of Ultimate: Looking Back and Forward

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All things considered, my first year of playing ultimate went pretty well, as a team we were able to make it to our regional tournament and gave Tennessee a real run for their money, even though we backed into in a way, we definitely deserved to be there because given the chance we would have broken seed. Also, our sectional tournament was a lot of fun as we beat the teams we should have unfortunately falling just short twice against JMU, a team that we will definitely butt heads with in the future. Personally, I think that I played pretty well in the spring season, defense was definitely my strong suit and I hope to improve offensively to help the team more on that end next year. Over the course of the year, I feel that I improved my throwing significantly and have gained a greater ability to use my athleticism effectively to make plays. Though my awareness on offense still needs some help, I feel that I have good awareness on defense and when my man is not actively cutting I am always looking for the poach D's. I'm looking forward to the next year of Frisbee at W&M and wondering what it will be like without our seniors, the handling core of our team.

Goals for the Summer:

Defense: Work on dictating
Work on deep game
Increase Awareness
Work on my Mark

Offense: Improve cutting significantly
Improve Awareness of other cutters
Improve decision making and throwing while in possession of the disc
Better backhands
Improve the flick huck

Overall: I have to work on a more positive attitude/stop getting so down on myself after mistakes, live and learn but dont make the mistake again

Continue to Improve Athleticism and ability to use that athleticism effectively as i have noticed players such as fickley and niji, who I am probably a little bit more athletic/fast than, are able to play shut down defense and cut quite effectively, and if i can work on using my athleticism better I could undoubtedly increase my ability. Also, I want to play as much as possible next year and do not want to be tired while doing so

Lay out through bitches 0 comments

The Offhanded Scoober

Useless? Maybe.

Gratuitous? Probably.
Awesome? Absolutely.

This blog will embody the thoughts, ideas, reflections of its contributors concerning ultimate frisbee. Some will be structured thoughts, others will be simple brain-droppings. Yet, the importance of keeping a regular check on our insights and observations is sure to manifest in our strive to improve ourselves as players.

Rock on.
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