Showing posts with label Niji. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Niji. Show all posts

Raw Stuff: Reaction to Coaching

Labels: , , , ,

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


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

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

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

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

It is vital that these three further step up and grow into their potential. Their team depends on it.
0 comments

Hitting a Plateau (and getting over it)

Labels: , ,

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


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

Niji: Number of Touches

Labels: , , , , ,

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.
0 comments

Niji: Zone Offense and Strategically Subbing Players

Labels: , ,

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.
0 comments

Niji: Defense - Heads Up or Lock On?

Labels: , ,

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.

0 comments

Niji: Scrimmage vs. Bombers, DiscMania, Nomadic Tribe

Labels:

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.
0 comments

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

Labels: , ,

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.
0 comments

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

Labels: , , ,

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"
3 comments

Niji: Change of Pace & How to Practice It

Labels: , , , ,

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.
1 comments

Niji: Sunday Pick-up 8/14/10

Labels: , , ,

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
0 comments

Niji: Weeknight Ultimate 7/27/10

Labels: , ,

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.
0 comments

Shakaijin Open: 07/24+25/10

Labels: , , , , ,

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.

0 comments

Impossible is Nothing.

Labels: , ,

Never give up, never surrender.


You can also see the pictures from the stands:

Wow, just... Wow.
1 comments

Sockeye vs. Revolver (WUCC Open Finals)

Labels: , , ,

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

Niji: Nittai Recap 7/8

Labels: , ,

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.
0 comments

Niji: Nittai Recap 7/6

Labels: , , , ,

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

Labels: , , ,

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

Labels:

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.
0 comments

Niji: Nittai Recap 6/22 + 6/24

Labels: , ,

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

Niji: Nittai vs. WM

Labels: , ,

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.

0 comments