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Wed - May 4, 2005Mon - March 28, 2005Even KeelThat is, you should not let your emotions vary
wildly from point to point or moment to moment.... If you let you emotions
swing too much, they will become a stronger influence on your actions than is
worthwhile. Keeping an even keel is something this team struggles will a great
deal, and as a result the consistency of the team's play varies. I am not
saying you should be nonchalant about each point, but you should approach each
point with the same intensity and focus regardless of what has happened up until
that point of the game. I think that the veterans on this team need to do a
better of job of maintaining a more consistent emotional state through the
course of a tournament.
...However one sweet play will not win you a game, just as one error will not lose you a game. This team needs to treat each point like it is important and not require emotional stimulus to excel. If you can not reasonably control your emotional responses to external stimulus, that is a sign of mental weakness. Posted at 12:26 PM Read More Sat - March 26, 2005Tenacious D?A few months ago, a good friend of mine, and a
coach of mine at Santa Cruz asked me, "Geoff, how come you get D on guys that
are better athletes than you?"
...The offense has such an advantage in ultimate that invariably when you are on defense you will get beat by a cutter.... The thrower can make an errant throw, and the receiver can miss read or have some other sort of lapse. I think that I get some of my Ds because I don't give the thrower and receiver too much credit.... At the very least you will be in excellent position to put the mark on. Beyond the required physical skills to play good defense, mentally you need to put your ego away, be tenacious, and a little indignant. Another guy I had the pleasure to play with for a few year who was a sick sick defender always said, "Play defense like you're on offense." If you have good field awareness, you can anticipate the type of cut the receiver can make. Posted at 09:38 PM Read More Wed - March 23, 2005Consistant defensive pressureThis means making the opposing teams offense work
for each one of their goals, not allowing easy
scores.
...You set up far enough behind the goal line so that you can be at a sprint at the goal line, as the pull is released. If you are covering handlers setting up in the pull play, you must continue this sprint until you are in good defensive position. If you are cover other players you do not need to sprint all the way, but you need to get into good defensive position as quickly as possible. Pulls need to be inbounds, but also must have enough hang time to allow defenders to be into position at the same time the disc is caught. A 65 yard pull with good hang time is better than a 75 yard pull that the offense can play quickly. We work on our mark extensively in indoor practices because the mark is the foundation of any man to man defense.... If you are covering someone man to man and they are thrown to you must decide immediately if you can get the D or not. If you can lay out and get the block, if not you must concede the completion and move to the prevent the next throw.... Contain the next throw, but moving to the area the person will want to throw through, and then close the distance between you and him quickly, to set an aggressive intimidating mark.... We will work on setting the mark in the next few practices. ...For example, in our straight up defense, the risk of allowing an upfield throw to a handler out weight the risk of over playing the backwards dump cut. In the straight up, dumping the disc backwards, and setting the mark plays into the general strategy of the straight up mark.... If a team is successful against one type of defense we can change our strategy, but unless be stick to our defensive plan, we won;t know really if the D is working or not. The ingredient for a good defense are basic: in bounds pulls, coving the pull, good marks, discipline, and effort. ...If everyone can answer positively to the questions most of the time, we will improve out defense. Posted at 01:16 PM Read More Thu - March 10, 2005Terminus and BeyondAt Terminus you should focus on man defenses
flick, backhand, and straight up. If any team is successfully hucking on you
like Mary Washington, try a backhand force. On the straight up mark, remind
people to slightly shade the flick, and to protect the sideline.... Also I'd
like to see our dump defense get tighter. Don't sag of your man early in the
stall count. Don't over react to backwards cuts, stay at home, and push the
dump backwards.
...Handler focus should be to run the right dump cuts. ...Team needs to get into the game and make up calls, and follow the play on the sidelines. Triangle drill endzone offense, 7 on 7 each team gets ten shots. Posted at 03:05 PM Read More Mon - February 7, 2005Book Club?I was thinking about getting a group of people
together to do something similar in the New Brunswick area.... While you're
deciding, you can read some of the posts at the Yahoo group.
Posted at 11:59 AM Read More Idris on Parinella and Zaz's BookIdris is running an "Ultimate Techniques and
Tactics" book club in Santa Cruz. It consists of reading some chapters and then
one day doing some drills focusing on ideas present in those chapters. I'm
trying to figure out if there is any interest in doing something similar around
here.
at the super bowl party i was at tonight i was asked if there was any reason to buy the book, after all they could just learn it all from me. ...you'll forget stuff that is taught and will need the book as a reference.... part of the reason i do all this is to bring attention to this book to get people to buy it, to increase the likelyhood of a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions, so frisbee players come out of the dark.... its $15, people spend that 5x over on cleats alone.... if you still don't want to buy the book, i will charge $15 to any person who gains any insight to ultimate because of something i said. i'll then take that $15 and buy a book for a young, dumb, athletic frisbee guy or girl. within 2 months they will be captaining the team you want to play for.... "damn, wish i would have just bought the book." Posted at 09:17 AM Read More Fri - February 4, 2005Playbook Session 2We covered the sideline and middle of the field
dump set. After dumping the disc from the sideline the thrower should move into
a position to make another cut. For handers, this means moving horizontally to
the middle of the field to either continue into the far side flat or break back
into the flat you just left.
...Lack of disc movement make allows the defense to adjust and clamp down, making it harder for the receivers to get open, and they cut less as a result. Handlers must move the disc quickly and receivers must keep cutting to create good flow. Posted at 04:29 PM Read More Tue - January 4, 2005The Realm of Pain and Extreme Physical DiscomfortThe solstice and the the 31st have past, so we
have officially moved to the winter and a new year.... Helping each other stay
motivated to workout and throw outside of practice is critical. The Winter is
where we lay the foundation of physical preparation, so that when we are able to
get outside, we can practice hard from the very
beginning.
You have set lofty goals for this season, and hard work, starting now, is necessary to achieve those goals. I'm guessing many of you have take the last couple of week off from training.... There are suggestions on this blog for indoor workouts, and some suggestions were made at the team meeting. ...There are at least 8 teams in this region that think they can make a run at bid to nationals. Most of the people on these teams do not know the amount of work necessary to make it to the show. I know that many of you guys don't know how much work is necessary. I know what it takes, and part of my job is to make you guys do the work. These indoor sessions are a introduction to the the level of effort you need to exert to become good players, and a good team. At times, during these indoor sessions, it may seem like I'm being a little sadistic.... I enjoy making Machine a better team, and at times that means forcing you to push past your comfort level and into the realm of pain. Posted at 01:34 PM Read More Thu - December 16, 2004Tue - December 14, 2004For the HandlersDirecting the offense with your throws means much
more that completing your passes.... Directing the offense with your throws
means choosing the right throw that results in not only a completion, but also
repositions the disc an a way that flow can continue.... You still need to hit
open players, but you also need to develop a sense of how to exploit the the
defense when you have the disc.
...If this is happening, it may be easier to break or dump swing the disc to the other side other field, and flow up that sideline, since the stack will be further away from that lane.... As a hander you need to be able to see the field and throw throws that use the spaces that are open, or use throws to move the flow into those open areas of the field. ...As a competent thrower, you have three options to choose from down field lane, break to the ace, or dump. You cannot linger on either of the first two options for too long. If the down field cut is bad or nonexistent, you must quickly shift your focus to the next option. ...One of the reasons that Machine plays a straight up defense is that it forces teams, especially handlers to make a lot of throws. The reason our straight up defense works is that many handers are used to trying to make things happens, so after about 7 or 8 throws of minimal gains, they jack it away.... If your current opportunity to exploit poor defense with a huck or break is not very high percentage, you will get another opportunity to try again in a couple of throws if you dump swing or give go. Posted at 02:56 PM Read More Sun - December 5, 2004Spring Semester ThoughtsThe focus of the spring is execution on the field
and honing your role on the team.... The goal for games and tournaments grows
from learning and executing the Machine system, as it was in the Fall, to
winning through good execution, as it is in the
Spring.
I know that many of you have high expectations for this team, and that is very important.... I can help guide you thought workouts and practices, but the fire must come from within. There is no other road to success other than consistent taxing workouts, care of your body through proper nutrition and sleep, and the help and motivation of your teammates. You can do all the right things yourself, but if you do not make your teammates better, the team will not succeed. It gets cold, and as fired up as you may be now, come those cold, dark windy days in February, you will need help to get outside and run, get to the gym, and take care of your body. Organize small groups of people who live near to each other to find times to workout together. If you need help figuring out what workouts to do ask older guys on the team what they do to workout. ...This short time frame of the Spring means that we must be prepared for high intensity practices as soon as we get out side.... Schedule time for your workouts, and let others know when your going to do them, so that they may join you.... Take some of that time and use it to make the team better by getting in shape. ...Playing against Humboldt, and guarding their best player, I got a layout block on a high release to the break side. I ran to the front corner of the endzone, where a teammate found me for the winning goal in the game to go to Nationals.... That moment is there for you too, but it will take hard work and the help of your teammates. Hopefully you will not have to trust me for long when I say: A trip to Nationals is worth all the sacrifices, all the pain, and all the work. Posted at 10:06 AM Read More Wed - December 1, 2004Big Chill on Decmber 11The race itself starts at 9:30am, so going big
the night before is not recommended.... Anyways, I think it would make a good
team event, so I am making the suggestion that you go out and get that unwrapped
present, so you can run in the race.... A number of guys ran last year, and had
fun, and I'm going to give it a shot this year.
Posted at 09:15 AM Read More |
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Total entries in this category: Published On: May 10, 2005 10:47 PM |
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