2011 Boner Choke

I've got so many thoughts on this year's tournament that I have decided to dust off the blog and share my defeat with the spammers.

A team's success depends on its players to put forth their best effort. Some players are in a position to do more than others. Though I'm not a captain of the Polar Bears, I see myself as a leader of the team, and I know that I carried more responsibility to produce results and achieve the team's goal of winning another title. Throughout the season I embraced the responsibility, and when I felt that I came up short, I pushed harder in coming workouts, practices, and tournaments to get to where the team needed me to be. When everything was on the line and I had my opportunity to come through, I failed. Specifically, with a drop at 13-14 PB lead. I've let past teams down before, but never on such a grand scale, with so much sacrifice on the line. As a team we logged over 1500 workouts and practices.
I can recall some ESPN analysis raking Tony Romo over the coals after a poor performance he had in the final minutes of a game. They said, "Players are defined by how they perform in critical moments." I fucked up, and unfortunately, others had to share in my failure.

Sideline Hucks

There is this notion floating around these parts that hucking the disc to a receiver cutting away from you, on the same sideline, is a bad throw. It's been preached to me, and I in turn, have preached it to others. However, I am now questioning this notion and will discontinue teaching youngsters said throw is a bad option.
So let's be perfectly clear on the exact situation I'm talking about: The disc is on the sideline, or there about. There is an away cut from the same lane (closest to the sideline) as the disc, going towards the endzone.
I think that this throw can be a very beneficial weapon for an offense. Not only does it open up the deep game more, but it allows for an easier way for a cutter to get open. A cutter can gain body position very easily on this throw by merely stopping on an intense in-cut then turning in the opposite direction. Since the throw doesn't have much angle from the thrower, body position is already attained. Additionally, this huck prevents the typical poach advantage that defenders have in a 'trap' mark situation.
From a defender's perspective, guarding this type of throw is exceedingly difficult. The throw comes fast and typically outside in. Giving very little time for the defender to catch up to his man, unlike cutting from the opposite side for a huck.
Arguments against this throw tend to point out that there is a lack of angle from the receiver and the incoming disc. Though this is true, I don't believe it is enough reason to warrant the throw void. This is a difficult, outside in huck. It is a throw that needs to hit the cutter in stride much like a football pass, and not like a typical ultimate throw to space (though the disc is much more forgiving than the pigskin). Because of this difficulty, I hear that this huck has a low percentage completion rate. To which I'll agree generically speaking, but disagree when used amongst high caliber players. With the correct amount of practice, all your competent throwers can learn and complete these challenging passes.
Logistically breaking down the difference of a cross-field deep-cut huck and a same-sideline deep-cut huck is only a minor change in timing. The distance the disc travels is the same, the difference in the throws is in the speed at which the cutter will arrive in the catch area. Hence, the throw must come at a faster speed which can be attained by curving the disc. Just a minor variation to an already drilled throw.
I believe this cut & huck should not only be considered an option, but should be practiced for better completion rates. In fact, I doubt an elite vert stack would be effective without this threat and throw.

Self Assessment

What did I do well today? What did I do poorly today? What can I do to make myself a better player?

I'm always asking myself things of this sort. Trying to get perspective on my game. Currently this is where I stand:

- I'm breaking the mark well. I feel that I'm capable of hitting nearly every cut that comes my way. But also, I'm breaking the mark quickly. (Which I think is a separate quality that is just as important.)
- I am not accelerating and changing direction fast enough. I'm a tad too quick to turn my hips and in doing so I get outworked and outjuked when playing defense.

My endurance is coming back... positive, but my aggressiveness in the air is still not what I want it to be... negative.

I try to keep myself on the level when analyzing because I'm afraid I won't reinforce the areas I am excelling at. Conversely, only focusing on positives won't allow for any growth in my game.

Finally, and by far the most difficult and essential part of the process, applying the changes. It's too easy to fall back on habits once the cleats hit the field. It takes strong determination to keep your objectives in priority. You have to push past muscle memory, even when you're fatigued, and train yourself in the changes that you wish to see.

Here's a trick: Watch somebody better than you, even if it's only one aspect of ultimate. Why are they better than you at it? Usually it's one, or a combination of the three:
1.) They are physically superior. Ex: X always skies me.
2.) They have better technique. Ex: Y gets open on the dump everytime.
3.) They have better skills. Ex: Z has the greatest throws ever.

Solutions-
1.) Physical: Train harder. Hit the weights, use a track, do some plyos, etc.
2.) Technique: Observe what they are doing, learn it, use it, make it better if possible.
3.) Skill Based: Practice. Do whatever it is over and over until you have the skill every bit as good as Z.

Endzone cutting

At the risk of helping out my opponents play better ultimate, I have decided to reveal the secret to endzone cutting. I like to think of this as my way of giving back to the ultimate community. So here goes...

EYE CONTACT... it's that easy... well I guess it's not just that easy, you'll have to run hard and not dance, as usual cutting rules still apply. But if you keep eye contact with your thrower, then you will have the extra reaction time to get to the disc before your defender can. Scores don't have to be pretty they just need to be scores. Eye contact allows for every brief window of opportunity to be a viable option. The other reason to keep eye contact is so that you are aware of when to time your cut. Timing your cut is ever so crucial around the endzone, because more often than not you will only have space for 1, maaaybe 2, cutters working at one time. So you don't want to waste the real estate with miss-timed cuts. Poorly timed cuts lead to clearing out time, which leads to more dumps/throws, which leads to a higher turnover rate.

Any good offensive endzone set-up takes away poaching opportunities from the defense. (After all there is no deep game when you are in the red zone.) Therefore if your team has a good endzone formation (meaning low to no poaching circumstances) then all the crazy break mark throws into space are great options. Thus the briefest of moments where the cutter is open in the endzone will suffice for a score. However, many times I see, either from a throwers perspective or sideline, cutters watching their defender, or even worse, the ground. I've seen this error enough to warrant this post about the holy grail of endzone cutting... ( 0) (0 )

PS: I am god's gift to ultimate :)

Winter

It's winter time, and competitive ultimate is in its yearly slump. Club is over, and college is on hiatus... and so begin the "fun" tournaments.

Not that every other tournament isn't fun, but these are the tournaments where drinking is encouraged and winning and losing have no repercussion. You play with new people, and with no set offense or defense. Your playing time is decided by last back. And even though your attitudes are laid back, there is still the thirst for victory.

I kicked off my "funtimate" with the always exciting trip to Vegas. For the second year Niccce came together for a weekend full of boozing, kissing, and ultimate. Note, the activities were ordered by level of priority. We came in a disappointing 5th place, but came out huge on the party. We had DD's (designated drinkers) roaming our sidelines all weekend, and didn't go a game without finishing a bottle of Carlo Rossi or a jug of jungle juice. Our women were arguable the best out there, but indisputably the most drunk. The weekend was chock full of great memories, and lost memories. The full write up can be seen on capt. Shy's blog. Be sure to read about his antics at the super sweet party and his subsequent journey back to the hotel.

The following weekend I found myself in an "elite" crowd of beach ballers on the cold ass beaches of San Francisco. Mostly comprised of Revolver and local coed talents, 30-40 guys ventured into the cold rain to play a 5 on 5, 1-day tourney. The cost was 5$, and only if you wanted to partake in the upscale keg that Rocky kindly brought for all. Sporting the chocolate milk leggings, I survived the cold in a perfect Lei-Out tune up.

Which brings me up to date. I'll be out of town for Beware-O the Logo (12). Before I possibly catch a Davis Hat tournament, which will be followed by round two with Niccce at Lei-Out. As the saying goes, "It's fun to play ultimate drunk, but it's even better to win drunk."

Now, feast on some jpegs courtesy of many awesome photographers, starring Niccce (and a couple others):