Sort by Date: November | December | January | February | March | April | May Apr 1, 2003 "Little Tricks" Good little tricks that all the great players use: -work on a four-fingered flick; its especially good for throwing short dump passes or to post cuts when you have to put some touch on it. -when you are cutting, close your eyes; it will be even harder for your defender to guard you or know where you are going. -when you layout say the word "jambalaya," it compresses your lungs and allows you to layout further. -on offense, right before the pull goes up, lick the tips of your pointer and middle fingers; your forehand will be right on point and you wont ever drop a pass.       Apr 2, 2003 "Learning Across the Disc" When you are playing offense think about the things that you find hard to stop as a defender. When you are playing defense think about the things that frustrate you as a cutter. Ive always said the best strikers are ex-goalies and vice versa. If you can learn every time you play, especially learning "across" the disc, you will become a successful player very quickly.       Apr 3, 2003 "Lacing Up" Lace all of your footwear up to the top hole. I started doing this with my cleats a couple of tournaments ago and just recently started doing it with my sneakers . It is awesome. The shoe feels like it is part of your foot and can truly fly. Yes, it takes a couple of extra seconds to lace up, but I contend it is worth it. This is especially good if you have had a history of ankle problems.       Apr 4, 2003 "Fakes" When you fake, you do not actually need to go through the entire throwing motion to complete a successful fake. For example, on the force side, you can plant your foot in order to turn to the break side before you begin to fake and then you will nearly always beat your man across, because you are moving before he is. Also effective is if your fake is somewhat circular and its natural motion has the disc already coming towards the break side. Also, a kind of crafty trick is if you know you want to throw a break mark throw on a backhand force, use the forehand grip (or at least begin to position your fingers) while in the backhand position. You can fake by pumping your shoulders or stepping out and then beat your man to the forehand side and already be set to throw a flick.       Apr 5, 2003 "Off Days" Pick one or two days a week to make your off days and commit to those. If you play your off days by ear, then usually you either end up never taking a day off or taking several days a week off (neither of which is good for training). With that said, non-practice days are not necessarily off days. Lift, swim, bike, throw, whatever, because youve got to know the other guy is too...       Apr 6, 2003 "To Grass" [from trainer Bryan Doo] As our practices move from turf and track to grass it is extremely important to stretch very well, no matter how fit you think you might be. Muscles that you have not used in a while are very important on grass and they will tighten up if you do not do a good job of stretching during this transition period. Along with continuing to stretch well, you might even have to add some stretches to your routine. For example my IT bands often get tight and need good stretching after playing on grass.       Apr 7, 2003 "The Trailing Edge" If you are chasing down a disc and you have to catch it with one hand, make sure not to catch it trailing edge. Just so its not unclear: trailing edge is when your catching motion is in the same direction as the disc is spinning. If youve ever been in a mac line, you know that trying to catch a disc trailing edge often results in you hitting the disc on instead of stopping the spin. So, you want to catch backhands righty and forehands lefty (try the trailing edge versions to see how much more difficult they are). Being successful at this tip requires two things: 1) become very comfortable catching with your off hand 2) think about it for just a second while you are chasing it down.       Apr 8, 2003 "Break Mark Cuts" The only player on the field that can create break mark offense is a cutter. Once a good cut has been made the thrower is responsible for breaking the mark, but the cut needs to come first. As a cutter once you have established the break mark cut, most defenders will begin to inch little by little to the break mark side until you will be open on either the force or the break side. CUT TO THE BREAK SIDE; we have great throwers.       Apr 9, 2003 "Off the Pull" Get down on the pull. Not only is it practically a very effective defensive tactic because you can use the endline as an eighth defender if the pull is good, but it is also mentally devastating to the other team. If they think you are tired (or more importantly think they themselves are tired) then if they see you sprinting down on the pull they will be broken. Remember: you are less tired than you think and we have more players than you think.       Apr 10, 2003 "Zone Offense" If you are playing zone offense (not handlers) and the disc gets advanced upfield past you it is imperative for you to work to get in front of the disc. Our zone offense functions because when we get one throw through the cup we often get three and it is because we are moving faster upfield than the defense is.       Apr 11, 2003 "Viable Cuts" Make all your cuts viable ones. For example — all too often when a player is trying to make an in cut they will only ostensibly drive their man out, although they never actually intend to cut deep. A great cut is when you turn your shoulders and run deep for 5 steps and then turn on a dime and beat your man back in. If he does not respect your deep cut then just keep going. Good defenders will know when your fakes are just that and wont even respond to them. A side note — this may or may not be why some of the best cutters in the game often look like they dont really know what they are doing until the last minute but are consistently open by 5 yards.       Apr 12, 2003 "Nutrition" Eat some protein the morning of a tournament, especially if you have trouble eating food during a day of ultimate. Although some extra energy spent in digestion might make you feel slightly lackadaisical to start the day there are two consolations 1) a good warmup can usually get you going and you wont be all that lethargic 2) later in the day you will reap the benefits of the protein filled breakfast. good protein sources: eggs, tuna fish, beef jerky, turkey slices, rice and beans...for more options ask the man, Will Arnold.       Apr 13, 2003 "Visualization" Visualize yourself making great plays in the week leading up to a big tournament. Laying in your bed, eating lunch, sitting in class, talking with your girlfriend... run through the entire sequence in your mind and continue to do it over and over until it is just how you want it. A novice visualizer might respond: "I sometimes have trouble catching the disc when I play and when I run through the visualization exercises in my mind, every time it comes to me I drop it. should I stop visualizing the play?" This my lads is the very reason you should be visualizing. Most people who have the dropsies from time to time are actually very good catchers and their mental game is what is lacking. Visualize again and again until you are catching the disc, laying out and getting the d, skying your man for the goal, not having your mark broken...and then you will go out and do those things.       Apr 14, 2003 "Water and a Disc" There are two very simple things you should bring to every practice: at least 2L of water and at least 1 disc. The latter will allow you to play and the former will allow you to play well.       Apr 15, 2003 "Spend $ to Make $" On defense, you gotta spend money to make money. By this I mean that standing 5 yards behind your man and giving him free in-cuts to avoid the risk of getting beat deep is not good defense. If you are forcing your man in, then if he gets the disc on an in-cut it should be a contested catch with a hard mark immediately following the reception. With that said, pick your times to force your man out. If he is thrown to deep you should be on his heels forcing him to play good offense and hold you off — the best defenders in the world get beat deep from time to time, and that is because there are a lot of good cutters and throwers out there. But, those same defenders also get more D's and have their man shut down more often than anyone else and the number of times they are beaten deep pales in comparison.       Apr 16, 2003 "Break Mark Throws" Pull the trigger on your break mark throws; the mere chance of getting point blocked should not dictate when you throw to the break side. If you receive a break mark throw as or from the dump and you turn to break and see a cutter, lunge your body out and put the disc into the open space. Most of the time markers will a) not believe that you are going to throw (as crazy as this sounds) and wont actually guard the throw or b) they will be so worried about getting broken IO that the break will be simple. An addendum to this tip: unless you are setting up an IO throw do not fake to the break side. This fake makes your cutter think a throw is coming and he often runs an extra 5 yards in expectation, usually making the break side unavailable for the rest of the stall.       Apr 17, 2003 "Stopping Short" When you run a track workout do not slow up short of the finish. If you are running a 400, then run 400. Slowing up short so you can begin resting as soon as you reach the line is as ludicrous as slowing up a cut before reaching the disc, so when you catch you can be ready to throw (not coincidentally there might be some transference between these two habits..)       Apr 18, 2003 "Hats" Bring a winter hat when you go to tournaments, even if it might be a little warm. If you wear this while you warm up you will immediately break a sweat and your body will stay warm (you lose 80% of body heat through your head).       Apr 21, 2003 "Getting Low" When you are going to make a catch on a low disc, there are two acceptable ways to catch: 1) go into a slide 2) run to the spot where you want to catch and then get low for the disc. First of all, in both cases you want to get your body in front of where you want to catch, aka "the break basket". Secondly, you certainly do not want to run for any number of steps with your hands down around your knees. This is as silly as running with your hands over your head to catch a high disc. The former is much more common but just as ineffective — it is extremely hard to maintain speed and balance running in this way.       Apr 22, 2003 "One-Handed Catches" Earlier in the tips list, the issue of catching a disc that you were chasing down was examined (trailing edge versus the correct way) but this issue is also important if a disc is coming right at you. If a disc is coming in extremely fast or high (these are the only instances in which it would be necessary to make a one handed catch — otherwise you should get your body behind the disc) then there are two ways to catch. Very good players will maneuver their hand in a way that does not force a trailing edge catch. For example, if the disc is a flick high over your left shoulder then you clearly want to catch it with your left hand. But, if you just go to grab it with your palm facing away from you then this becomes a trailing edge catch and the disc will often spin off of your hand and past you. Instead, if you face your palm more towards you to get around to the back side of the disc, then it is no longer a trailing edge catch (for those of you who lack great visualization skills, it now looks like your hand is a puppet and when you make a catching motion you are talking to yourself). If the throw is a backhand you want to catch palm out. This sounds like a lot to be thinking about when making a catch, but 1) if you practice it, this will become second nature and you wont think "am i catching this trailing edge or not?" you will simply catch the correct way and 2) this is why the best players are the best and make hard catches look easy.       Apr 23, 2003 "Sandwiches" When you eat a sandwich, eat the first half holding it "right side up" and the second half "upside down". Some sandwiches are much better in one orientation, due to placement of meat, cheese, condiments and vegetables. For some of you, this will be an inconsequential tip, for others it might change your life. Either way, try it out, Ive worked in a deli for many years and if there is one thing I know in life it is sandwiches (a side note for veteran sandwich eaters: If you like, you can eat the first half of the first half in the primary orientation and the second half of that first half in the secondary orientation. The second half of the sandwich can then be consumed in the preferred orientation).       Apr 24, 2003 "Being On Time" Get to practice on time and by on time i mean 10-15 minutes early. If practice starts at 4, be at the fields at 3:50 so you can put your cleats on and get some throws in before we run at 4. If you have class, then bring your gear and start putting your socks/ankle brace/mouth guard on when your prof goes into the "theres only 3 minutes left in class but i dont want to let them go early" spiel. Weve all made a big deal about how we werent on fields until mid-april and how weve seen nothing but pools and tracks...well now we are on grass. If we run at 4, then we do marking at 4:15 and drills at 4:25 and 10 pull at 4:45...we get to play more, which is certainly why i do this. You guys?       Apr 25, 2003 "Goals" Before a tournament, establish certain goals that you would like to accomplish in terms of personal play. Breaking the mark, setting yourself on deep throws, getting down on the pull, holding your mark...whatever it may be. At the end of the tournament assess whether or not youve achieved your goals (if you did, what was working right and if you didnt, why not).       Apr 26, 2003 "On the Side" Go out and support your teammates in their other endeavors. Sometimes it is difficult to see life outside the realm that is ultimate, but many people do some very cool stuff when they are not tossing a disc.       Apr 27, 2003 "The Hype" Dont believe it.       Apr 28, 2003 "Stay Ahead of the Disc" When playing zone defense, after a pass gets by the cup many defenders get into the bad habit of chasing the disc. The scenario looks as follows: a throw goes over or through the cup to a popper and the defensive wing then puts his head down and runs to the spot in which he would be perfectly positioned to defend if the disc stayed at the man who just caught it. Unfortunately good zone O teams always keep the disc moving so the defender ends up looking like he is running from an alligator, taking a zig-zag path down the field. After a pass has gone past you, it is a much better idea to 1) run with your head up so you can see the disc move, allowing you to change your path as you run 2) run past the spot where you think the disc is going to end up. #2 might give up an extra couple of yards before you are re-set but slightly overcompensating allows the zone to restabilize, which is the key to good zone defense.       Apr 29, 2003 "After a Score" Especially in an important/close/highly spectated game, jog back to your own endline after each time the other team scores, even if you know you probably wont be in the next point. This accomplishes two very important things: 1) When a team scores on you they think they have gained the upper hand and now you are broken. If you run back to the line it says "okay you got that one, I cant wait until you pull it though, so we can jam it down your throats." Teams see when you do this and it scares them. 2) Have you ever had the feeling of never being tired while playing, feeling like you could play ten more games and then at the days end you take off your cleats and sit down and you are instantaneously exhausted? This is kind of like that; if after a point of hard running you just stop and walk back in, your muscles along with your mind feel defeated. Aside from these two, its never fun to make your way through a cheering crowd of opposing players.       Apr 30, 2003 "Before a Tournament" Before you play in a big tournament come to terms with each aspect of your life. Schoolwork, friends, jobs, women...be happy with wherever you plan to leave them and then do just that. This is the final weight that needs to be lifted from your shoulders before you enter the realm of: g-g-g-g-g-gangbuster.