Sort by Date: November | December | January | February | March | April | May Dec 2, 2002 "Don't Get Beat Early" Do not — I repeat, do not — let your man beat you deep in the first three points of the game. As a deep cutter, if I establish my deep game early then my confidence bursts and I have my man beat either way for the rest of the game. It is better we get scored on the first three points but they have to work hard and throw a lot than they beat us deep two out of three tries and we are up a break.     Dec 3, 2002 "Dictate Early" Many teams, like us, run a four-man play or some other type of pull play to score in under 5 passes. If you stop your man from cutting deep the first five passes of the point, many teams offensive strategy will fall like a house of cards. This does not mean stand ten yards behind him and give a 25 yard-gainer underneath, but think about forcing your man in and then marking hard. When they do get frustrated and huck it deep (note huck, not throw), well get the D more often than not.       Dec 4, 2002 "High Catches" When catching with two hands above your head designate one of them that you like to use as a primary and the other as a secondary. I like to think of it kind of like shooting a basketball; you have the shooting hand and the secondary hand that stabilizes the ball. I like to catch righty and use my left as a guide-in for the disc.     Dec 5, 2002 "Imaginary Lines" When you are on the green throwing around establish imaginary lines for yourself and try to stay "in bounds" wherever your field might be drawn. Good athletes look as though they keep their feet in bounds when catching very naturally, but nobody does something awkward like that naturally. Good receivers have practiced the footwork and practiced thinking about the footwork while not losing focus on the catch.     Dec 6, 2002 "Vary Throwing Speed" When you are throwing around, try varying the speed of your throws. Great throwers not only can throw well at different distances or angles, but at various speeds.     Dec 7, 2002 "3 on 3" If you played this year, then play next year; if you did not play this year then you should play next year. 3 on 3 is just fun; it is simply fun ultimate.     Dec 8, 2002 "Laying Out" If you have trouble getting yourself to layout for D’s then before a game or practice decide that the first disc that’s close you are going to make a bid on. If you miss then get up and mark, but chances are youll either get the D or your receiver will be more tentative when cutting.     Dec 9, 2002 "Play, play, play" Play ultimate. I have had a harder time writing zips tips lately and for a second, thought that I was slipping, but I was reminded by a teammate that it has been hard because I have not been playing ultimate. The best way to get in shape for ultimate is to play ultimate. The best way to get comfortable playing ultimate is to play ultimate. The best way to get better at ultimate is to play ultimate.     Dec 10, 2002 "Being in Shape" Never let fitness be your limiting element. Get yourself in good enough shape in the offseason so that it is not even an issue during the season. What a miserable thing to be the ceiling on your game when it is one of the things you have greatest control over. Let your learning curve not catching up with your desire or want or excitement be what limits you, if only for a couple practices.     Dec 11, 2002 "Long Gains" If you catch a deep pass and are not in the end zone, the best thing you can do is turn around and dump the disc (if you are following the play, the best thing you can do is give the man a dump). If you run by the man with the disc you are setting up disaster; either you will have to get to the back of the endzone and cut back towards him (a long time) or he will be tricked into throwing to you as you run away from him (looks very promising and wide open, but is the hardest throw in the game). Get the dump and then he can cut and score the goal.     Dec 12, 2002 "Something Small" Not including the things I actually need to play, a small hand towel is the most important thing that I pack in my ultimate bag for a tournament. Not only does it keep my hands and face dry, it keeps me unbelievably focused. Whether it be a towel, a waterbottle or a thought, try to get things that keep you in your game or get you into a routine.     Dec 13, 2002 "Disc Golf" Go out and get yourself a disc golf disc, preferrably a driver (for those of you unaware, true disc golf is played with smaller, heavier discs). Throwing with this will improve your distance and take away any airbounce that might be in your throw.     Dec 14, 2002 "Two-Handed Layouts" Practice laying out and catching with both hands. This can be interpreted two ways, both of them important. Practice laying out with two hands and catching (this usually occurs when you are chasing down a disc and you have a good amount of time, you just need to get low — this is the most stable way of catching a layout). When you catch like this you should never pancake, you should go palms up just like if you were laying out with one hand, but its even more reliable. Second, practice catching one-handed layouts with both your left and right hand. This will make it so you can comfortably catch either way so you wont have to make difficult trailing edge catches.     Dec 15, 2002 "Seeing Through the Mark" One of the aspects of a good mark is it gets the thrower thinking about the mark more than the throw. Work on seeing the field through your marker when you have the disc. being able to do this is sort of analogous to a point guard being able to dribble down the court without looking at the ball. You can get better at this by faking and pivoting whenever you throw, mark or no mark, and also by having a teammate try to fluster you on the mark so you can work on your focus. On a side note, sometimes when people begin to gain this capability they zone out fast counts or fouls on the mark. There is a fine line between being aware and intense concentration. Call your fouls.     Dec 16, 2002 "Plays" Before a tournament look over the different plays that we call as a team. Then put yourself at different places and positions on the field and envision what play call you would make or what you would do for a certain play call.     Dec 17, 2002 "Jumping Rope" The best way to improve your vertical, get a quicker moving mark and have your change of direction speed be unmeasurable is to jump rope often. I like to do anywhere from 15-20 minutes total of 1 minute on/1 minute off, averaging about 120 jumps per minute. At 1000 jumps a day youll be much faster very soon.     Dec 18, 2002 "Run Fast, Think Slow" Run fast, think slow.     Dec 19, 2002 "Hamstrings" Make sure to stretch your hamstrings very well, even if it is not a matter of injury or speed. When your hamstrings are tight, your entire lower back is tight and it affects your throws on the backhand and forehand side. If you think you are in good shape but tire quickly while throwing, this might be your problem.     Dec 20, 2002 "Winter Break" Lifting: - try to lift a couple times a week and mix it up so you are alternating days for exercises on the same region of the body - good exercises: bench, triceps, lat pulldowns, lunges - great exercises: squats, paintbrushes, runners - paintbrushes: hold a 8-12 lbs dumbbell in each hand at your side. with your palms down, lift your right arm up to eye level, without bending your elbow and then bring it back to your side. do your left arm next and then you have done 1 rep. do three sets of about 12 reps (its kind of like a reverse curl, but with a straight arm. it should look like you are painting). - runners: have dumbbells in your hands (light maybe 8-10 lbs) and run in place but only with your arms (you are standing still, just do the motion your arms make while running). same deal as before, 12 reps, 3 sets (twelve reps means 12 right arm 12 left arm). - special note: paintbrushes are especially important. i cant tell you how many people i know who have injured their shoulder laying out. this is the best way to prevent layout injuries. it strengthens your traps and your rotator cuff. Running: try to run as much as you can, but vary it up, go long one day and shorter the next. a good medium length run is 3 miles, and on a longer day you can do up to 5. telephone pole runs are also good, you can do 2-3 miles of sprint one jog one on alternating telephone poles. Plyos: - jump rope as much as you can, especially on days when you do the telephone pole runs (becuase youve already been working on fast twitch muscle groups). - to strengthen your ankles (or do some rehab) close your eyes and try to balance on one ankle for a minute. then do the other one. try to do this every day, especially if you have a history of ankle injuries. Ultimate: play it, throw it, talk about it, think about it.