Thoughts.

Went down to Yale this weekend to play one day of ultimate (bracket play got rained out, unfortunately). Dartmouth A went 4-0, but seeing as our closest competition was Northeastern in a 13-8 win by us, we really didn’t have a ton of very competitive games.

We did have a pretty good time though, despite the poor weather. And the women and Bness were there too, so we had a nice team-bonding sort of experience; the Bness went 2-2 without competitive subbing, while the women continued to be undefeated this year, winning yet another tourney (the women only had a one-day thing).

Anyways, I got lots of PT, particularly against Northeastern, and I played so-so.

As far as things I did well go. Offensively, I had no turns on the day (though I did have a near-throwaway that Rem being so springy helped save). I also had a couple really nice plays in flow, getting a nice breakside pass and shortly thereafter making well-put assists from power position. But that’s more or less a given for me from power position, I think, so it’s nothing too great. Had a couple nice runs and cut decently as well.

There were far more things I need to improve. Partly due to weather, and partly due to, you know, 3 hours of sleep the night before, I had neither the explosiveness (for laying out or skying, as well as sprinting) or the traction (for quick changes of direction) I’m used to, so I found myself unable to make good on a baited D attempt, or getting beat in conditions that normally would be workable for me. I’ll need to be a bit more aware of this in the future and respond to the conditions accordingly, and I don’t generally plan on staying out so late before tournaments, so the lack of gas should resolve itself naturally as well as with more training. In addition to the defensive gaffes, I had several miscues as a cutter. It wasn’t just me, mind you, but there were several situations in which I should’ve been cutting in as a fill as the dump strugged to get off, or making a continuation cut (or a cut to get the offense going, period), and I would be late or ineffective. Again, this partly comes back to the conditions–the stutter-steps and jukes and such aren’t as effective when you can’t change direction as quickly–but part of it was just me not being aware enough.

Good
Disc judgement/throws

Needs Improvement
Dealing with weather conditions, specifically rainy/wet fields
Getting proper rest pre-tournament
Awareness as a cutter

Related posts:

1. Yale Cup ’07
2. Yale Cup ’08 (4/5-6)
3. Spring Break! Part 2: Follywood (3/17-3/21)
4. 1/14 practice