Cutting Thought: A Mind for Adjustments
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Loading ...Cut with a mind for adjustments.
When you make a move–finally picking a direction, and committing to going hard in that direction–be thinking about where you’ll be going next. You’ve already put your body in gear to go where you initially wanted; when do you want to give that body its next directive?
If you’re wide open, maybe you’re just catching the frisbee, and you have nothing to worry about (other than watching the disc into your hands, of course). But maybe there’s confusion around the disc, maybe there’s a timing issue, maybe your man has you read perfectly on this cut. All of those are TEMPORARY conditions that will make this current cut ineffective.
The question, then, is what will make your NEXT cut effective? Is it simply a matter of reading your defender and changing direction? Where is new space being created? Anticipate what will happen next: see the handler streaking upline for the disc, and plan on cutting deep for him BEFORE he gets the frisbee in power position (so you’re better prepared to respond and set up space/your man correctly). Notice the man underneath clearing out and plan on making a move in BEFORE your defender realizes that that space is a threat.
Anticipate what will happen next. Cut with a mind for adjusting your cut to enhance its effectiveness–just because you’re moving currently, doesn’t mean you can’t immediately threaten in another direction. Au contraire, it’s absolutely necessary if you plan on being an effective cutter. Use your extra information–knowledge of how your team’s system works/chemistry with other players, or the simple fact that your defender has to follow you AND the disc, while you can focus on just the disc–to gain an extra edge.
It’s hard to express this stuff in words; but here goes.
I find that when I think in terms of what *I* want to do next, my cuts are generally out of sync with what’s happening on the field.
Instead, I like to think of what the field is *pushing me* to do next. This especially helps when you’re exhausted, because it doesn’t require you to make conscious sequential decisions; each of which requires you to general mental acceptance. Instead, it’s a flowing thing where you only make one decision: take what the field gives me, work within the team.
(All that aside, I don’t think we’re talking about very different mental processes; I just wanted to share what I find to be a helpful way of describing it.)
Bill, I think that’s a wonderful way to put it.
Being “pushed” into space is a very succinct way of putting it.
I do think, however, that you have to do some conscious thinking in similar situations previously in order to develop a good unconscious sense of space and timing.
I think, when I use the word “think” in reference to things that should happen while on-field, what I really mean is “be aware of” or “pay attention to.” It can be deliberate, and to some extent you have to deliberately focus, but there is a huge unconscious component to high-level play, as you allude to.