Ultimate is a Biathlon.
(No Ratings Yet. Click to Rate!)
Loading ...Run. Accelerate. Sprint.
Catch.
Stop. Assess. SEE.
Throw.
Run. Accelerate. Sprint.
Lather, rinse, repeat. In order to be successful at this sport you have to hone two divergent skill sets–you have to learn how to play two different games.
There’s the running game–you exert yourself, often in coordination with those around you, frequently at high or full effort.
And then there’s the throwing game. You calm yourself, and the efforts of your teammates only matter in the context that you devote your attention to them and choose to give them the frisbee. You execute, not a brute force, explosive movement, but a well-refined, controlled one.
Running takes effort, but it’s the effort of willing your muscles to do more. You will them to apply more force so you can run faster and jump higher.
Throwing takes effort, too, but it’s the effort of focus. You will many muscles to do less–to get out of the way–so that the main players can do their job and deliver the disc.
Both of these are automatic processes to a point.
Running amps up with exertion.
Throwing with exertion leads to stiffness and bladey, ill-placed throws.
Both benefit from a performance-oriented state of mind. Focus. However, the foci are different.
Running, you focus on the situation, you recognize opportunities on O and D, but more than anything else you push your button to kick your body into overdrive when it counts.
Throwing, you focus on the situation, you recognize opportunities on O, but more than anything else you let go of your body, allowing it to perform what you ask, when it counts.
Both have their limits.
Running, the limit is your body and its energy reserves. When those run out, you can keep hammering away at that button, but your body won’t respond.
Throwing, there is a theoretical limit from your body, but above that threshold the limit is your mind. When you lose focus (and the necessary level of focus may increase with fatigue), you lose execution. Form gets sloppy, or you tighten up, and throws become a hope rather than a certainty.
Practice.
Train your body so the energy reserves run out more slowly and regenerate more quickly.
Train your mind so you can maintain focus even as you fatigue. Train your mind as you train your body to throw, learn to let go. Learn to trust your body. Learn when and how to guide it.
This is how you find success in the biathlon. Lose sight of neither your focus nor your drive.
