Absolute and Practical Pivot Ranges
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Loading ...This is a pretty simple concept, but applied properly can make a big difference in your efficiency and effectiveness on an ultimate field. In ultimate, as with many things, knowing your limits allows you to excel while remaining within yourself.
Your absolute pivot range is how far you can get out to throw. Period. How far does your lunge take you? How much farther does your reach and body torque get you on top of that? Can you throw from that far out? Can you throw well from that far out? You have to be able to throw from this distance (or, phrased differently, know what you can throw at this distance), because the only reason you should extend yourself this far is to throw.
Your practical pivot range is how far you can get out while still being able to quickly move back (which is to say, how far you can get WITHOUT overextending, or your effective faking range). This is a range you’ll wind up doing a lot of your motion on an ultimate field in–realistically, a lot of situations won’t require you to get out to your absolute range to throw successfully. Think open-side passes, or even a quick swing (fake) when you catch the dump ahead of your defender.
Generally speaking, it’s good to keep the fact that you can extend further hidden until you have an opportunity to exploit it (for instance, if you have a killer full-extension inside-out pass, there’s no need to show it until you can make that killer IO for a goal or to start some flow, etc.). Even once you’ve shown it, you shouldn’t need to fake all the way out to that range to get a mark to bite, assuming you have convincing, effective fakes.
Pivot/extension range is worth paying attention to in any circumstance–just tossing around, drills, even in scrimmage. Developing a sense of not only what you can do, but what you need to do within that range to suit your goals (get a throw off, or make a mark bite), can and will make you a better player.
