Bonus double post: A reaction to the Huddle’s Issue No. 6: "Footwork"
(No Ratings Yet. Click to Rate!)
Loading ...Almost all of the authors are very vague about how one actually improves footwork.
“Oh, do ladder/cutting/change-of-direction drills. Think about changing direction.”
Thought-provoking, sure, but some of those articles are not particularly actionable as far as improving as an ultimate player goes. I’m sure it’s all well and good to be able to watch high-level elite players routinely or be covered by them routinely, but your average layperson can only imagine what most of these authors are alluding to, and much of the benefit of such models is lost.
I’m not trying to say such commentary is not valuable, because it is tremendously so–the Huddle is the best thing to happen to the development of this sport yet. Universally accessible, not filtered through the lens of one person (the problem with blogs today as a source of information, including yours truly), and broadly applicable strategy and skills. It’s a helluva lot better than what I’m doing here, which is more of an effort to guide beginner / intermediate level ultimate improvement.
At any rate, sifting through the thought-provoking-ness for the actionable items yields the following gems, in my opinion:
“Get low, chop my feet, and explode…if you can envision [emphasis mine] yourself making a strong cut, you will be able to do that.”
Try combining those two. And then try implementing what you’ve envisioned. Also see my previous entry on stopping for some exposition and a link to some good video on good stopping/change of direction mechanics. Maybe the Huddle didn’t beat me to the punch here after all.
“Planting off your inside foot instead of your outside foot” (shamelessly stolen from L&H F)
Again, visualize this and then try it. Ladders, yeah. Drills, yeah. Good, but I say pah.
Work through it mentally–whether purely through visualization, if you’re comfortable enough with your body to know how it should be working, or through a little bit of trial (you can do this in slow motion right now–if you’re at work, maybe fake a little on your way to the bathroom to save face) to give your mind some reference material–and, once you’ve identified what the key motions to stopping and exploding in a new direction (while maintaining balance!) are in your mind, recreate those motions in your practice and your training. Train them with plyos, train the main muscles with some strength training too (hint: single leg lifting works wonders here, and you can do a lot with just your body weight).
Finally, my two cents about footwork: you can compensate for a lot of errors in footwork/balance simply by being strong(er). I’ve gotten away with being off-balance (sometimes intentionally to bait the man I’m defending) by being strong enough to recover quickly. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. That said, you’re usually better off being strong AND having proper technique. Strive to be your best, rather than simply good enough–there’s ALWAYS room for improvement.
Throwing/Cutting/Defensive Thought: On Your Toes!
(1 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5) Loading ...The Huddle already beat me to this, but I’ve been sitting on this thought for a while now.
When you play this sport, you should be playing it on your toes. If there’s a time-out, or when a point is scored, then you can let your heels touch down. Otherwise, get up on ‘em!
When I say toes, I don’t mean tippy toes–I mean the balls of your feet. Maybe I should just say that, but it’s not as nice of a mental check–”toes!” versus “balls!”
You can judge that one for yourself. So why toes? Simply put, you’re more responsive and more explosive, in any situation.
Think about it. When is a defender most screwed? 1) When his hips are committed, sure, but 2)…when he’s on his heels. Some of the most stupidly effective cutting moves are the little chop-steps that put a defender on his heels. Don’t be that guy who gets caught sitting on his heels.
When you pivot, what do you pivot off of? Your heels? No. You pivot off of your toes. If you stand with the frisbee in your hands, and you are on your heels, you will go up on your toes before you step over to pivot. Why not eliminate the wasted motion and just stay on your toes? Your mark will have less time to react to your movement. And it prepares you to run right off of the throw, which is a wonderful way to continue punishing your woman after you break her (or throw to the open side).
When you’re cutting, same deal. Do you sprint off of your heels? Nope! You shouldn’t jog on ‘em either. The more time you spend on your toes as a cutter (and as a defender in motion), the more prepared you are to stop on a dime (your heels can push down when you’re stopping) and explode in a new direction.
Athletic position means being on your toes, knees bent, ready to uncoil. Keep it in mind on the ultimate field. Keep in in mind when you’re tossing on the green or in the park or wherever you happen to get your tossing in. Keep it in mind when you’re in the gym and doing plyos. Develop your strength, and then learn how to channel that strength as quickly and effectively as possible through your toes. And dominate.
Catching Thought: Receiving Under Pressure
(No Ratings Yet. Click to Rate!) Loading ...As I alluded to earlier, relative positioning of the disc (to receiver and defender) is a key consideration not just for the thrower, but for the receiver in situations where the defender is close.
This notion should affect a receiver a few ways:
- When setting up one’s cuts, have a mind for where your defender will be when you finally pick a direction to move in. Some of the most frustratingly effective cuts that have been made on me (and which I in turn started making) are set up very simply by moving until the cutter is between the defender and where the cutter expects to receive the disc. In this way, a quick movement gives the cutter the innate advantage of a well-positioned throw without requiring a ton of effort on the part of the thrower.
- As soon as the disc goes into the air, a good receiver will not move simply to catch the disc as soon as possible–she will also move, perhaps laterally somewhat in addition to the direction she’s already running in, to position her body behind the the disc’s trajectory. In so doing she will put her body in the way of the disc, making a play more difficult for a defender (picture a football receiver shuffling to catch the ball rather than reaching, allowing them to take a hit while receiving the ball without fumbling).
- Along with 2, a good receiver will catch the disc such that a defender cannot make a play through his body without fouling him. This means either attacking the disc as soon as possible in front of him, or, if pancaking the disc (this is seen with some frequency at the elite level), will position his arms such that the lower arm is on the side of his body that the defender is likely to bid from–a good layout D comes from a low angle (high, gazelle-style layouts (hi Watson), while impressive looking, contain a lot of wasted motion in the up-down plane and are less likely to get to the disc as quickly), so using your arm as a buffer (catching with your arm under puts your elbow in the way) in addition to your already well-positioned body makes a clean D nearly impossible.
Feel free to comment if you have additional thoughts here. Certainly the case is such that sometimes you need to lay out for the grab, but that falls under “exceptional” rather than “good,” in my opinion.
Throwing Thought: Disc Placement on In Cuts
(No Ratings Yet. Click to Rate!) Loading ...How small of a margin between receiver and defender are you comfortable throwing to?
One step? Two steps’ gap? What is your primary consideration when you assess whether or not you’ll throw to an in cut?
Don’t think just in terms of gap. Consider your receiver–if you know he’s faster than his man, trust him to accelerate to the disc (and conversely, if the defender has been baiting the throw all game and getting it, perhaps you should reconsider). A very important consideration, and the focus of this post, is the relative positioning of the receiver and his defender, as well as the trajectory of his cut.
Assuming your receiver is making a good cut (vertically/slightly angled, rather than horizontally–more on that in a later thought), you can throw to her with a remarkably small margin and complete the throw successfully. The number one deciding factor in whether a throw is a completion or not (from a thrower’s perspective, and assuming basic competency; obviously there are other considerations) is not the margin between receiver and defender, but where you place the disc relative to the receiver and her defender.
Some visual aid:
This is where you want to place the disc to prevent a D. The receiver is led to space , with the disc coming in to him on the side opposite that of the defender. With the disc placed in such a manner, a defender is forced to go through the receiver for the D. Particularly on cuts that don’t cover a lot of ground (such as handler cuts), it’s nearly impossible for a defender to get around the receiver sufficiently to make a clean D (otherwise, he needs to lay out through the receiver, which is very obviously a foul. In some instances it’s possible to get a D, but with proper catching technique this is nearly impossible. More on that in a later thought, too).
With placement like this–either heading towards the receiver instead of leading him, or placed such that the receiver’s body is NOT between the disc and defender–a defender can move in and get to the disc before the receiver (this also happens commonly with horizontal cuts, which is why those are not the most reliable cut to make, especially at a low level). In the picture above you can clearly see that the disc placement more or less negates whatever advantage the receiver has, essentially placing the two at an equal distance from the play.
Placement is not a universal cure–even with the right intent to your throw, sometimes players will make plays (if there’s a speed disparity, this can negate good placement on longer cuts). However, an awareness of disc placement by both thrower AND receiver (I’ll touch on it more later, but you can cut with this positioning in mind) can make tight defense beatable. It can almost swing to the point of being a disadvantage for the defense to be too close if you place it properly, as overzealous defenders can be baited into failed bids, giving the receiver a few free counts to do whatever she wants with the disc.
Catching Thought: Focus on the spin
(No Ratings Yet. Click to Rate!) Loading ...See the frisbee clearly when you catch it.
This comes inspired by the Inner Game of Tennis, which I just read recently (if you fancy yourself an athlete, this is mandatory reading. If you hope to learn anything from athletics you can apply to the rest of your life, this is mandatory reading). Galwey, after an initial explanation of some fundamentals of tennis play (which is all tied in to performance and performance mindset), suggests simply to focus on the spin of the ball as a means to concentration, getting your mind out of your body’s way.
Have you ever dropped a disc because you were thinking about your next throw or how you were going to spike it or some other facet of the moment not directly related to the catching of the disc? I should amend that to “have you ever dropped a disc because you were thinking,” because all thoughts are a distraction.
It’s a bit tougher to constantly focus on one thing in ultimate–unlike in tennis, in which the ball is a constant object of focus, in ultimate the frisbee is really only your primary concern when it is in the air. With each facet of ultimate, you have to focus on the cues specific to that facet–the hips (interspersed with awareness of the frisbee’s location and the play developing around you) for defense, space and the thrower when cutting–and when you’re receiving and the disc is in the air, you should have little else on your mind beside the spin of the disc.
I don’t mean contemplate the spin of the disc, thinking about the disc’s spin. I mean, simply, noticing how it is spinning and moving in space. Let your body find and attack the frisbee (these are skills you develop with focused practice–perhaps more on that in a later post), and keep your mind out of it by devoting your attention to the disc’s spin.
Give it a try sometime when you’re tossing. Don’t judge based on initial results–you have to learn to trust your body, and your body has to learn that you’re trusting it, which can take a little while–but let it go for 10, 15 minutes and see if you don’t notice a difference, an extra ease to your motion. And then see if you can’t carry that same ease and relaxation into your in-game performance, too.
Catching Thought: Layout Grabs
(No Ratings Yet. Click to Rate!) Loading ...This is something I never really thought about until this spring, when I was teaching somebody how to lay out.
How do you grab the disc when you lay out?
As far as I can gather, there are a few standard styles:
1) The two hander. You rim catch with both hands or do something close to it, landing full extension with your arms in front of you. This woman missed in her bid and is apparently screaming in frustration for it), but she’s going for the two hander here.
2) The “lay out clap.” You get horizontal, but clap catch–this often leads to a roll on the landing or a landing on the shoulder. Probably the most dangerous kind of layout catch you can do. This guy isn’t even fully extended, and is in for a world of hurt in about two seconds.
3) One handers. With a few subsets, the gist of what I’m thinking about here:
-Fingers on top–for those high grabs you reach up for
-Fingers on bottom–for those low ones you need to get your hand under
You can see the general body mechanics at work in this picture, despite it being a defensive bid. One arm for the disc, the other to guide the body down to the ground.
I ONLY grab frisbees on a layout one handed, with my fingers underneath. And generally right handed when I can swing it, though I think I’m ok with both. Any of the other styles (save the clap, which I try to avoid but will pull out every so often if necessary), I’m very liable to bonk (with fingers on top) or hurt myself (with both arms extended–I always use one to cushion my fall).
Do you have any preference? What’s standard for you, and why? I’ve decided I prefer one handers because it allows for maximal extension and a braced landing (and I fancy myself consistent enough with the one-handed grab that the two hander is unnecessary). And I prefer fingers underneath because it’s an easier transition to sliding on the ground without having the disc stripped, as I use my forearm for impact absorption on the landing (I’ll do a more extensive post on layout technique sometime later). Think about what works and why. And PRACTICE if you’re unhappy with your skillset! Visualization is a nice tool to practice layouts without the extra wear and tear of throwing yourself on the ground repeatedly, if physical practice is too painful. But it’s through repetition that you’ll find the most success in-game.
So, you’re interested in training, huh?
(No Ratings Yet. Click to Rate!) Loading ...Just how interested are you?
Do you like working out? Are you the sort who prides himself on out-working your teammates (and especially your opponents)? Is the main thing for you how HARD you work?
Are you more of a “work smarter, not harder” type? Do you prefer the newest training modalities and exercises? Are you concerned more with efficiency (perhaps you have time constraints) than brute force of volume of work?
Do you simply like the idea of training, but struggle to put it into practice? Do you strive to be the second type I’ve described, but lack even a modicum of the motivation of the first?
Motivation is key. There are definitely goods and betters with training (and bads, too, but generally speaking, you’re better off doing something than nothing at all), but none of it matters if you’re not properly motivated to train and improve yourself (or inspire the same motivation in others).
My motivation took me a few routes. I certainly have worked hard in my time, putting in the time and the intensity of work, to get into the shape I’m in (or was in–I’m definitely falling out of shape now that I’ve stopped training regularly for ultimate). But I’ve also spent countless hours looking at resources on the internet, as well as simply trying out new routines and structures.
If you’re interested in following the same path, I have some recommendations for you. Much of my fitness knowledge has come from time spent perusing the following sites:
Almost all of what I’ve learned about fitness has come either directly from these sites or from other resources I’ve found through these sites. Look for common themes and threads throughout–if something is repeated by several different individuals, it’s probably got a lot of truth to it–and don’t be afraid to learn by doing.
Summer Workouts: Crossfit Style
(No Ratings Yet. Click to Rate!) Loading ...Hi, 07X fuel cell,
Just finished up this guy. Without further ado:
5 pushups
10 lunge jumps*
15 situps**
all of that constitutes 1 set.
Do 20 sets or go for 15 minutes, whichever is sooner.
Stay Strong,
Mackey
Notes:
-Keep pushing! Don’t take breaks between exercises or sets, just go straight into the next one.
-If you get too tired to do regular pushups, go to your knees and keep going; if you can’t keep doing lunge jumps, regular lunges or jumping in place is ok too, just don’t stop for more than a second or two.
-I got through 20 sets in 14:12, if you want a standard for comparison.
*5 each leg. Start in lunge position, push off, switch legs in midair, land in a lunge w/other leg forward (we’ve done these in winter conditioning before). repeat.
**whatever kind of situp you like–crunches are ok, doing “runners,” cycling your legs in midair, is probably easiest to maintain. Count one for every other leg if you do those.
How it works:
I like these kinds of arrangements for conditioning workouts, as they’re quick and efficient. By pairing different exercises and not taking breaks between them, your body is always working, but the individual muscle groups worked get a short break (a la circuit workouts). Nothing special to note here in terms of energy systems or the like, but doing a workout like this is superior in terms of general conditioning to more stop-go types of work (those have their role too for more specific conditioning, however–more on that if you blitz me or wait until the winter), as you hit more or less your entire body in short order doing this.
If you’re so inclined, you can improvise using a similar structure in your own workouts. As a general rule, you want to pair exercises that work different muscle groups (i.e., you don’t want to do lunges followed by squats followed by jumping in place, as it will overwork your hips/quads in short order), and you want to keep the reps on the low end of things so you can keep working through it when tired. I like this workout a lot as it hits the upper body with pushups (a vastly underrated exercise), works your legs explosively with lunge jumps, and then gives you some time on the ground doing situps to work your core.
If you’re feeling ambitious you can try to overload a single system, just be prepared for the consequences. Sometimes killing your legs is just what they need to bust through the plateau you’re resting at.
