Thoughts. » Huddle reaction http://www.ultimatethoughts.com Ultimate Ramblings Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:36:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 How I Do Crossfit With Ultimate Training http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2010/01/how-i-do-crossfit-with-ultimate-training.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2010/01/how-i-do-crossfit-with-ultimate-training.html#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:35:31 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/?p=626 Xi Xua’s Huddle entries on Crossfit (a follow-up to his earlier article on play intervals in elite open ultimate) provide an informative look into what Crossfit is; however, he does not go in to much depth at all on how to go about how to incorporate it into ultimate training.

This is by design, I think; done verbatim, Crossfit is an extremely taxing regimen to adhere to.  3 on, 1 off, learning how to do technical lifts like the squat and deadlift and the Olympic lifts too can make things overwhelming (to say nothing of the renowned intensity of the workouts).

For me, there have always been two keys to keep in mind with incorporating Crossfit: Progression and Flexibility.

The Samson Stretch

Progression is, I think, the oft-overlooked component.  It’s easy to pop on to the homepage, eye the weights or what have you, and get discouraged (or worse, perhaps, to try at the listed weights or reps and destroy yourself right out of the gate).  Like any training regimen, it’s important to progress slowly to the movements and weights you’re going to be working at–in the early stages, mastering the movements takes precedence over any kind of intensity (as it should).

At its most basic, this means incorporating the Crossfit warm-up into your routine, focusing on the samson stretch and overhead squat with light weight (ideally a wooden dowel; I wind up using a 6-9lb bar as it’s the lightest I can find.  If you have nothing other than a 45lb olympic bar, try substituting holding a towel, theraband, or something similar apart with your hands).

OH Squat Sequence

I still remember my first Crossfit workout back in ’06: It was my sophomore summer at Dartmouth, and I’d already spent a couple months of perusing information on Crossfit (including the forums–I was very fitness avid my sophomore year and did a ton of reading there and at sites like T-Nation in my spare time. More here). With the season finally over and my goals clear for the upcoming year (broken record alert: goal setting and planning are keys to success), Crossfit became a big part of my summer training plan. I scanned the archives, intimidated by workout after workout, until settling on one that was seemingly more innocuous.

The workout called for 5 rounds of 21 95 lb Sumo Deadlift High Pulls, as well as 12 ring dips. I knew from reading the FAQ that I had to scale the weights down; I was not the 175 lb prototypical Crossfit guy. I figured 65 lbs was proportionately good enough to not overwhelm me, while still maintaining enough heft to be a manly amount to lift. I also diligently followed the 1 ring dip = 3 regular dips protocol, as the fitness center had no rings.

I managed to survive, but only barely.

By the middle of it, I’d shifted to a 1 ring = 2 dip protocol (with the assist from the machine to make it bearable), and even 65 lbs wound up being far more than I should’ve begun with. I spent the next three or four days sore beyond belief, recovering, yet somehow I’d been hooked! I made sure not to overdo it for the rest of that month, prioritizing taking the time to do the exercises well…after a few weeks I scaled the weights back up, closer to something more fitting with my 135lb physique, and was good to go.

I’ll try and go in more depth on just what sorts of progressions are options for somebody just starting out in a later post, but for now know that it’s not impossible, and that you’re going to be better off if you’re doing Crossfit at half intensity (half weight, half rep, etc) than jumping in over your head, or worse, remaining sedentary.

Flexibility is inherent in all of Crossfit. The program strives to build a well-rounded, capital-A Athlete, able to excel at any endeavor. To that end, Crossfit incorporates a wide range of modalities. Plenty of ultimate players are understandably dubious about whether or not it all has applicability to ultimate.

The short answer? Of course it ALL doesn’t, at least not directly. I don’t follow Crossfit religiously (at this point in time, I don’t even follow it regularly). On days where the site calls for a 5k or 10k run, I do something else. There are naturally certain parts of the wide range of exercises prescribed that you’re not going to want to do, or won’t be able to do for reasons of equipment or otherwise.

Just because Crossfit incorporates all of these modalities doesn’t mean that you can or should be able to cover the full spectrum, especially in the beginning phases.  Crossfit strives to keep the equipment requirements minimal, but even so I’ve wound up making do with less-than-ideal setups plenty of times. The ideal may be to do it all, and do it all well, but realistically it’s your life and your training plan, and Crossfit is not the be-all end-all of fitness; there are many routes to the same destination.

If I am not a full practicioner, I do at least consider myself a solid student of Crossfit.  Some of their simplest workouts are their best–work hard, doing basic movements, and do it for time. Try to improve your performance next time. That’s the core premise upon which all of Crossfit revolves. The catch comes in mastering those basic movements (yes, squatting–squatting well–is a basic movement), and that’s why following a progression matters, but you can and should feel free to make Crossfit conform to you, rather than the other way around.

Crossfit has slowly grown (or shrank, depending on your perspective) from a large framework of my fitness routine to simply a component of it. It still exerts a large influence on my general training plan however–I still diligently perform a couple cycles of the Crossfit warm-up any time I work in the gym, and still consider the overhead squat to be the pinnacle of developing (and evaluating) hip mobility.

For any out there with reservations about whether or not Crossfit is a viable modality, applicable to your training, my advice is to do it (not “try,” that’s too tentative) and see. Give it a month of full (3+ days/week) or part-time (1-2 days/wk) incorporation into your rotation; pick and choose your workouts rather than following their “prescribed” order; make sure you progress into doing the full workouts, and see if you don’t feel better for having whooped your own ass a bit, and come away a little more confident in your stamina next time there’s a stoppage during a hell point.

At its best, Crossfit means refusing to be contained to any set routine–and that includes Crossfit itself. Don’t be afraid to experiment and seize the reins of your own fitness.

“Absorb what is useful; disregard that which is useless, and add what is essentially your own.”

-Bruce Lee

Related posts:

  1. Strength Training for Ultimate – Program Specifics
  2. So, you’re interested in training, huh?
  3. Strength Training for Ultimate – Program Structure Considerations

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2010/01/how-i-do-crossfit-with-ultimate-training.html/feed 0 Team USA’s Huddle Entries http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/team-usas-huddle-entries.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/team-usas-huddle-entries.html#comments Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:09:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/team-usas-huddle-entries.html Solid gold! And I’m not just talking about Team USA’s prospects at the World Games.

  • If you read only one thing about cutting, read Bart Watson’s piece. Concise but full of useful information; re-reading is certain to yield more information than the first glance. His thoughts on cutting not only echo mine, but exceed them. I especially like his notion of “control[ling] your defender;” it’s a nice, succinct way to think about your goals as a cutter, and synergizes nicely with my favorite “create space, attack space.”

  • Gwen’s assertion that an aspiring deep threat should first focus on top speed is one I disagree with. Top speed is certainly useful, but acceleration comes into play far more often. (Ultimately this might harken back to Bart’s article as far as what kind of cutter you are/want to be–the sort who gets open in 1-2 step moves or one who powers through cutting lanes?) The attributes are tied, such that working one will tend to help the other, but I think that flow still favors training for acceleration.

  • Additionally, there’s a lot of other good stuff on handling generally. The emphasis on vision is pertinent, and the lack of good coachable points for that is understandable, as it tends to come from experience; I do like Cara Crouch’s point that the best handlers don’t follow cuts with their eyes, but use their peripheral vision well–this is something I’ve seen and tried in limited roles, but never thought to incorporate as a full-time component. I also like her point that a good handler senses the plane of the mark and avoids conforming to it by stepping toward or away from the mark.
  • I really like the stuff on defensive handlers from Seth Wiggins and Adam Simon from a strategy standpoint, in terms of what to look for from the position. Additionally, I LOVE the notion of D-line offenses as “quarterbacked” by a couple strong handlers vs. the more diverse attacks of O-lines.


What are you waiting for? Go read.

Related posts:

  1. Why Cutters Should Read the Mark, Too
  2. Cutting Thought: Know When to Cut, and When to Run
  3. Cutting Thought: On Being the Primary Cut, and Not Cutting

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/team-usas-huddle-entries.html/feed 0 Energy Systems and Training Demands–What’s Missing in the Big Picture http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/06/energy-systems-and-training-demands-whats-missing-in-the-big-picture.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/06/energy-systems-and-training-demands-whats-missing-in-the-big-picture.html#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:00:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/06/energy-systems-and-training-demands-whats-missing-in-the-big-picture.html In light of Xi Xia’s article on the Huddle about the brevity of ultimate points and the ensuing discussion, I thought the topic bears some revisiting.

Re-framing of the energy demands of ultimate

Taking the average point (not play segment) duration rounded up to 40 seconds, and with a conservative estimate pegging every game at 15-15 for 30 points/game we get an estimated 40 sec/pt x 30 pt/game = 1200 seconds, or 20 minutes, of “active” play per game. And we’re not even factoring in stoppages or “standing time” for your pulls, stack-setting players or non-active handlers, etc.

20 minutes.

In a conservative estimate1. Football seems to be in a similar timeframe for active play with all its stoppages…in terms of a single game’s demands, ultimate doesn’t strike one as particularly taxing endurance-wise, at a glance.

Set the notion of “taxing on endurance” aside for a minute. We have 20 minutes of action a game as a baseline figure. How spread out are those 20 minutes (In other words, what’s the work-to-rest ratio)?

You have to figure your typical ultimate tourney has rounds of at least an hour, some closer to 1:40-2:00 rounds. This pegs your work:rest ratio at anywhere between 1:3 and 1:6.

NOW, factor in that a given player likely only plays one way2–let’s assume again our 15-15 game, which presupposes even O/D loads (give or take a point depending on how the breaks lay at halftime). We can halve the effective workload, so now we’re talking about activity in the 1:6 to 1:12 work:rest range! You don’t have to be a sport physio to know that those kinds of rest intervals put activity squarely in the sprint/explosive range. Granted, it’s not just work:rest interval but the duration of effort that determines aerobic vs. anaerobic, but XX has established pretty well that typical play segment durations are not extending significantly beyond stressing your glycolytic (in other words, you’re still operating primarily in your anaerobic range).

All of this suggests that preparation should first and foremost be sprint work–exactly what XX advocates in the article.

But there’s more to it than just one game.

Parinella brings up a good point that we should perhaps be training for those points at the long end of the tail. Those can be more important than the quick, “easy” points–think of the morale swing that comes with winning/losing hell points3. The last thing you want is to lose for lack of conditioning on a drawn-out universe point.

More relevant in my mind, though, is the issue of ultimate as a Tournament. We almost never play just One Game of Ultimate–summer league, perhaps, but at any serious level of commitment you’ve got 3,4,5 games a day for 2-3 days (your extended 2-a-day Nationals formats are the exception, rather than the rule). That’s your 20 (10) minutes of action multiplied a few times and spread out. Regardless of how you’re training at home–whether it’s sprint-focused, or more aerobically inclined–you’re not putting your body under that kind of prolonged yet intermittent and intense demand, so your body invariably hates you by the time you’re piling in cars and vans Sunday afternoon (if not on Saturday night at the hotel).

The issue I’ve always had with training for tournaments revolves around this dichotomy between the intensity of a game–start, stop, change direction, sprint, break–and the extended timeframe of it all. Sure, you can get up for a single game, but can you get up for two? three? four? The third game the day after you’ve played four?

What impacts day-of performance?

For one, recovery.

While not directly relating to training itself, tournament nutrition is crucial for effective recovery of energy (primarily glycogen and electrolyte) stores over the course of a day and weekend. (To say nothing of pre-tournament nutrition). Even the best-conditioned athletes will run out of gas and cramp up if they don’t eat/hydrate properly.

For two, work capacity.

I refer you to Ross Enamait for a brief explanation and example workout4, but in short: work capacity is the ability to repeatedly perform at an intense (high) level. Sound familiar?

How do you train work capacity for ultimate? (Ross’ workouts are geared more toward the fighter’s short rounds–definitely some carryover there too). Seigs posed this question on his blog back when it still existed, and conventional wisdom seemed to be “play in more tournaments,” and let the principle of SAID (more here) take over, but I’m convinced there are better strategies than that, or at least alternatives.

I figure enough sufficiently strong training stresses in sequence–the equivalent of your football double sessions or the like–might do a good job of training work capacity; generally, I’m thinking in terms of stressors you can apply to ultimate athletes and then force them to perform at a high level in relatively short (but no too short) interval afterwards. For Dartmouth, where winter practice times tend to fall at late-night indoor locations or early-morning outdoor turf, perhaps having an intense track workout in the afternoon before an intense scrimmage/workout that evening, or a really hard conditioning session the evening before a morning hard scrimmage might do something to simulate that late-Sunday soreness that can be all too common–and, importantly, learn to work through it.

What are your thoughts? In college the two-a-day (two-a-<24 hour) seems to be fairly few and far between, but I'd love to hear your thoughts or experiences with that sort of thing, as well as any other thoughts on training/preparing to perform in the tournament setting.

1 Admittedly for elite men’s play; I’d love to see somebody do similar analysis for other levels (bring a stopwatch to a tournament!) and compare–factoring in the fact that not all games make it to 15-15 and myriad other conditions (weather forcing a relatively less physically demanding zone, etc), I don’t know that 20 minutes is too far off base for other levels too.

2 Yes, some players routinely play a larger percentage of points. However, even taking the baseline 1:3-1:6 figure you’re still getting enough recovery to sustain anaerobic activity.

3 There’s another topic worth exploring: how often does winning the hell point correspond with winning the game, or at least exceeding expectations? I’m thinking you take games and compare actual results to RRI predictions–of course, you’d need to time points and/or have some objective criterion to define a “hell point.” Time out use? Turnover count?

You could also frame it in terms of looking at “momentum”–does the hell point winner then go on to break the next point(s)? With relatively higher frequency than at other points in the game?

4 I highly recommend Infinite Intensity. Really sound advice and workout resources and ideas–it was the foundation which I built my original summer workout plan upon.

Related posts:

  1. Structuring Your Own Training Program, Part 3
  2. Throwing/Catching Thought: Grip Training (Types of Grip)
  3. Mackey’s Summer Workout Plan: General Physical Preparedness (GPP)

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/06/energy-systems-and-training-demands-whats-missing-in-the-big-picture.html/feed 7 Layouts: The Huddle’s Stuff, And Mine http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/05/layouts-the-huddles-stuff-and-mine.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/05/layouts-the-huddles-stuff-and-mine.html#comments Fri, 29 May 2009 12:37:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/05/layouts-the-huddles-stuff-and-mine.html Go read the issue.

Miranda Roth and others tout the inside lane for when you’re going to get the block, and the reasoning for this is solid (namely, that it’s nearly impossible to get the reach-around outside-shoulder D sans dangerous play); however, I’d caution enterprising stud defenders out there to recognize the copious warnings against overzealous baiting, and to only take the inside lane (aka conceding the deep cut) when you’re certain the throw will go up–or it already has.

The Huddle’s authors don’t go into a ton of depth on the technical side of laying out, which underscores the importance of how you deploy the layout (i.e., in the context of a larger team defensive strategy) over fixating on the details. If you’re looking for a slightly more technical look at layout technique, however, I’ve posted on that previously (note that I’ve tidied up the original a little…the topic bears revisiting, and once I have some fresh victi-uh, fodder-er, athletes to work with next year, I’ll likely have some more concrete experience teaching to draw from for that purpose).

I’ve written about the mental side and visualization a bit too (I’d take the Huddle’s “Many mediocre players spent many hours visualizing these outcomes” line more as a caution against fixating on daydreams of sweet universe-point callahan layouts to the exclusion of visualizing a realistic one, rather than a condemnation of visualization itself).

Related posts:

  1. The Huddle is a Gold Mine. (Response to Issue No. 8, "Catching")
  2. Visualization: See Success
  3. The Huddle’s College Survey Data, and My Methods

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/05/layouts-the-huddles-stuff-and-mine.html/feed 2 Zone O, Huddle-Style http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/05/zone-o-huddle-style.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/05/zone-o-huddle-style.html#comments Thu, 14 May 2009 12:00:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/05/zone-o-huddle-style.html The Huddle has an issue on Zone O.

My favorites (Ryan Morgan’s assertion that wings are not just a throwaway position for rookies is worth repeating, too); again, they put things a lot more succinctly than I.

I don’t see a ton of revolutionary (compared with my experience) information there, apart from the number of endorsements of the two-handler set; this says to me that zone O really comes down to a good, solid fundamental approach/understanding.

On the skill spectrum, a quick catch-throw turnaround and composure with the disc in your hand are great for any zone handler (and by extension, all players) to have–the former can be worked on pretty much anytime, while the latter would come with more throwing experience/confidence, both under pressure (ratchet it up in practice/drills) and in conditions (find it, and do it).

Knowledge goes hand in hand with skill. Recognizing what kind of zone you’re facing and where the weak points are, along with knowing what your own team’s assets are, likewise will do a lot to prepare for success. Insert Sun Tzu quote about knowing your enemy and yourself.

Related posts:

  1. Zone Offense: The Basics
  2. Zone: Drills
  3. Zone: Offensive Skills

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/05/zone-o-huddle-style.html/feed 2 The Huddle’s College Survey Data, and My Methods http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/04/the-huddles-college-survey-data-and-my-methods.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/04/the-huddles-college-survey-data-and-my-methods.html#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:58:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/04/the-huddles-college-survey-data-and-my-methods.html Quite a lot of commentary to see there.

Yours truly has a long treatise up there; I’d caution against taking a lot of the stuff as gospel though.

My methods for generating those percentages you see was a little different than simply comparing % of answers in each group: to try to control for the different sample sizes (as well as respondent sizes) in each group (whether it’s nationals vs. no-nationals or coaches vs. no-coaches) I aggregated response counts and divided by total number of teams, or players if the question entailed roster counts…essentially creating an average rate for either group, and then looked at differences between these rates. I’d encourage caution to the tune of discounting anything below 10% difference or so as being less significant, but some of the differences are really prominent and that’s the stuff I keyed in on in my opening paragraphs as they’re likely significant.

I worked on this all a few months ago…was channeling my college stats pretty hard but converting the survey responses into something SPSS would be able to work with for rigorous analysis proved beyond my time or pleasure.

All that said, if you want to take a look at the original data set (caution: I didn’t make the sheets with prettiness/usability in mind: probably best reserved for people who enjoy playing with excel) you can download the .xlsx (or .xls if you’re incompatible) here.
UPDATE: I’ve been informed that the data is not for sharing, at the lack of consent of the team captains.You might ask the Huddle for permission if you’re interested in working with the data.

I’d love to see somebody with time, desire, and means hit the data hard(perhaps some of the other Huddle contributors already have and it’s not apparent from their commentary), and I’m sure the Huddle would too.

Related posts:

  1. Layouts: The Huddle’s Stuff, And Mine
  2. Bonus double post: A reaction to the Huddle’s Issue No. 6: "Footwork"
  3. Team USA’s Huddle Entries

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/04/the-huddles-college-survey-data-and-my-methods.html/feed 3 "Heels," Roles, and Basics (Response to Issue 12, "Endzone Cutting") http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/12/heels-roles-and-basics-response-to-issue-12-endzone-cutting.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/12/heels-roles-and-basics-response-to-issue-12-endzone-cutting.html#comments Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:57:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/12/heels-roles-and-basics-response-to-issue-12-endzone-cutting.html Love the Huddle’s latest stuff.

Scattered Thoughts:

1) Several players mention bum-rushing the defender to “get [them] on [their] heels” before making another move. That’s all well and good, but…can that really be a complete strategy? I suppose if you’re the faster cutter, it is (which of course begs the question of ‘why juke them in the first place?’). That statement really triggers my common sense detector though…there ARE defenders out there who aren’t put on their heels so easily. What then? I like to tack on “…or get him to turn
his hips” on the end of most references to “on his heels,” as I think that situation confers the same advantages to a cutter looking to gain separation.

2) I absolutely LOVE Peri Kurshan’s talk of delegating an “end zone cutter” role. Brilliant. Energy efficient, strategy efficient. And if you’re using the “one guy creating an open-side break opportunity” cutting strategy or a similar iso, this makes perfect sense, too. This also seems very easily applied in terms of strategy, which leads me to…

3) Where’s the bona fide strategy talk? I suppose the idea of this issue is more to cull pearls of wisdom for playing, particularly for the individual cutter, but I really feel like this stuff assumes you’re familiar with the conventional wisdom to some extent (or at least, it’s enhanced by such familiarity). Perhaps none of this is new to you, but much of what I write is predicated on the belief that there are people out there who are still learning.

Steve Sullivan’s mention of the “gut cut,” along with the many references to dump and swing O by several authors, alludes to probably the basic/default end zone O for many teams…cuts from the back of the stack towards the cone. On the open side, this means one guy to the cone, and a second shortly therafter in the inside line (the “gut cut”), with another (or perhaps the first to the open side, if he’s quick back) to the break side as the disc is dumped and swung. Sometimes this is a “default,” sometimes this is a set play. Depends on the team.

Other common endzone offenses include some kind of isolation play, which gets all but one of the cutters out of the way to feature a stud with enough space for a decent thrower to get the disc to the endzone somewhere stud cutter can catch it uncontested (this is the sort of situation where a lot of the cutting advice dispensed in this issue comes in handy), and a lot of teams allude to a similarly-minded offense perhaps without the overt isolation to it (front of the stack open-side break throw juke, or a cutter from the back doing something similar in the lane while the rest “keep their defenders busy”).

The final major endzone offense (at least, in my mind; feel free to chime in if you have others) I can think of is the handler-driven O. I don’t mean the simple dump-swing, or even strategies that rely upon a good break from the handler.

I mean full-on dominator style weaving, with lots of give-and-go style moves (as Nick Handler alludes to. By the way, Nick probably brings up the most salient strategy points to consider in endzone offense, for any of you aspiring coaches/play designers out there). Perhaps the give-and-go is less common at the elite level, where dump defenders presumably stop the upline cut with more regularity, but I’ve seen that cut made successfully for a score many a time at the elite college level (often by my teammates over the past years).

This tends to work in conjunction with other strategies–the iso or stack motion lets the cutters work for opportunities, but when you look to dump-swing, an aggressive handler set can look to attack the endzone without help from the cutters with the upline, too. The sort of around-the-back “break” that Ben Wiggins talks about would also be the sort of play I’d characterize as a product of a handler-driven O.

4) My own thoughts on endzone cutting: don’t just apply one of the strategies discussed in the huddle: seek to learn and apply them all. I’ve had points where my endzone cutting has been little more than recognizing my defender’s open-side overzealousness and using a chop-step (or a straight-up opportunity cut) to catch a hammer to the break side wide open, and I’ve had points where I’ve run my defender into the ground from the stack, and I’ve had points where recognizing and exploiting the “open-side break” opportunities led to easy goals. The key is recognizing what’s available to you–when your teammates are aggressively cutting from the back of the stack, try to wait and find your opportunity. When nothing’s doing, consider creating some motion and injecting some energy with the brute-force approach (with appropriate tricks employed to increase your odds).

One thing that almost every author hit on–know your teammates, know your thrower. The rest will flow from knowing your thrower, and from your thrower knowing you. It’s when things get tight that chemistry really shines, and more often than not, things get tight in the endzone.

Related posts:

  1. Defend Smarter, Not Harder
  2. Cutting–"Threat Points"
  3. Zone Offense: The Basics

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/12/heels-roles-and-basics-response-to-issue-12-endzone-cutting.html/feed 4 Throwing Thought: Forehand Hucks (Response to Issue #10: "Throwing for Distance") http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/09/throwing-thought-forehand-hucks-response-to-issue-10-throwing-for-distance.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/09/throwing-thought-forehand-hucks-response-to-issue-10-throwing-for-distance.html#comments Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/09/throwing-thought-forehand-hucks-response-to-issue-10-throwing-for-distance.html I’m just going to stop commenting and tell you to read Gwen’s stuff. She nails it.

Be a good thrower for your decisions, not your throws. Put your throwing practice in the context of a game-time decision to make it that much more of a seamless process in high-pressure situations.

My two cents on forehands…first, read what Miranda Roth has on long backhands (she covers it very well–all of the articles in this issue have gems):

I’m all about maximizing torque when throwing—using rotation to generate power flowing into your throw. On a long backhand the first point is to step out so that when you twist your body you’re not killing your defender with a giant elbow to the face (this is easier for tall players—shorter players should focus on a quick stepout). While stepping out, I also reach the disc out as far as I can to create the longest lever possible (thus creating the most force). The last major step is to rip it—use your abs to pull your arm across and really focus on opening your body all the way toward where you are throwing.

A lot of the same rules apply for forehand hucks. Take into account your grip and your arm action, but the power all comes from the torque of the hips and torso transferring to the disc (this occurs through your arm and grip, so those things are not trivial: refine your mechanics if you find your best effort still yields poor (wobbly) results), with your core as a mediator (and mover–train your core rotationally).

The key difference between the backhand and forehand hucks is how the body generates power and how power is transferred. Forehands are much more of a finesse throw, but you can still generate a very significant amount of power using your body properly. For me, this means stepping out to the side, even slightly back, as I torque my torso back slightly, particularly at the shoulder (to load the scapula). Using my step slightly, I use the momentum and transfer that energy up from my foot to my body, as my body undulates–leg, then hip, then shoulder torque forward in time, and as the next link in the chain comes forward the previous link comes back, creating a whipping motion (Which is to say, as my shoulder is coming forward, my hip has begun to move back).

The essential component is to relax. Whereas you can usually brute force a backhand, too much tightness on a forehand will sap your power. Allow your body to flow, to seamlessly send the energy up through your body and into your arm. You will be tense at the core, but your arm will be very loose up until the moment of release (but your grip will remain tight throughout). Unlike the backhand, where the arm can do a lot of work, the arm can really only hinder a flick. You’ll see a lot of people throw with their elbow on the hip, which displays the lack of necessity for the arm very nicely–the ideal, however, is to get the elbow off the hip and leading the throw, much the same way a pitcher like Chad Bradford throws (but with more upright posture). Get that extension, but relax and let your body (esp. your shoulder) whip the disc.



Related posts:

  1. Forehand Hucks Revisited: Shoulder Tilt
  2. Throwing Thought: the Windup
  3. Forehand Throws and Foot Turns

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/09/throwing-thought-forehand-hucks-response-to-issue-10-throwing-for-distance.html/feed 7 I <3 Gwen Ambler. Or, What Kind of Handler/Cutter are You? http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/09/i-3-gwen-ambler-or-what-kind-of-handlercutter-are-you.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/09/i-3-gwen-ambler-or-what-kind-of-handlercutter-are-you.html#comments Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:12:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/09/i-3-gwen-ambler-or-what-kind-of-handlercutter-are-you.html More often than not, I find myself completely agreeing with what she says, and there are some great gems in her bit on subbing:
Divide your handlers up into groups of those who generate offense with their throws (big breaks and/or big hucks) and those who generate offense with their legs (effectively get the disc up-the-line and are always open for resets). You’ll want some players from each category on every line.

Divide your downfielders into groups of those who can get open with jukes off of a stopped-disc and those who are great at getting open in flow with timing and filling spaces. Again, you’ll want some players from each category on every line.

The whole issue on subbing is a great opportunity to apply a new lens to yourself as a player: how would somebody in charge of subbing view your abilities? Gwen’s bit here touches on it the most explicitly, I think…what kind of player are you? Do you create offense or augment offense? Are you a big playmaker or a solid contributor? How versatile are you, offensively, defensively? What are some flaws that might lead to you getting less play time (e.g., lack of height/athleticism/conditioning, inconsistent throws in the wind, an inclination towards high-risk shots, etc)?

What kind of player do you want to be? If you’re a coach or a mentor for other players, what kind of player do you see them becoming/what kind of player would make them the most useful? The notion of subbing also harkens to making cuts and forming your team’s identity and strategy in the first place. Lot of good stuff to consider for anybody who fancies themself a team leader/decision maker.

Related posts:

  1. Zone Sets: How to Run a 4-person Cup, Courtesy of Gwen Ambler
  2. Handler? Know Thyself.
  3. Throwing with Touch

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/09/i-3-gwen-ambler-or-what-kind-of-handlercutter-are-you.html/feed 0 What’s the only thing more intimidating than one guy sprinting down on the pull? http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/09/whats-the-only-thing-more-intimidating-than-one-guy-sprinting-down-on-the-pull.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/09/whats-the-only-thing-more-intimidating-than-one-guy-sprinting-down-on-the-pull.html#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:31:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/09/whats-the-only-thing-more-intimidating-than-one-guy-sprinting-down-on-the-pull.html Two.

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/09/whats-the-only-thing-more-intimidating-than-one-guy-sprinting-down-on-the-pull.html/feed 4 Defensive Thought: Anticipation http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/08/defensive-thought-anticipation.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/08/defensive-thought-anticipation.html#comments Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/08/defensive-thought-anticipation.html The Huddle’s Andrew Fleming has a great analogy for this, in his article on being the deep defender when you hear the “Up!” Call:
Have you ever sat a stoplight and watched the light for the other direction turn from green to yellow to red? When your light finally turns green, it’s just a confirmation of what you already knew was about to happen. How much quicker are you off that line if you’re peeking at the other light versus waiting for yours to change? That’s the difference between reacting and anticipating on D. When I hear that “up” call, I want to already know what throw is coming and already be poised to jump on it.

He very succinctly summarizes the components of good, anticipatory D.

Anticipation means not only knowing the current situation and recognizing which throws are most likely, but also learning how to read people and recognizing opportunities to make the play.

General things you should be aware of as an anticipatory defender, as much as possible (in rough order of importance–feel free to dispute my rankings or add others in the comments)

  1. The position of the disc on the field relative to you and your man

  2. How long the disc has been in that position–is it in motion for a potential unmarked huck/throw? Is it stall 7 or 8, so you should really be heads-up for a swilly bail-out throw?

  3. The capabilities of the thrower. Is it the stud thrower, who can not only jack it, but break the mark to do so? Is it somebody who’s only going to throw to under cuts?

  4. The force (the person on the mark). Which side of the field should passes be going to? How likely is it that the mark will hold and not get broken?

  5. The conditions. Is it rainy? Are you going upwind and can dictate out with more confidence? Is there a crosswind that would cause a throw to your expected side of the field to float or sink more than usual?

  6. Your man’s preferences. Are they a relentless deep threat? Do they prefer to stick around the disc? Keep in mind they may still take what you give them, even if it’s not what they prefer.

  7. What, if anything, has the other team as a whole been beating you with? If they’re exploiting the around break, be prepared to pounce on a somewhat floaty around throw (and adjust when you’re on the mark as well). If they love to jack it, start backing your man or otherwise make sure you’re always in a position to strike on the huck.

All of these bits of information, summed together, should allow you to make a few adjustments:

  1. What cut you choose to defend primarily–what’s the biggest (and most viable) threat at this moment?

  2. What cuts you choose to respect–if it’s really windy and the player with the disc does not look confident in her upwind forehand, you can give a cushion of at least a few steps when your woman goes deep (but beware the dump/swing to a more confident thrower in motion).

  3. Where you expect the throw to go to. This is particularly important at high stalls, when a less-than-perfect throw might come suddenly and surprise you. If you expect to see a throw to the forehand side of the field, allow for the possibility of a stall-9 blade.

  4. Whether or not you poach off of your man (!). If you’ve evaluated your man to be less of a threat in their current position than some other play–your man prefers to cut under, but their big thrower has the disc and you see somebody setting up the deep cut–you can sometimes get away with devoting less attention to your man and more attention to the play in action.

This is a lot of information to process at once on the field. It’s impossible (In my opinion) to consciously take in all of this information and still play at 100% intensity (you’ll be thinking too much). However, you can learn to intuit things, or give yourself reminders before the point. The disc’s position should eventually become a natural sense; for me, I can often discern where the frisbee is by the sound of a catch or reading my man and, if in a straight stack, the other men on offense (be wary of eye fakes). You can cultivate an internal stall clock to anticipate high-count situations (or perhaps your teammate will count loudly enough for you to know with certainty). Conditions and the force, you should be aware of before the point begins(or at least before the disc is tapped in on a stoppage). Strive to cultivate an intuitive sense of what space is threatened and in which space (and at what times) your opponent is not a threat to get the disc. I find it usually helps to remind myself of the force on D just before the pull goes up (if I’m starting on D or O), and to spend some time (doesn’t need to be more than 10 seconds or so) trying to visualize the wind vector and anticipating which throws will float or sink on D (and how to compensate with my own throws).

You can, of course, rehearse a lot of these situations through visualization. Cutting schematics can go a long way towards guiding you here–draw up novel situations, impose different conditions, and then try and picture yourself in them.

In addition to recognizing situations in terms of general expectancies, strive to learn the signs that a play is coming–learn to read throwers. You can do this on a team-by-team basis if their system is transparent; you can also learn to read individuals. Eventually, you will start to pick up on tells that are more across-the-board; players who are not skilled in showing fakes or making quick decisions in particular become easy reads with enough attention. There’s a certain look–not quite “Deer in the Headlights”, but a similar single-minded tunnel vision, when a thrower goes from “scanning/evaluating” mode to “preparing to throw” mode. Mid-level cutters get a similar look when they’re in the lane, if you’re trying to read their fakes.

Don’t think too much on the field; simply pay attention and make associations through experience. Eventually, you’ll develop an intuitive sense and good defense will become more automatic (it never becomes fully automatic–invariably there’s always some external condition you should be taking note of). Learn when you can afford to think on the ultimate field, and learn when you need to stop thinking and just make the play. Anticipation will put you in position, but you still have to execute.

Related posts:

  1. Defensive Thought: Spacing
  2. Defensive Thought: Peripheral Vision
  3. Defensive Thought: Enter Their Spirit

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/08/defensive-thought-anticipation.html/feed 0 The Huddle is a Gold Mine. (Response to Issue No. 8, "Catching") http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/08/the-huddle-is-a-gold-mine-response-to-issue-no-8-catching.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/08/the-huddle-is-a-gold-mine-response-to-issue-no-8-catching.html#comments Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:12:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/08/the-huddle-is-a-gold-mine-response-to-issue-no-8-catching.html Catching. Such an essential, fundamental component of ultimate, non? Jesus Christ, just think–250 thousand hits. Already! I hit 2,500 last month and thought I was doing well.

I’ve touched upon a lot of the same stuff the huddle authors touch upon already with my catching talk in this blog–the importance of attacking the disc cannot be overstated at high levels, and using your body is an underappreciated but equally important component of making uncontested grabs. Read all of the articles, and note the frequency with which some of the information is repeated–continuity of an idea is a pretty good predictor for its utility.

I’d like to draw attention to a couple gems that really stood out for me, courtesy of Nancy Sun and Gwen Ambler.

Taking a direction completely different from her co-writers, Nancy talks about receiving the pull–but when she talks about catching and throwing at the end, there’s a bit worth pulling outside of the the context of just pull receiving.

First, on catching (emphasis mine):

3. Execution. I want to pancake the pull at chest height and close to my body. I focus on keeping my hands at 90 degree angles to each other (as opposed to parallel) to eliminate misalignment and the chance that the disc might flip out of my hands.

Brilliant. Just pick up a disc and try this at home. I could NOT flub a clap catch with my hands oriented at 90 degrees. Whenever you teach somebody how to clap catch from now on, make sure you specify the importance angle of the hands–this is a very simple hangup that somebody who fancies herself uncoordinated will get caught on when first learning to play.

Second, on the catch-throw turnaround:

Getting your feet into a balanced throwing position should be done simultaneous to catching. Tenths of a second can be the difference between hitting the swing or having the mark come on to prevent you from hitting the swing…As a right-handed thrower, I mostly pancake with my right hand on top so that sliding into a backhand grip is very quick. Coming out of the pancake, right-hand on top is also the most natural and secure motion for me to enter into my forehand grip.

If you haven’t already, think about your hands’ positioning when you catch with regards to being able to throw right afterwards. I’ve already mused on this here (it’s really nice to see some of my thoughts validated by elite ultimate players), so give that a look for a bit more exposition on that topic if you want. For the record, I am now more comfortable catching right hand on top, but transition pretty quickly to throwing in either orientation.

Also, play around with your footwork and how you set your body up to make a continuation when you receive the disc–if you receive in a balanced position (“balanced” can be in motion towards a throw, too), you’ll be able to execute a throw shortly thereafter under control. Perhaps more specifics on that at a later time.

Gwen also chooses to go in a different direction than her peers–rather than getting into the nitty-gritty of practicing catches, she talks about the mental side to catching and grabbing high/deep passes instead of the under. Read the whole article. And then re-read this part, which resonates a lot with my own catching experience:

You have to anticipate when and where you’re going to reach the disc and already be ready to catch the disc when that time/space arrives.

This does not mean stopping to wait for the disc to get to you. Instead, it often means propelling yourself through the air with your last step so that you have time in the air to concentrate on the watching the disc into your hands. I am always a fan of catching the disc with both feet off the ground, mid-stride whenever possible. This gives your body, hands, and eyes the appropriate time to prepare for the catch.

I almost always catch in stride on a small hop for “good” passes that hover from chest to head height for me to run onto. This prevents any ground-up turbulence (uneven fields, while not ideal, are not uncommon in this sport) from throwing off my catching motion, and generally allows me to continue at the speed I was already cruising at to make the catch. Sometimes you want to accelerate through the catch, but I have yet to find myself caught and D’d up because I catch this way. Perhaps I just need higher-level competition, though. Small, but significant when you consider the sheer volume of catches you make.

Related posts:

  1. Being Quick on the Catch-Throw Turnaround
  2. Throwing Thought: Forehand Hucks (Response to Issue #10: "Throwing for Distance")
  3. Catching Thought: What’s your first instinct?

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/08/the-huddle-is-a-gold-mine-response-to-issue-no-8-catching.html/feed 0 Bonus double post: A reaction to the Huddle’s Issue No. 6: "Footwork" http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/08/bonus-double-post-a-reaction-to-the-huddles-issue-no-6-footwork.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/08/bonus-double-post-a-reaction-to-the-huddles-issue-no-6-footwork.html#comments Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2008/08/bonus-double-post-a-reaction-to-the-huddles-issue-no-6-footwork.html 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.

Related posts:

  1. The Huddle is a Gold Mine. (Response to Issue No. 8, "Catching")
  2. Layouts: The Huddle’s Stuff, And Mine
  3. The Huddle’s College Survey Data, and My Methods

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