Thoughts.

This is something I never really thought about until this spring, when I was teaching somebody how to lay out.

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.

This is a simple thought.

Sometimes the answer is yes. But learn when you can pick a direction and go.

How do you gauge how far you should space yourself from your man?

Here’s a few factors you should take into account.

• The relative threat of your player, as dictated by his/her spot on the field–is she way on the far sideline in a horizontal stack, when the disc is on the other line? Did he just finish cutting deep, and is so far that any throw made would leave you with time to catch up and make a play? Is he out in the lane, ready to be the primary cutter as soon as the disc is tapped in?
• The speed/skill of your mark. Is he faster than you? Can she beat you in an open sprint? Can you make up a cushion of two steps if he runs straight away from you?
• The role of your opponent. Does she mostly handle, hanging out around the disc? Is cutting deep the only thing he wants to do? Know what to expect when you position.
• Size disparity. Even if you have the ups to sky your opponent, if they LOOK like a good target deep, you’re not going to want to give the thrower any extra encouragement with a cushion there.
• The opponent’s strengths. Can she throw? If not, is the under really your first priority to defend? (hint: sometimes it still is. When?)
• How he/she reacts. Can he juke with the best of them, but struggles to find a rhythm when you take a couple steps out into the lane? Do they always run away from your cushion, or do they try to blow past you anyway?
• Your comfort/energy. Do you like to get physical? Are you too tired to respond to all of your opponent’s motions up close? Do you prefer to chase the frisbee down, and can you do so if you opponent has a lead of a step or more on you?

Play some thought games with yourself, really see yourself in a variety of situations–both static (off a dead disc) and dynamic (as the disc is dumped and swung, or as it flows up the open side, as it goes from a handler to a cutter who can’t huck). What about weather? What sorts of information are the most essential to know/deduce when determining your defensive positioning?

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.

So, how you grip the disc is important. However, as with just about anything in sports, it is not enough just to know how to do it right. You must possess the requisite athleticism to execute–knowledge alone can only take you so far.

So how do you train your grip to be stronger? I actually don’t do a ton of grip training anymore–I’m at a good baseline level, though I imagine a bit more training would help with my forehand hucking in particular–but when I did do grip training, I considered a few things when I planned my grip workouts:

There are different kinds of grip strength.
Pinch: Between individual fingers and your thumb.
Crush: Between your fingers and your palm (the “standard” grip when you think about grip–think handshake)
Support: Not a gripping motion, but the ability to maintain one’s grip (think holding on to a heavy bag full of groceries by the handle)

It’s my opinion that the first and the last are the most important for ultimate. The former is particularly important for catching (think about it–attacking the disc, you should be using your thumb underneath/on top to go with your other fingers), while the latter comes into play more for throwing and transferring power from your hips to the disc. Crush grip really has little relevance to ultimate, and it is not something you need to emphasize in your training (though you should still include it for completeness’ sake from time to time).

So, how do you train pinch and support grip? By gripping, of course!

The easiest way is simply to find a gripper or a grip machine at your local gym. these lend themselves fairly easily to a variety of gripping motions–really think about using your thumb–when I talk about support grip, it’s essentially support pinch grip. Start with a relatively manageable amount of force/weight, doing sets in the upper end of the rep range (think 20 reps), and work down to doing a few reps with higher weight, for reps and for time held closed. Pinching and then holding (whether you pinch with one, two, three, or four fingers simultaneously with your thumb is your prerogative–I prefer two fingers, with middle and pointer, as I think they are the ones that do the brunt of the catching work) allows you to work both types of grip simultaneously.

Another exercise I’ve done for supporting grip is holding plates. Grab a 5 or 10 lb plate and simply hold it with four fingers flush on top and the thumb on bottom (or vice versa). Hold for time. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Other options for grip training:
-Sand/Rice gripping. I’ve never done this myself, but others have.
-Fingertip pushups. I used to do these with regularity. But consider the range of motion in which you’re training your grip by doing these (see below). If you can get to the point where you can do them just on your thumbs or on three fingers (thumb+pointer/middle), you’re on the right track.

More conventional thought says doing things like farmer’s walks and deadlifts are good ways to train grip, and this is true–but it’s not as specific to ultimate (often training primarily crush grip, and in a range of motion unseen in ultimate). I do think, however, that learning to use the hook grip, with your thumb under your fingers, will emphasize strength of the thumb more and will carry over to your grip in ultimate though (to at least some extent).

Another thing to consider is that grip strength is highly specific to the range trained. I can do grip training for climbing, working on gripping at the outermost edges of my hand’s extension (think a hold several inches thick, so there’s a lot of space between your fingers and thumb), but, despite possessing phenomenal strength on the wall, have little to spare when gripping a disc with very little separation between fingers and thumb.

I couldn’t tell you what the exact range for the specificity of the training effect is, but the more you can work your grip in the range you’ll be using in-game (ie, closer together), the more you’ll find the results carry over to throwing and catching in game. That’s not to say you should avoid training grip at the edges of your range–to the contrary, a balanced program necessitates it–but pick your focus wisely.

Finally, grip strength fatigues easily, and recovers slowly. If you’re some kind of superhuman, perhaps you can train grip every day and continue to see improvement. For me, a good grip workout would actually leave me worse off for at least the day following. Some of my best throwing has come after taking a couple days off from throwing and grip training–my hands can recover fully, enabling more confident, sure throws. Keep this in mind when planning your training. Grip training is, primarily, a secondary focus for workouts, so I usually save it for the end of workouts where I won’t have to worry about a fatigued grip affecting my other lifts.

You’ll be surprised what a big difference this can make, though you might not notice the gradual improvement over time.

Frisbee is not natural. Man never evolved to throw a flying piece of plastic, and there’s really no analog to it in nature (throwing a rock or a spear to kill prey is a far cry from the mechanics used for most throws in ultimate). The same goes for catching–there are certain spots on the frisbee that make for easy catches (see Zips Tips for more on that–really, just read all of Zips tips) and some that make for easy macs.

It’s absolutely essential, if you want to play at a high level in this sport, to make frisbees as natural to you as any other implement (perhaps even more so). I spent the couple weeks leading up to Regionals my sophomore year (’06) (and during my summer throwing in Japan in ’05) carrying a frisbee with me everywhere, constantly throwing to myself and catching it. Hone your instincts.

Convincing: Practice in front of a mirror. Seriously. Practice, and then do a little mental separation of yourself from your action–see yourself as the mark on yourself. Do you respond to that motion? What are the factors that force you to respond to a thrower when you’re on the mark? Step? Shoulder motion? Some facial or other dispositional cue? Is it the disc leaving the hand? (Probably too late, if that’s the case). When do you KNOW that the throw is coming, and how can you recreate those cues with your fakes? Try doing your regular throwing motion and holstering it. How late can you stop your throw? Envision an on-field situation, a dump cut or a juke you didn’t anticipate–can you withhold your commitment to throw in time?

Get in front of the mirror! Start thinking! Take a good, long look at yourself and take a scalpel to your abilities. Dissect out the cancerous, work around the vital spots, and clean the rough areas.

In lieu of a conditioning workout (if you want to mix it up, I suggest applying any of the previous formats with different exercises, or running hills), this blitz will have some ideas for strength training using your bodyweight.

Stay Strong,
Mackey