Catch

Not to big note myself too much, but it's safe to say I have taken some pretty sweet catches in my time. And Monday night I took one of my favourite of all time. 

It was the type of catch I have seen people have the chance to take several times, but they haven't taken the opportunity. The opportunity presented itself on Monday and I took it with one hand.

I was cutting long and the disc was thrown low and fast. So fast that I could tell that had I tried to run it down I would have failed and the disc would have gone to ground.

So instead of try to run down the disc I changed course and tried to intercept it before it got past me (which was imminent). I layed out hard to my right towards the sideline.

Just as I reached my absolute full extension the disc slipped perfectly into my left hand. The vision of the disc in my hand and the feeling of hanging weightlessly in the air is one I hope never to forget (and thus the point of this post).  

Then gravity kicked back in and I slammed into the ground. As is my habit I had rolled onto my left shoulder to help cushion the landing and also protect the disc.* 

The sideline let out a cheer.

Then a teammate made an unfortunately all too premonitory statement:

"Now don't throw it away"

Obviously I threw it away.

(I tried to throw a safe dump option, but a defender got a run thru d)

The sentiment of my team'mate' was good, but not the exact execution. As we later discussed it would be much better to yell "relax" "take it easy" "calm down" etc then to mention the potential to turn it over - which is a tip I hope to remember.

But back to the catch. 

Key tip: Once the disc is up - get a look at it as quickly as you can to asses its height, speed and potential flight path. If it is a relatvley low throw, there is probably a point where you can catch the disc as it is passing you, rather than waiting for it to pass and trying to run it down. Obviously if you can run it down then do so, but if that seems unlikely, turn hard and make a bid - it feels great if you pull it off! But you have to make this call early and then commit 100%.

*Tuesday night I rolled over in bed and got a bad pain in my back - it seems I sprained a ligament in my back which was more than likely caused by that catch and now I can't run for a week - but it was worth it - I just wish someone had had a camera!

 

Mixed Nats Review Part 2

Best Day Ever 

Day 2 was probably the best day of Ultimate I have ever played in my life. I got layout D’s and caught and threw a bunch of goals. Overall it was also the best tournament I have ever played (reflected in my 5th place on the MVP table). I got two of my first real come from behind layout ds. These were both in a zone as a deep deep when the disc was coming downfield to a stationary wing. I have still yet to achieve a come from behind layout D on a moving player – but these D’s gave me hope that it can be achieved. I find I have been in the right position to do these a couple of times but haven’t every properly “laid” – more kind of fallen over. Part of this I think comes down to the importance of the timing of your stride – to get a full layout you need to be launching at the right point in your stride – but sometimes on D you don’t have the luxury of choosing when that time is. But maybe I’m just soft.    

I also took one of my favourite catches of all time – running deep for a huck from aL with the two Lavis brothers bearing down on me from either side. I was ahead but they were closing fast and just before they came through for the d I launched myself at the disc, caught it, and landed in the endzone. Very satisfying.   

I don’t think I dropped a single disc that day and I only remember not getting a contested grab once. Also my throwing choices were quite solid. I think I had a very good mindset that day and was constantly attacking the disc at full pass and felt really confident with the disc in my hand. My mindset seems to have a big impact on how well I play – somehow I have to find a away to recall that mindset the next time I play. One major difference from this tournament to others was that I was driving up and down to Caloundra each day so I had a long time to mentally prepare/debrief during the drive but then didn’t think/talk about frisbee at all after that. This could have been a contributor to my mindset – Focus and imagery combined with quality rest. 

   

Playing v Dingos 

It was great to catch up with all the Dingos off the field and even better to take them on on the field. I really enjoyed these tussles and I was really fired up to run hard against them. I got a D on Mike from a bad pass, but didn’t catch it and he still got the goal. Next point up the other end he got a d on me from a bad pass, didn’t catch it, but managed to mop up the scraps before I could. Damn. CATCH THOSE D’S.   

To keep them busy, or not to keep them busy? 

When I was playing O against the Dingos/Gak/JMac I didn’t try and do too much. My strategy against “great” players has always been to try and keep them busy and not let them poach – as such I always try and cut in on the break side. They either follow me and can’t poach or I get an easy pass and then easily move the disc downfield. Or of someone like Owen is marking me and I am a dump I will get the hell out of there because I know he can shut me down there too easily. But to actually become a “great” player you need to take these players on and beat them – but when is the right time to do this? For my team, my strategy of keeping them busy was definitely the best tactic – my teammates mostly had easier match ups and were therefore able to get the disc themselves. So at what point do you go head to head against these players at the potential jeopardy of the team? I don’t know the answer to that yet.   

Pulling 

I feel like I had a consistently good pulling tournament. I developed a nice backhand pull for upwind. Starting on the right hand side I would throw a bladey backhand towards the left hand side and get it to land a few metres in from the sideline and then role straight out of bounds. These throws usually made it past the brick mark and then gave us a chance to mark up and put pressure on the player trapped on the sideline. Having the same routine for each pull (apart from when I yelled “kick him in the nose” as I pulled the disc OB) resulted in consistent pulls. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A GOOD PULL. Also a consistent good pull is much better than a great pull that is inconsistent.   

Protein Bars 

Based on some blog reading I tried eating Protein Bars during the day to maintain my energy levels. I don’t know if they actually work or not, but I did a lot of running and felt I probably had more energy than usual at the end of the day. I will definitely use them again as well as taking some Creamed Rice to eat between games (thanks for the tip Tim Booth).   

Mixed 2010 

Lots of teams present at AMUC seemed to be keen on going to Prague as a Mixed Team in 2010. I am currently quite divided about WUCC10. HoS is also keen to go, but I think I actually prefer mixed and any team with Gak is always going to be a strong contender for a medal. Decisions decisions!

State MP 

I thought it was fantastic that QUDA managed to get an MP to come along and be apart of the Final and presentations. QUDA does great work in Queensland and a lot of things I have introduced in Vic have been based on QUDA initiatives. This is another thing that I think every state should try and achieve and I hope to at least get some people from the State Sporting Department to come along to the VFDA showcase game next year (more on this later).  

Clip Clop

As I said previously, my team was awesome. Everyone single player had a really solid weekend. Big props to DK for another rock solid performance - still one of the most underated players in Aus Ultimate, and to Diego for some sweet D's against Gus and the rest of FAF. Ori really impressed with his work rate in the middle of the field. The girls were all delightful - Joy and Hussey - what can you say - Cath really impressed with solid handling and Jess took some really nice high grabs. What a Tribe.

Mixed Nats Review Part 1

I had the great pleasure of captaining The Tribe Of Miniature Horse at AMUC last weekend and it was the most fun I have ever had at a tournament. The team vibe was awesome. Everyone gave 100% on the field while remaining relaxed and jovial between/during games.

Spirit Scoring

After having spent the last few weeks sharing spirit scores with the other team straight after the game it felt weird not to and I think that the practise should become mandatory for all leagues/tournament. How else are teams supposed to know that they are doing good/bad things and therefore continue/change their behaviour accordingly?? Spirit Captains are the future!! The only potential downside I see is teams inflating the spirit score to avoid having to have an awkward conversation with the other team.

MVP and Spirit Prize

Not to maliciously take anything away from the winners, but it seems that these prizes still go to strong players from weak teams and the to the most ‘fun‘ teams. The MVP system the used AOUC is still one of the best I have seen and I think it is perfect for a 3 day tournament (could be adjusted so you only vote for the teams you played against).  I don’t even know if there was a spirit score system (I didn’t see one) but WFDF needs to make a standard one and it needs to be easy to use but also reward spirit appropriately. I heard someone mention the other day that some league had a rule that a 7/7 couldn’t be given unless the other team had actually retracted a call –not a bad suggestion. For me, teams don’t get full scores for spirit unless the scores are really close and things like this happened - a player had a chance to abuse the self refereeing aspect of the game, but didn’t – a player told a team mate to retract a call and it was retracted – players actually discussed what happened rather than just yelling “foul” and “contest” – these things need to be rewarded in spirit scores, not that they laughed and joked as they got bagelled.

Different styles of play

I specifically recruited aL Don for this tournament because I wanted to go back to playing Ultimate how I learned to play it. In Brisbane I learnt to play with handlers like Jason Ray, Chris “Buzz” Burwell and aL. Every time, and I mean absolutely EVERY TIME, they had the disc as a handler, they would looked to huck it for a goal. And if no one was cutting for it they would get pissed, so you learnt very quickly that as soon as the disc was heading their way – go deep! In Melbourne the style of play seems to be much more based on handlers moving the disc around until it gets to an upfield cutter who then looks for the long option. What a waste of time. The whole point of Ultimate is to get the disc from one end to the other and if you can do it with one throw – DO IT! Now this view may be slightly biased on the fact that it takes players with exceptionally good throws for this type of play to work, but it is possible and it does work! This difference in offensive mindset was made very clear to me when I called a line and then told aL just to huck it to me for the goal. Someone then suggested that maybe aL should be the primary cutter in that case! aL and I just looked at each other and smiled. That’s not the way you play the game up there in QLD!

To be continued...

Worlds: New Division

A while back Owen posed the question to me of what the next division at Worlds would be. 

Currently the following Divisions are allowed at Worlds:

Open 

Women 

Mixed 

Master Open 

Master Women 

Master Mixed 

Junior Open 

Junior Women 

Junior Mixed

And in reality, only 6 of these (green) are actually at Worlds.

I think as the game progresses the other Divisions will slowly be brought in (especially as more players get older and move into the Masters bracket).

However what is left outside of those? Having now been to Worlds, I have the answer!

The Sub 6 Foot Open Division.

The way the game is going, tall players are now becoming much more versatile and dominate in this game. Talls used to be seen as great receivers and defenders but never seen as great throwers, but now there are tall people coming through who have the complete package. When a 6'4" guy with the wingspan of an albatross can throw the length of the field they are very hard to stop!

Lets give the sub six foot payers a chance to run around and show off their stuff without these "freaks of nature" stealing the lime light (and the disc) and making them look short! I know there are many great players who currently play and excel at the top level who are sub six foot, but their days are numbered! I have seen the future and for short people in Ultimate the future is bleak - the giants are coming to devour all of us human beans (afterall they are sick of eating snozzcumbers).

Maybe this sub 6 foot division won't ever make it to Worlds, maybe people actually want to see "the best" players strut there stuff at Worlds without the sideshow of a hobbit convention. But I think it could be a useful division to employ to make sure that elite competition isn't completely unattainable for the less vertically endowed player. 

Note: Any connection between the authors sub 6 foot height and his non selection for Worlds are purely coincidental :-)

Spirit Captain

Full story on Worlds is still to come. 

Meanwhile here is my idea for a Spirit Captain. 

This came about after watching games at Worlds and thinking that a Spirit Captain could be a useful addition to the rules (and a good addition to the Spirit Timeouts they had at Worlds). I discussed it with Johnny Mac who helped write these here good words below. We are trailing this in Melbourne in our upcoming Leagues. I will post on how it goes down the track.

WHAT

Each team must nominate a Spirit Captain for the duration of the league.

WHY?

The core of Ultimate is the governing concept of Spirit Of The Game. As a self adjudicated sport, Spirit is the key that allows the competition to be conducted at any level, from social to elite play. Respect (for team mates, opponents and the rules of the game), sportsmanship, fair play and integrity are concepts of particular importance.

 The aims of this addition are:

• To increase the focus placed on Spirit by all teams
• To ensure players continue to be taught about the rules and how to play with good spirit
• To assist in establishing communication between opposing teams for the purpose of maintaining a Spirited game
• To give teams and players immediate feedback on their Spirit so that they may improve on it
• To allow team captains to remove one aspect of their role, thus allowing captains to perform other duties better, and Spirit to be upheld with a greater focus

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A SPIRIT CAPTAIN:

• The tasks of the Spirit Captain are only undertaken when they are OFF THE FIELD
• The Spirit Captain should ensure they have a copy of the current WFDF and League rules with them on the sideline
• After the game they determine the Spirit Score for the opposition, discuss the level of spirit in the game with the opposing teams Spirit Captain and then share Spirit Scores with them
• The Spirit Captain may call a Spirit Timeout

WHAT A SPIRIT CAPTAIN IS NOT/DOES NOT DO:

• They do NOT get involved in discussions when they are not on the field
• They do NOT release a captain from their responsibility to ensure their team upholds the Spirit of the Game
• They do NOT replace the requirement for each player to learn and apply the rules and play with Good Spirit

WHEN THE SPIRIT CAPTAIN IS PLAYING ON THE FIELD THEY HAVE NO EXTRA RESPONSIBILITIES.

On Field they have the same responsibilities in upholding Good Spirit as every other player i.e.

• Knowing the rules (1.1.1)
• Being fair-minded and objective (1.1.2)
• Being truthful (1.1.3) 
• Explaining their viewpoint clearly and briefly (1.1.4) 
• Allowing opponents a reasonable chance to speak (1.1.5) 
• Resolving disputes as quickly as possible (1.1.6) 
• Using respectful language (1.1.7)
• Informing a team-mate if they have made a wrong or unnecessary call or caused a foul or violation (1.5.1)

SPIRIT TIMEOUT

If there is continued bad spirit in a game a Spirit Captain may call a Spirit Timeout. This can only be called in between points. During this timeout the two Spirit Captains shall discuss the level of spirit in the game, determine ways to rectify this, and then convey this discussion to their teammates. Tactical discussions are not to take place during a Spirit Timeout. Spirit Timeouts do not affect the number of Team Timeouts available. 

EXAMPLES OF THINGS A SPIRIT CAPTAIN SHOULD DO:

Scenario A: A player makes a call on the field but was unsure if it was the right call and what the consequences where to the stall count/player positioning

• After the point the Spirit Captain talks to that player and lets them know what the relevant rules are regarding that situation
  

Scenario B: The Spirit Captain notices that a player from the opposition is often not saying "Stalling" when commencing the stall count

• The Spirit Captain approaches the other teams Spirit Captain who watches this player themselves and then talks to the player about stalling correctly
  

Scenario C: There was a lengthy on field discussion where all players involved were unsure of what the appropriate outcome was in the rules

• During a team huddle the Spirit Captain tells the whole team what the relevant rules were regarding that situation
  

Scenario D: A player is immediately contesting all calls without listening to the oppositions opinion

• The Spirit Captain talks to the player on the sideline and reminds this player about the importance of playing with Good Spirit
  

SELECTING A SPIRIT CAPTAIN

In choosing a Spirit Captain, the following should be considered:

• They should have an excellent knowledge of the current rule set, and also a good understanding of its application
• They should be a senior player within the team, such that all other players will respect and listen to them if needed
• They should be able to maintain a clear, calm, objective view of the game
• They should be willing and able to approach opposing Spirit Captains and their own players, and communicate clearly and respectfully in a pressure situation.

Worlds Pics

Back from Vancouver

Proper musings on the tournie and coming 5th will be forthcoming

Just pics for now:

Pics by Abra's Dad here: http://picasaweb.google.com/rjhberg

Watching the opening ceremony


Chase and I on the sideline of AUS v USA


Circle after AUS v USA game


The hair

Posting Delays

Apologies to all my thousands of loyal readers for the lack of posting

I have been very busy and haven't had the net at home

I have been invited to join in on the WFDF Ultimate Rules Committee and have already contributed the track changes doc for the new rule:

New Rules 2008

New Rules 2008 Appendix

Summary of Changes 2008

Track Changes 2008

I will make a proper post about the big issues from the rules, but if anyone wants to provide comment on the rules, feel free to do so here, I may be able to do something about it.

I would really like to be able to put together a video package with short snippets that show what a pick is, what incidental contact is, what a travel is, what a blocking foul is etc etc. This could soo easily help people across the world understand the rules in a consistent manner. One day!

I have also been busy as the Assistant Coach of the Australian Mens Team "The Dingos"

http://sites.google.com/site/australiandingos/

I have learnt heaps of things in this role and will probably write it all down when I come back from Vancouver in August.

Go Dingos!!

I have also been 're-elected' (no one else wanted to do it) as VFDA President, which takes up a chunk of my time as well.

So apologies again for the lack of posting, and if you are looking for something that is actually good to read about Ultimate, go here:
http://www.the-huddle.org/

Nationals 2008

Heads of State came 5th at Nationals – an improvement on last year and we got to the Pre-Semi. Plus there was a NZ team above us so that makes us one of the top 4 Clubs in Australia. Yeah HoS.

Here are my thoughts on National 2008:

Fields
Everyone getting a fair go is a great thing, but at a frisbee tournament like Nationals, the emphasis should be on the best teams and the most important games. It seams that every team got a chance to play on the stadium field – which was in magnificent condition – however I don’t think this should have been the case. HoS were forced to battle against I Beam in the Pre Semi on a paddock of mud, while games of less importance were played in the stadium and on fields 3-5 (the only good fields not in the stadium). The NZ v Chilly Pre Semi was moved to a better field that was free at the time, but there were no free fields for us to move to. Preference should be given to the most important games at nationals when considering who plays on the good field. This could be achieved in the draw by simply identifying before hand which games are the most significant and stating that these game will be played on the best fields available.

HoS v I Beam - Pre Semi

Spirit – HoS v FU
So it seems most people at the tournie heard about this game. I don’t want to cast aspersions on teams here, just look at some of the issues. But to give some context to those who haven’t heard: It was the number 1 seed v 4 seed to go top of our pool and avoid Fakulti in the next Pool. It was a very close game with the lead seesawing. It got to 14-14 – double game point. HoS threw what they believed to be the game winning goal several times only to find that a foul/travel/pick had been called. I make no comment about whether these calls were correct or not – I didn’t have best perspective. However FU eventually went on to score a goal to “win” the game and HoS was heartbroken.

The issue here I believe is regarding the perception of making different calls at the crunch points than you do during any other point. There had not been an extravagant amount of calls prior to the last couple of points and I would say it had been played in fairly good spirit to that point. This discrepancy between the majority of the game and the final crucial point is what concerns me. When two teams play they establish a framework for how that game is to be played – is it a bit more physical than usual – will all travels be called or only ones that have a significant effect – ie to break the mark or get off a huck?.

Sometimes there are expectations to this – ie a good team playing a not so good team – sometimes the good team won’t bother making some calls early in the game when they know that the result of the call won’t significantly affect the outcome. However for high level games between good teams (especially at Nationals) I think that calls should be made regardless of context. You see similar issues arise in AFL – umpires will make calls early in the game regarding holding the ball or pushes in the back and teams, fans and commentators expect them to be consistent throughout the whole game.

A tone is usually set early in the game and identifies for each team how the rules will be enforced for that game. When the crunch times come – I believe that this tone should be maintained. Teams should make the same calls on Double Game Point that they would have made on the first point – circumstances shouldn’t change how you enforce the rules of the game.

Personal Highlights
I think I played the best in both games against Chilly. I felt like I could get the disc either short or long at will and when the disc went up – I bought it down. If you use your body position well you should always catch a disc that is thrown so that you are in between the disc and your defender. The layout D on the endzone line on Luke was clearly the standout moment for me – I got the best compliment on D I have ever gotten – someone said they thought it was Macca who got the D!!!! Other highlights for the weekend were the series of layout catches I got when I was cutting back under and the throw was either headed straight for the ground or missed its intended target. Once the disc hit my hand – it stayed there. Again I got to toe the line and fall flat on my face to catch a few wayward passes – I think I have a great track record for this – practise makes perfect. The key is to quickly establish where the line is – set your feet – and then focus on the disc.


Throwing Decisions
Having identified that poor throwing decisions was a major weakness in my game I think that I had a very successful weekend in attempting to control this. There were several times where I received the disc up field and could have tried to throw an iffy pass for the score but I just stopped and turned to engage my dump. And when I did choose to throw it long – most of the time it worked – or at least it was a good option. This shows to me the benefit in trying to identify your weaknesses and then doing something about it – if you don’t loose focus on this goal you can improve your game. It just takes time.


WUGC selection fallout
I had been fairly philosophical about not making the mixed team for WUGC but one moment brought up the most passion I have ever felt on a frisbee field that made me aware how much it hurt not to make the team. Against FU I was being marked by Adam Mortimer (a selector of the mixed team) and Wood had the disc. I cut long for his IO backhand which he delivered and I got up and took the catch for the score. The fact that Wood – who also didn’t make the team – had thrown it and that it was a catch over a selector just set me on fire. It wasn’t anything against Adam specifically and it wasn’t that it was an amazing catch (I would think I should always take catches over Adam if it is thrown to my advantage) but it just bought up this amazingly intense feeling: “hey – I got cut but FUCK I was good enough to make that team”. I was completely overwhelmed and ran up to Wood screaming some nonsense and gave him a huge high 10. It was our way of saying: “look what you missed out on”. I never knew that I can have such an intense feeling – hopefully I can get it again but for a more positive reason!

Rules – Ground Strip
Awhile back I woke up in the middle of the night with a rule conundrum: a D player lays out for the D and after he hits the ground he is no longer holding the disc. The D player claims it was a ground strip, but the O players say they just let go of the disc after they landed – double turnover. This would be a contested turnover – but where would the disc go back to? The O player who threw the disc that got D’d? Surely not! The D player? That was where the last undisputed possession was – both teams agree that the D player had possession – they just disagree HOW they came to be dispossessed. I told this to a few people on Thurday night of Nationals and they all said – pah – it will never happen. It happened twice the next day!

I was on the sideline when it happened in a HoS game and while I don’t approve of sideline players interjecting into the play unnecessarily – I felt I had to make a comment here. One of the opposing players was claiming that it was a turnover regardless of whether it was a ground strip or not. I am happy for players to discuss their views on what happened in a play but not what the rules are when they are clearly wrong. Eventually the discussion was resolved and the other team accepted Macca’s word that he was ground stripped and another HoS player put the disc into play. However had it still been contested the disc would simply have had to go back to Macca to put the disc into play.

Rules – asking for and following advice
When I am involved in a potential foul situation I make a point to ask my teammates what they thought happened. You can rarely tell exactly what happened when you are involved and focussed purely on the disc. Other people can have a much better view and can provide valuable advice about what happened. If they say they don’t think it was a foul – I don’t call it. If they say it didn’t affect – I don’t call it. Likewise if one of my teammates is unsure of a call (to contest or make a call themselves) and I have an opinion I will tell them – even if it goes against my team. We are ALL responsible for the rules. Too many times at Nationals I saw teams look away when an incorrect call was made and not overrule them or other players not listen when they were told by team mates there was no call at all. Always remember Rule 1.5.1:

1.5. The following actions are considered good spirit:
1.5.1. Informing a teammate immediately if they have made a wrong or unnecessary call or caused a foul or violation.

Photos from Roger Barnes: http://frisbee.mindsocket.com.au/

Heads of State win Southern Regionals!

A little late as usual I know, but what can you do?

Sorry to spoil the suspense of this post in the title, but Heads of State won Southern Regionals (which you probably already knew) (and they will be number 1 seed at Nationals!) (which you probably also already knew).

This was the 2nd tournament win for Hos (HoS won Junior Nats back in 2006)

Despite feeling quite sick before the tournie, personally this was one of my best tournies ever. Notable notes from the Weekend:

Play as a Team:

This was the best I have seen HoS play as a team. Somehow we realised early in the weekend that just hucking was not going to work on O, so we played some of the most effective O I have ever been involved in. Risky long shots were rarely taken and we were extremely patient on O. If we can replicate this at Nationals we will be hard to stop on O.

Use Your Body!

I cannot over emphasise how important it is to use your body to maintain position when going for the disc. If you are between your defender and the likely catchable endpoint of a throw – you should catch it every time. And if you do this well you can even catch it without having to jump - as a two handed pancake catch with both feet on the ground. I did this several times at Regionals and all it involves is NOT running as fast as you can to where the disc will be catchable (this only applies if you are ahead of your defender). As you get closer to the catchable point, slow down and don’t let your defender past you. Usually they are watching the disc, so will run right into you – brace for this contact – then – for me at least – they bounce backwards and I move closer to the disc where I catch it with ease. If this is confusing – don’t worry – I think I will make a whole post just about body positioning one day.

Toe The Line Part 2

They had tape for the lines which was quite interesting. Unfortunately they weren’t tight enough so sometimes the line moved a fair away in/out of bounds. I much preferred NOT having the endzone line taped though – I think it’s too risky that people could trip over it. Anyway, at one point against Chilly I toed the line on a throw that was going out the back and Wheelie called me out. I was confident that I had kept my toe down on the ground and his argument was that I had touched the tape BEFORE I had caught the disc. I obviously couldn’t tell which had happened first but was certain that the two events – catching the disc and touching the tape – had happened very close to each other. My discussion with Wheelie revolved around how he could tell what had happened first? As he was right next to me when I took the catch he couldn’t possibly have been looking at both my feet and the catch at the same time. Therefore I felt it was inconclusive and the disc should go back – which it did. From my previous experience with toeing the line (see Ultitalk profile pic) I knew that people are very bad at judging when a player catches it relative to when their foot crosses line (or moves for a travel call). Therefore I think it’s fair that in such close calls if no one was in a goes enough position to see both things AT THE SAME TIME – that the disc should go back. To Wheelies credit the discussion was had very amicable and was resolved quite well.

Definition of a Catch

Against Karma, K was going for a disc in the endzone right near the sideline. He attempted to do a greatest, but stuffed it up – his foot was down when he made contact with the disc – then he jumped and tried to throw the disc back infield but the disc went straight to the ground. Some Karma players claimed it was still a goal which I disputed. The rules define a catch as: “Sustained contact with, and control of, a non-spinning disc”. My feeling was that he didn’t actually have control of the disc, but Piers overruled me and it was deemed a goal (we were leading by a few goals at the time and were 1 point away from points cap).

Later I had a chat with Pottsy about it and his feeling was that it was actually a goal – so who am I to argue? What this means is that if you are making a tough catch in the endzone, as soon as you make ground contact after catching the disc – you can throw it away to avoid being ground stripped! And it’s still a goal!

IO Backhand

I threw my most memorable Inside Out Backhand ever. I had gotten the disc in power position on the right hand side and Doobie was cutting long between two defenders. I ripped this IO backhand with a lot of force that curled around perfectly for Doobie to run onto. As soon as I threw it I got that horrible feeling in my stomach that it was the wrong decision, but then he caught it and I felt fantastic! Anytime I needed to smile in the days following that tournie, all I had to do was think of that throw :-) That’s why I love this game.

D tussles

I had some nice man on man D tussles with Freise and John Liddi, neither time I got a block, but I’m certain I made their lives a lot harder. The reason I was able to play such hard D was mostly because of Owen heckling me from the sideline. He was yelling at me non stop and I just wanted to shut him up – but no matter how hard I thought I was running he kept yelling at me to run harder – so I did. This inspired me partly because Owen was one of the Worlds selectors and being better on D was one of the things I was told I needed to wok on. It was amazing how much difference it made though and I hope I keep getting hassled like that and performing, but also that I remember to hassle other people to get similar results from them.

Stop Checking The Disc!!!

It amazes me how often I see players checking the disc unnecessarily, even at high level games. The rules about checking the disc are very clear:

9. Putting the Disc into Play

9.1. Putting the disc into play means that the offensive player in
possession of the disc establishes a pivot point (typically their foot) at the point on the Field of Play as specified.

9.2. If no Check is required, the disc may be put into play immediately.

11. The Check

11.1. Whenever play stops during a point for a time-out, foul, disputed possession, violation, safety stoppage or injury stoppage, play is restarted with a Check.

So in the following situations you DO NOT HAVE TO CHECK THE DISC:

• The disc is on the ground after a turnover
• The disc is in the endzone after a turnover and you are bringing it up to the endzone line
• There is a turnover and the disc has gone out of bounds
• Momentum takes you out of bounds after catching the disc
• Momentum takes you into the endzone after catching the disc
• A brick or middle is called after the pull

In these situations all you need to do is establish a pivot point at the appropriate point and you are away. The number of times I have been able to get a quick pass away because the d isn’t ready or is waiting for me to check the disc is amazing. And the number of times I have seen free passes not taken while a player holds out the disc for the d to touch is more amazing still.

Basically, when there is a call – you need to check the disc – otherwise start playing!

This goes for when you are marking too. Don’t wait for the thrower to hold out the disc and then tap it in to see them get an easy break throw off. As soon as they have a pivot point, have that mark set up and start stalling them.

Doing this is not being bad spirited – it is knowing and obeying the rules – which is good spirit. If more people started playing by the rules, more people will be able to learn what the REAL rules are!

WUGC 2008

Over the last month I have been involved in the selection process for the teams to represent Australia at the Would Ultimate Guts Championships to be held in Canada in August.

Unfortunately I wasn’t successful in this process and therefore won’t be going to this event.

Still, I was able to learn a few things in the process and have made some observations:

Training:

At the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) we were given a talk about Strength and Conditioning training. The key point I took away from this is that training helps you get good at what you train at. If you train at running 10km, you will get good at that, but that may not help your Ultimate game unless that is what you do on the field. This has helped me re-evaluate how I train and I think there is a lot more work that could be done in Ultimate to find ways of training which make us better ant the things we do on a frisbee field. Maybe handlers and cutters should be doing completely different types of training?




Cool down at the AIS

There are some great players in Australia:

At the first training camp which included the prospective Dingoes as well, I got to play with some top quality players. It was great to finally be on the receiving end of a Matt Dowle hammer, rather than watching it sail over my head on D. I think Australia has a really good chance of taking it to the world – especially in the Open division.

Selection Process:

Waiting is the worst part. Especially when you are waiting for something NOT to happen. The way the process worked was that the team was finalised and then the selectors rang to inform those that didn’t make it. This meant everyone was waiting for their phone NOT to ring. I suggest a better process:
*Team is finalised

*Email sent to players outlining
- team has been finalised
- which selector will be providing feedback to which players.
- when selectors will be available to provide feedback (ie 9am – 9pm, 12-2 and 5-9 etc.) and their contact details

*If unsuccessful players have not contacted selectors by the next day then the selectors try and call them.

*After all unsuccessful players have been contacted the team is emailed out to everyone.

This process would put the power of when they find out back into the hands of the players, so at least you have some control over WHEN they find out if they made the team. The current process is unnecessarily painful for all players involved.

Goal Scoring:

Obviously I am biased because I didn’t make the team, but I am unsure of what value the selectors put in players who are primarily focused on scoring goals. I think there were several people in the Mixed squad who were legitimate goals scorers – they go out on the field to score goals, and when the chips are down they can get on the field to score a goal and will more than not deliver. Out of the final team that was picked I don’t see enough players who are legitimate goal scorers. Sometimes these people may be over looked because they can be seen to be just on the end of a good throw or be in the right place at the right time. But the ability to score goals is more than just good luck and it takes a specific type of player – hopefully some of these emerge for the Mundis.

Incumbency:

Of all the previous Aussie reps who made the original squad, only one did not make a team (sorry Boo Boo). It seems that if you had a spot on the team before, you have a very strong chance of making the team next time. Or the players that did make it last time who felt a bit unsure of whether they could make the team this time, withdrew rather than have to be cut. Experience is always going to be a valuable attribute in a selection process, but for only 1 incumbent to miss out is a very high percentage of incumbents making the teams.

Perseverance:

The biggest highlight of the selection process in my mind was Seb Barr making the Mundis. Seb missed out on making the Thunder team for Boston in 06, but kept training like the Thunder boys and kept trying to get better. All this paid off and he now has a spot on the Australian team, whereas a lot of the 06 Thunder players actually missed out. He is a true example of perseverance paying off. Well done Seb!

Expectations:

After the final Mixed selection camp I took a definite step about my expectations. Despite having done all I could to present myself as a valuable player worthy of selection, I decided that it would be easier to accept that I had NOT made the team and deal with that feeling then and their, rather than cling to a hope that I would make the team. I still felt that I could make the team, but I was fully prepared not to make it. This meant that I was either going to be proved right, not make the team, and be OK about it, or be proved wrong, make the team, and be ecstatic. I think this made it much easier to deal with the actuality of not being selected and is a useful lesson that I can use both on and off the frisbee field – accept the worst, and if your wrong – that’s great!

One Percenters

As I prepare for the Selection Camp for WUGC 08 at the AIS next weekend I got thinking about the small things that make a big difference on the ultimate field.

In AFL they call these things "One Percenters", like smothers and tackles etc.

In Ultimate we have key core skills: running, catching, throwing, reading the disc, jumping, laying out. To be an elite player you have to be good at all those things. The one perecenters are things outside these core skills that don't take a lot of skill, just an awareness that they need to be done. They are also the things that separate good players from great players.

The things I think come under the"One Percenter" banner (even though I think they are worth more than one perecent) are :

Faking with Purpose
A lot of intermediate players seem to fake just for the sake of faking. But good players sometimes just stand still with the disc until they actually know where they want to throw it, then they fake to move the marker to get the disc where they want it.

Holding the Force
This is obviously crucial, both when marking and guarding. Knowing the force is a key component of this as is NOT going for point blocks on the open side.

Talking
This is both on and off the fields. Calls such as: Up, Strike, Switch, No break

Catching D's
So many times people get undone by this, but they keep macking those D's - CATCH THEM!

Clearing Hard
If you make a cut and don't get the disc, cut just as hard back to the stack

Backing Up
When the disc goes deep and you are not nearby, either on O or D, you need to sprint hard to help out.

Engaging the Dump
At whatever count the team rule is you need to look at the dump and then not look anywhere else.

Transitioning Quickly
When there is a change from either D to O or vice versa, you need to change to the new state as quickly as possible - sometimes even before the turnover has actually happened.

Attacking the Disc
Never wait for the disc to come to you - ATTACK IT!

These all sound like such simple things, but if you could ensure you remembered to do all of them every game, I think your effectiveness would increase dramatically. As well as being useful to remember when playing at an elite level, these things are also useful to remember when teaching beginners/intermediate players - they are simple tips to pass on that can dramatically increase the effectiveness of every player, regardless of their 'core skills'.