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.