Intro: This semester was defined by people stepping up into new roles. This ranges from captains knowing what works and doesn't work in terms of intra-team communication to a freshman becoming a handler. While reflecting on the past few ultimate months I realized team turmoil was inevitable and guaranteed because of these new roles. I wish we didn't have and had so much tension and hate on the team, but at this point it is something we all need to accept. People do not change for others, they only change for themselves. All we can do is treat others how we would like to be treated and hopefully the hotheaded on our team will soon mirror and match our positive attitudes. In a way I am imploring the sophomore class to be a model of respect within the class and to others.
I too stepped into a new role this semester, handler. I fucked up a lot early on and I fucked up a lot later on. Fucked up in terms of unforced errors on the field. Drops, bad throws and unnecessary hucks. I do hope to become a weapon in offense and defense but at the same time not take unnecessary risks. AC and Fickles have told me both things in different situations which implies to me that I need to find a happy Buddhist medium in my play. This is what I strive for next semester, conservative yet dangerous. Like Cheney! Lolololololol.
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Offense:
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Throwing
Backhand: Hucks hucks hucks hucks hucks. It's apparent that I can throw great deep shots when I am in the zone, but what about when I am cognizant of the throwing motion? Usually I fail when that is the case. Something to work on. How to improve? Throw more often outside of practice.
Flick: Hucks hucks hucks hucks hucks. 1 for 5 work. It will be more like 9 for 10 by the end of the season. How to get there? Throw more often outside of practice
Hammers: Is a fast and bullet-y hammer ok to throw? A hammer will be hard to catch regardless...maybe not a good line of reasoning. If not ok to throw, how does one practice better hammers?
Cutting
Handling so much took away from improving my cutting. It didn't get worse but I hesitate to say it got any better. How to improve this situation? Get better at handling then think about cutting.
Handling
Dump cuts were shitty...shallow predictable cuts.
Miscues on throws, risky spur of the moment short throws. Gotta holster baby.
Habit of dumping at 3 as a main handler. From cutting. Need to hold for at least two more stall counts.
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Defense:
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Downfield
Staying on your mans hip really works, thank you Kyle.
I realized I have the quickness to stay with my man on his hip, so why not do it.
Handler
Seems like it has gotten worse for some reason. I think it is due to body and foot positioning. Body angled towards the man and push where you want them to go. On the balls of the feet.
Mark
Broken tons. After CUFF I took the time to admit it's my job to cut off only half the field, not the whole thing. It is now pretty solid. Simiar to Bobby I need to work on cutting off the breakside then closing in on a swing. Did it twice in practice, essentially instinct now, hopefully.
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Overall:
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How I improved last year was all due to my humility and thirst for knowledge. I need to remind myself that I do not know everything about ultimate. I need to remind myself to ask tons of questions concerning how to play. These two things will vastly improve my game next semester. Deliberate and periodical practice of basic ultimate mechanics will also help. Gotta go back to square one my friends, with the coming of every new season.
This blog will be a great way for our class to express our ideas, suggestions, and perhaps frustrations with the game that we play in the years to come, as we strive to improve ourselves and others on the team.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Bobby Fall Eval
Thanks to Niji pestering me (thanks dude) i finally got around to this, you all should too, only takes about 15 minutes and i think its a pretty good way to think back and recap the semester in ultimate
Offense:
Throwing:
Backhand: Improved my backhand A LOT, granted it was really terrible so this was something that I really needed to do, kinda random but watching Cody throw really helped me cause I pretty much just tried to mimic his throwing motion in a couple ways and it worked out for me
Flick: I think my hucks have kinda gotten a lil worse which is disappointing, I probably need to rework my flicks a bit cause im definitely turning over my wrist so real bladey throws and I can’t throw into wind at all
Overall: id like a chance to handle a little bit both to improve my in game throwing and cause id like the chance to do it
Cutting: I think I have improved A LOT in this category, mostly cause I was pretty shitty to start the year, still need a lot of improvements going forward. Need to especially work on cutting deep more often, for some reason I rarely do it but I started doing it more near the end of the year and it definitely opened up a lot of opportunities for me on offense. While I was out with my concussion I watched people cut and realized 2 things: 1) it is ridiculously easy to cut if you are sold on where you want to go cause playing defense its pretty hard to cover someone when they know what they want to do and you don’t know where they are gonna go (see this in Tristan all the time, going into the cut you can see that he knows where he wants to go even if you don’t know where, ends up working pretty well for him I think) 2) patience is a virtue, you don’t need to get the disc all the time to be a successful cutter and you don’t need to be cutting all the time to help the team get score, one thing that I learned was that sometimes it’s best to recognize that someone else wants to cut one way and make a cut where you know you won’t get the disc just to pull your man away from the area
Defense:
Down-field: Pretty good, didn’t really improve as much as I would have liked, I think I tend to be a little bit poachy I think at times, need to listen to Kyle Minner’s advice to stay closer to my man, I want to start working on recognizing the field better, as well as trying understanding where the thrower wants to put it and going to that spot instead of just following my man there
Dump D: pretty good, mostly I have worked on preventing strike throws so I kinda position myself to make it impossible I think I might be letting swings/dumps off a little too easy, something to work on there
Mark: Still pretty shitty but definite improvement from last year, need to work more on cutting off the swing throw if possible, mostly just try to be more active, stay low and balanced, and maybe start to work in some foot blocks?
Overall: Get in shape for the spring, don’t drink as much, probly try to stay a lil less cocky (not intentional, just real excited to play, but some people have mentioned it soooo I’ll pay more attention to that, I guess kinda weird cause I don’t think I was cocky last year) mostly just need to set a better example for the freshman of not being a douche, and most importantly, to me at least, DON’T HURT MY HEAD AGAIN
Offense:
Throwing:
Backhand: Improved my backhand A LOT, granted it was really terrible so this was something that I really needed to do, kinda random but watching Cody throw really helped me cause I pretty much just tried to mimic his throwing motion in a couple ways and it worked out for me
Flick: I think my hucks have kinda gotten a lil worse which is disappointing, I probably need to rework my flicks a bit cause im definitely turning over my wrist so real bladey throws and I can’t throw into wind at all
Overall: id like a chance to handle a little bit both to improve my in game throwing and cause id like the chance to do it
Cutting: I think I have improved A LOT in this category, mostly cause I was pretty shitty to start the year, still need a lot of improvements going forward. Need to especially work on cutting deep more often, for some reason I rarely do it but I started doing it more near the end of the year and it definitely opened up a lot of opportunities for me on offense. While I was out with my concussion I watched people cut and realized 2 things: 1) it is ridiculously easy to cut if you are sold on where you want to go cause playing defense its pretty hard to cover someone when they know what they want to do and you don’t know where they are gonna go (see this in Tristan all the time, going into the cut you can see that he knows where he wants to go even if you don’t know where, ends up working pretty well for him I think) 2) patience is a virtue, you don’t need to get the disc all the time to be a successful cutter and you don’t need to be cutting all the time to help the team get score, one thing that I learned was that sometimes it’s best to recognize that someone else wants to cut one way and make a cut where you know you won’t get the disc just to pull your man away from the area
Defense:
Down-field: Pretty good, didn’t really improve as much as I would have liked, I think I tend to be a little bit poachy I think at times, need to listen to Kyle Minner’s advice to stay closer to my man, I want to start working on recognizing the field better, as well as trying understanding where the thrower wants to put it and going to that spot instead of just following my man there
Dump D: pretty good, mostly I have worked on preventing strike throws so I kinda position myself to make it impossible I think I might be letting swings/dumps off a little too easy, something to work on there
Mark: Still pretty shitty but definite improvement from last year, need to work more on cutting off the swing throw if possible, mostly just try to be more active, stay low and balanced, and maybe start to work in some foot blocks?
Overall: Get in shape for the spring, don’t drink as much, probly try to stay a lil less cocky (not intentional, just real excited to play, but some people have mentioned it soooo I’ll pay more attention to that, I guess kinda weird cause I don’t think I was cocky last year) mostly just need to set a better example for the freshman of not being a douche, and most importantly, to me at least, DON’T HURT MY HEAD AGAIN
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