Cork's Buzz #1
Okay guys, I finally got my account fixed here so you will be hearing from me alot probably. I hope all of your summers are going great and Im really lookin forward to the fall.
Alas, These are not stories from late night escapades or drunken jousting with teammates' girlfriends, but a few helpful things that you may like to read.
Here is my first in a complementary line of posts to go with squat's thoughts:
To start off, I want to talk about being heads-up on the field. One understated aspect of ultimate is how long the disc can be in the air. Compared to ball sports, it's basically forever. What this means for you is that there are many more opportunities to be in the "right place at the right time" even if you aren't the intended receiver or the active defender on a play. I call this the "Derek Jeter" effect, similar to how, in the playoffs against the A's a few years ago, Jeter (a shortstop) was in position between the pitcher's mound and home plate to give the ball thrown from the outfield an extra little push to get the out at home plate.
The Video Papers archive on the "links" page is an excellent resource because analysis is combined with good visual examples. These are much more effective at communicating concepts in ultimate than mere explanations.
So, take a look at Follow the Play.
You can watch the entire video through one time from the intro page, but make sure to click on the 'examples' link because it will allow you to watch each clip one at a time. Furthermore, the video paper's author will have commentary associated with each individual segment of the clip.
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One lesson to take away from these examples is that, while you're on the field, you shouldn't stop moving very often. Ultimate is a battle for position. On the lowest level, it is a one-on-one battle which is glamorous, and one of pure physicality (who can jump highest or run fastest). But, ultimate doesn't need to be a "fair" game: you can stack the odds in favor of your team by involving yourself in somebody else's play.
It reminds me of the last official point I ever played for my first competitive team (in high school). A huck went up to our biggest receiver for what would be the winning score, if he caught it. It looked like it was a sure thing and many people just stood on the field watching, but unfortunately, though he had beat his defender, the wind was just strong enough to send the disc sailing past his (and his defender's) outstretched finger tips. Fortunately for our team, my brother had trailed my teammate and his defender by about 10 meters (and was offset horizontally by 10 meters) and was able to snag the disc that no one else had a chance at. It would have been easy to stop and watch as we "won" the game on a "sure" pass to our "big receiver".
On the flip side, I'm sure we can all think of instances where we gave up on a disc only to see it pop back up or hang due to the wind. On defense, I see people give up when they've been beat by their guy, only to see that the disc hung and that there would have been a chance to D the disc. The object lesson here is "DON'T GIVE UP!". Also, work hard for your position. You might think a lot of these plays are based on luck, but you create some of your own luck just by being there.
One final thought: what does it take for you to be able to "be there" all the time? Or asked a different way, why might you stop running when the disc goes up to someone other than you or your defender?
Alas, These are not stories from late night escapades or drunken jousting with teammates' girlfriends, but a few helpful things that you may like to read.
Here is my first in a complementary line of posts to go with squat's thoughts:
To start off, I want to talk about being heads-up on the field. One understated aspect of ultimate is how long the disc can be in the air. Compared to ball sports, it's basically forever. What this means for you is that there are many more opportunities to be in the "right place at the right time" even if you aren't the intended receiver or the active defender on a play. I call this the "Derek Jeter" effect, similar to how, in the playoffs against the A's a few years ago, Jeter (a shortstop) was in position between the pitcher's mound and home plate to give the ball thrown from the outfield an extra little push to get the out at home plate.
The Video Papers archive on the "links" page is an excellent resource because analysis is combined with good visual examples. These are much more effective at communicating concepts in ultimate than mere explanations.
So, take a look at Follow the Play.
You can watch the entire video through one time from the intro page, but make sure to click on the 'examples' link because it will allow you to watch each clip one at a time. Furthermore, the video paper's author will have commentary associated with each individual segment of the clip.
-----
One lesson to take away from these examples is that, while you're on the field, you shouldn't stop moving very often. Ultimate is a battle for position. On the lowest level, it is a one-on-one battle which is glamorous, and one of pure physicality (who can jump highest or run fastest). But, ultimate doesn't need to be a "fair" game: you can stack the odds in favor of your team by involving yourself in somebody else's play.
It reminds me of the last official point I ever played for my first competitive team (in high school). A huck went up to our biggest receiver for what would be the winning score, if he caught it. It looked like it was a sure thing and many people just stood on the field watching, but unfortunately, though he had beat his defender, the wind was just strong enough to send the disc sailing past his (and his defender's) outstretched finger tips. Fortunately for our team, my brother had trailed my teammate and his defender by about 10 meters (and was offset horizontally by 10 meters) and was able to snag the disc that no one else had a chance at. It would have been easy to stop and watch as we "won" the game on a "sure" pass to our "big receiver".
On the flip side, I'm sure we can all think of instances where we gave up on a disc only to see it pop back up or hang due to the wind. On defense, I see people give up when they've been beat by their guy, only to see that the disc hung and that there would have been a chance to D the disc. The object lesson here is "DON'T GIVE UP!". Also, work hard for your position. You might think a lot of these plays are based on luck, but you create some of your own luck just by being there.
One final thought: what does it take for you to be able to "be there" all the time? Or asked a different way, why might you stop running when the disc goes up to someone other than you or your defender?
1 Comments:
PC writes good blogs.
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