Words of Wisdom from "The 2002 Water Polo Handbook" Part 1

I'm going to join the Sydney Uni 6th Grade team I think.
I found this booklet, its full of wisdom and I think its even good for Frisbee on some of the mental/training/coaching aspects.

This is an absolute Gem, I'll post bits of it over the next few posts.

ATTRIBUTES OF A TOP FIELD PLAYER
Or what selectors look for

In Training:

1. Is punctual
2. Is regular
3. Is Relaxed
4. Will listen
5. Does concentrate
6. Sets targets for each session
7. Is Coachable

In the game:

1. Has Ball Skills
2. Can read the game
3. Has threatening outside shot
4. Has driving maneuverability
5. Can hold position at centre forward
6. Can score at center forward
7. Can defend at centre back
8. Has swimming ability

Between sessions and games:

1. Evaluates each performance
2. Looks after injuries
3. Discusses things with coach

Before sessions and games

1. Prepares mentally
2. Stretches and warms up properly.

For Frisbee I think i'd change the in game skills to:

1. Has Ball Skills - Has disc skills
   
2. Can read the game
3. Has threatening outside shot - Has a threatening huck
   
4. Has driving maneuverability - Is agile and quick on feet
   
5. Can hold position at centre forward - Can get open deep and in the endzone short play
   
6. Can score at center forward - Can sky it if things come down to it (The point of scoring at CF means that they are a very physically dominating player - which is why I chose skying, as I felt it was just about getting a good read, good position and jumping high,all things a good CF can do)
   
7. Can defend at centre back - Can play both effective man defense and zone.
   
8. Has swimming ability - Has strong tournament endurance.
   

How many of these things do YOU have?

Hitting the Deck, Limits and the Crowd

Its a big psychological thing to get into the habit of laying for the disc, one of the most fun drills I've done in a while, introduced by I think it was Rhys at Fak training "The Circle of Pain," or as he described it "Circle of Fame," for the women.

Its just you make a big circle, one disc, one person in the middle, feet on the ground disc is throw at the person in the middle, and they have to dive for it, with no steps towards it except the lay out.

It was a lot easier to hit the ground for the disc and the adrenaline was already flowing as it got close to my turn to step up, I didn't feel the ground and I bounced right back up as a combined Fakulti yelled at me "BACK UP ON YOUR FEET QUICK QUICK!"

Hell it was the first time I'd ever seen Fakulti genuinely fired up at a training session. Big circle people laying left right and backwards and some amazing grabs, nor did I realise the whole team was so adept at diving for the disc.

I know myself I wouldn't have before so willingly just jumped out as far and as high as I could onto the ground, one bruise came up on my thigh today as well and to be honest I didn't even know I was capable of one of the grabs that I did. Usually I wouldn't even have bothered. I didn't even know that catch was within my limits, but I learnt yesterday it will often take a mistake or a bit of pain to learn those limits, and to be able to play a perfect game to your limits always will make you an unstoppable force in any competitive sport.

It's not always easy to find those, we're taught always catch with two hands if you can, and I wouldn't argue with that, I don't want someone dropping the universal scoring point because he made a lazy grab. It is part of your training to practice 100% completion and never play lazily.

Last nights training session was something new, two of the drills we did were about testing and finding your limits.

I remember Pier's at the Youth Nats camp saying he had two modes for us to work in, experimental and completion modes. Experimentation was about finding what you could do and completion was about working it to 100%.

Since then I don't think I've done enough experimentation work. We had one drill last night just someone throws the disc to you, and puts a mark on and you have to throw it as quickly as you can. One of my throws I had Matt Dowle on the mark, went around for that backhand and thought that his long arms were too far in the way and I took a lazy forehand option (not the point of the drill) Ken yelled out at me "Why didn't you backhand you were already around him!"

I didn't even know the extent of my own reach. The next time that mark came on, I reached that point and thought hey, Ken was probably right and threw it. It came out as a pretty dodgy just catchable throw, but still there.

Learning those limits I just found out was crucial and its always important to not fear that failure or drop. Its all about learning.

The other thing I learned was the power of the crowd.
Being able to fire up your friends and team mates can be such a powerful tool.

Not just from getting from really good to amazing but sport is so often about psychological game and who wants it most. If a team thinks it can't win, it won't win. Ever.

We had some unfair come backs at Youth Nats last year, from 7-3 half times to 8-7 wins. The change in the pace of the game was every single time when we as a team realised that this was our game and we could take it if we wanted it. One game I remember being on the field against Church St, someone yelled at one of they're players "CUT CUT CUT," to which he replied "I can't! I can't!"

When our whole team circled up breaths heaving, sweat dripping down our faces exhausted, savouring the brief moments of rest a look of defeat across everyone's faces. It's hard having 5 points in a row scored against you. It took that moment of realisation and empathy to know that we'd been playing for 3 days (the training camp) and it was our last game. It wasn't time to stop now. Hell we were tired, but one look at the other team and the things they said and that moment of realisation that they, they're only human can do an amazing thing to a team.

I remember at the training camp, one of the scrimmmages we had, I was handling. Disc on the sideline of the field, man defense, I look at the stack. They're all waiting. I wait for the stall count a little longer up to 4 before I look to dump. The front of the stack runs forwards on a half arsed cut, blocked off clears slowly into the dump lane, high stall count forces a crappy throw which is d'd.

We stop for halftime, I think I told people what had happened, and they realised it too, it was the last game of the day before we all headed home so everyone wasn't trying. A quick reminder about the selectors watching and the few minutes left needed was enough to make everyone realise what they needed to do.

Its amazing what a simple realisation of the reality around them that can so heavily effect a person's psychological approach to a game.

Same situation after the break. Alex Allan makes eye contact with me, busts deep, but I know what he wants, I fake down low to the break side as Allan turns around again burning his defender for the in cut, the man at the front of the stack see's it and busts deep, an easy clean open side throw to Allan as he turns and looks upfield to the deep cutter. In a moment the disc goes up as the close defenders stop running to change direction as the field screams "UUUUUUUP!" it's too late. It won't make a difference. The disc floats down gracefully into the possession of one of the screaming, sprinting and sweating White players.

Yeah Thunder.

Just one of those great days

I'm in such an optimistic life and Frisbee mood right now.

I've been feeling fitter and faster than ever before. When I run and jump I feel that much lighter.

Fakulti training has been challenging me and forcing me to improve more quickly and consistently than I have at any other period of my ultimate playing career.

The Worlds no drinking policy has actually saved me a lot of money, time and effort, though I've learnt it still won't save you from other people's drunken antics. I got picked up and dropped in a hole dug by drunk people at a small beach party I went to.

I really enjoy the Fakulti style of play, a smooth calm solid offense, reminds me of the NSB waterpolo style we had which was near silent against yelling screaming teams.

Also, I went to the Faculty welcome for Sydney Uni and they had an awesome free BBQ with free drinks, burgers, various vege wraps, sausage sandwiches and best of all drumsticks.

Tight/Aggressive Defence

In poker, many are taught that the ideal strategy is to play tight/aggressive. This means to play a less amount of hands, but to play those few hands in a very forceful manner.

At Barefak scrimmage tonight, it seemed to me that Fakulti's 'guard the unders' approach to stopping the in-cut was being hurt savagely by the opportunity it created for Barefoot's handlers to hammer to the weak side to score. And in Ultimate, that trade-off is sort of assumed - for whatever opportunity you deny the offence you are also giving them one, if not several, more.

The entire concept of a force, for example. Intentionally, there is a 'strong' side where cuts are directed and flow stilted but included also is a 'weak' side. An intentional - encouraged, assumed, fundamental - weakness in the defence. And let's face it. Marks do get broken. It could cost you the game at a higher level of play.

My ideal defence would play tight/aggressive. A straight up force - no such thing as a strong or weak side. Staying inside/outside your man limits his options in half (tight) but no matter where or what he cuts - deep or inside - he is chased down relentlessly never more than 2m away (aggressive).

T.

Damn lost again...

North Shore League Division 2. Friskee always come last or second last. We usually try to console our selves thinking "its ok, we'll win spirit"

This season we didnt spirit again.

01) Control Freaks 105/13 = 8.077
02) Cousin Sven 104/13 = 8.000
03) RuBi 100/13 = 7.692
04) Friskee 100/13 = 7.692 *

The star means we had a forfeit which means we got 0 for a game because we didn't turn up.

Damnit!

A Certain Loss of Identity... and a Fak social cell idea!

Share the love was a good team bonding experience, it was easy to tell how much we'd grown as a team, the start of the day you would have heard something like

"...
...
mark?"

"I'm Alex, I'm the one with the hat,"

I gave my hat to Mark to see if we could trick them or not.

"Semwhat?"
'Seinfeld whatever,"

Tonight I played poker at DY RSL came 15th out of a field of about 120, i pulled a bad beat on the bounty I all in out of position (short stacked like 3x bb) QTs I raise all in, bounty player calls with Ace's i hit straight on turn. Ouch.

But the good news is Tiger said he was addicted to facebook poker.
Maybe a poker day/night tournament would be a good fakulti social cell idea (from tiger)

Time Out

Time outs are not an area where I have a lot of experience in this game, but that's not because I don't know what time outs can achieve - anyone who's watched any sports movie ever knows the power of a midgame stoppage and pep talk - but more because the teams I've played for have so far neglected to use it.

Which is fair enough. Time outs are limited, so team antipathy towards a player for calling one at the wrong time or in the wrong situation is understandable. Also, like pick/foul calls, people who aren't that experienced/confident they can beat up their marker in the alleyway after the game would hesitate and be shy. Oh, and they shut down flow, as well.

But I've been thinking about time outs and how they could benefit a team, so I'm going to list four situations in Ultimate and then rank them in order of how necessary a time out would be. For this exercise, assume competent captains capable of really getting the team fired up, like Piers does with us juniors.

• A) Team A are up 6-4 against Team B. The teams are both relatively even in strength, and there is still a lot of time left in the game. We are on Team B, with the disc halfway up the field on a high stall with no flow.
  
• B) Team A are up 13-12 against Team B, who are considered a weaker team but are nonetheless giving Team A a run for their money. We are on Team A. There is not a lot of time left in this game. The pull has just gone up.
  
• C) Team A are up 11-5. The game is about halfway through. Team A are considered a much stronger team. Team B are on O this point, with the disc about 3/4 up the field on a low stall count.
  
• D) Team B are ahead 11-9, and are considered a stronger team. Team A has just gotten a block near their endzone. There is about 15 minutes left of this game.
  

And so here are how I would rank the importance - not necessarily of a time out, but at least of the consideration of a time out - in these situations.

1. A. The priority here is stopping the early breakaway by the opposition, equalising and then pulling ahead. There is a lot of time left to turn this game around and a time out could be very helpful, especially in regards to kickstarting flow with an organised dump cut or set play.
2. D. There is just enough time left here to turn the game around for either team, and a block when Team B are only 2 points ahead is demoralising enough. A time out called here to make sure that the defensive line cherish the disc and stay focussed could really help, as well as letting them catch their breath a little from busting their guts to get the D.
3. C. I would probably be a little more hesitant about calling a time out here. 11-5 is a solid lead, and by a stronger team it will most likely be held. However, a time out could be a useful morale boost for the team - sure, Team A are a stronger team, but that's definitely no reason to give away points to them by playing sloppy Ultimate. Challenge yourselves, Team B. If you know you aren't going to win this game, make Team A work hard for every point they get.
4. B. There is simply not enough time left in this game to call a time out, and the score is at too crucial a stage. Team A should be thinking about capitalising from the pull, getting the disc up the field quickly and scoring, not stilting flow and giving the defence the chance for an easy goal.

I realise I have probably left out many many factors and many (if 'many' people ever read this) might flat out disagree with me, but come on, it's not bad for 12:15am.

T.

Things I Learnt From Sharing the Love!

Sexfat pretty much summed up today's tournament - woeful at the start, good in the middle, annoying at the end because we were at least the 8th best team in the comp but we got nigged by the draw.

I learned a few things today:

• How to play man defence: I guarded the in cuts all day and it worked a thousand times better than what I'd done previously. Only four or five people I was matched up against could beat me in either the 3-second sprint for the in cut or the 10-second sprint for the out, and none of them seemed to notice/abuse this. Notable highlights include shut-down D on a guy from Manly who I rate quite above myself. I stuck to his hip, didn't bite on his fakes and let him tire himself out all point.
• Laying out: I don't do it enough.
• FakultA: are a bunch of hilarious guys who also happen to be very very knowledgeable about the game. James spent all day trying to teach us stuff, which was good of him.
• FakulB: looks to be a good team. Say there are six spots go through from Orange, I saw the very beginnings today of a team that could make Nationals. We didn't have much of a long game but we had sweet flow and solid man defence.

I am ridiculously tired. Never again am I playing a full day on <2 hours sleep and no breakfast.

T.

Share the Love - Alex's Perspective

Today was the Share the Love Open's and Women's tournament at Timbrell Park, Five Dock.

It was only a 1 day tourney, but what made it so special for us was that it was the first time that Fakulbee (Fakulti's B Team) had a chance to play at a competitive level together as a team.

Our final Result was 9th Place someone complained about a screwed up draw, but we still played off for 9th/10th (last) but was a lot of fun.

I don't remember most of the tournament, but it was fun and I remember the good and the bad and what I learned from the day.

The Bad:

• Our first game against Fyshwich, or however you spell it. It was our first game as a team, and it was so messy and horrible. No one trusted anyone, knew their names, or anything that good teams usually do together. There was a few messy plays, and one or two flows the whole game, but we really were not at all familiar with eachother, having barely any idea of what positions, throws cuts we all liked. On top of that the skills side was worse than normal, with there being about 10 drops (seriously) in this game from easy throws, it wasn't a sort of drop that you could have gotten with 2 hands, it was the kind where you try to pancake it, its an easy dump throw and it slips out, it was painful to watch and our whole team suffered from the butter fingers.
  
• Phil White didn't arrive into the second game, it was good to see him arrive.
• Dave Roundtree destroyed one of the Westies (Bathurst) players by giving him a hard shoulder to the head (possibly accidental, we'll never know for sure). An ambulance was called and he went to hospital.
  
• Making a long cut, slowing down thinking its not coming, the disc coming, thinking I was going to get it, just missing it as the wind picks it up and makes it fly that little bit further.
• My feet are so ruined.
• I felt terrible the first 2 games (will explain in things I learned)
• Having the most effortless Callahan scored against us in the Manly game.
• In the same point, throwing 2 discs straight into the ground that were backhand, short dump throws. I have known how to backhand not into the ground for in excess of 4 years, back before Ultimate when Frisbee was just a red piece of plastic my dad liked to throw with me. That really stung, doing that twice in the one point.
  
• The whole day, I threw about 10 forehands, I got plenty of disc time just never used the forehands. I also made several bad decisions, seeing a long open cutter, knowing its not my throw but still trying anyway. My bad. I'm sorry.
  
• Me calling a Pick on an endzone throw against Manly. Marking Matt Swadling, disc goes up deep, I chase, I am within 3m but near the endzone someone cuts across in front of me and I call pick. I was definetly picked, but the argument was he was going for the disc. They argued and the pained look in their faces showed I was probably being too much of a jerk on the play. I said ok, you're right and dropped it.
  
• One point, Me, Mark, Tiger were in the wall and Phil was the pommy, we got a turn over and they turned it back. Someone busted long, and Phil chased it, Me max and Tiger set up with no Phil and the whole field was a mess, Dowley was yelling at us to get back on and make the mark up, after several throws, I looked around, and yelled MAN MAN MAN. Dowley got annoyed at me, but my reasoning was different - all we would have been able to do was cup on 3 strong Hills handlers which would have been pretty ineffective, our wall was messy, so I thought 3 handlers, 3 people in cup, we are pretty much in man when we have to run across the field (it was a messy cup), so we switched up. We had no mark who was now playing deep, so there was Phil already marked up. That left 3 wings/deeps and 3 free players in the middle, so I thought hey if they're doing their job they're going to be marked up, and we won't have a half completed wall, (which had just had a throw passed through a gap in the mess)
  

The Good

• The teamwork improvement by the end of the day, each game we played we gelled more and more as a team, it was amazing to see a team come so far in one single day, from a bunch of guys that barely knew eachothers names, who were too scared to throw the disc to eachother to a team that was running its set plays, pommy d and zone o so much more smoothly was a really great experience to be a part of.
  
• Some beatiful catch's lays and throws for the day, particularly one I remember of tiger, making a jump bid for a throw, being decked by the guy and catching it in a layout/fallout from mid air, fantastic catch.
• The westies, hi vis uniforms and hilarious plays. The thumber (bozza throws a thumber down the field) The smok-o, and the Flailing whale. The last was the best and was used in one of our last few points, which involved Bozza after 4 throws calling "4 THROWS TIME OUT" they take a long time out and then set up. They set up a tight neat stack, and 3 handlers out of the endzone. We call disc in, BAM Handler cut long as we finally realise that they stacked in the opposite direction. Also one of them yelling after losing a point "Hey! What about workers rights!"
• The westies Cheer, hard to describe. Lots of grunting and moaning though.
  
• Successful zone points were beautiful. Some fantastic popping from Dowley, and awesome handling from Wez, Phil, Phil, Aaron and Yoann. This is going to be a lot of fun.

What did I learn?

During one of breaks, I ran into Jimmy who asked how I was feeling, I replied that I felt terrible and had no energy. I arrived at the fields this morning at 8 feeling horrible, wondering how I was going to get through the day. The day before, I had worked 7:45-5 after Friday night going out thinking I started a lot later, but staying out and then checking my phone to discover an early start. Saturday arvo, I had eaten 2 bits of bread for breakfast and close to nothing for lunch and a small bowl of rice for dinner, I went to Normandy planning to leave before 11. Unfortunately the party only got good at 11 and I ended up getting to sleep at 2 am for a 6:20 wake up for a 7 oclock leave.

I hadn't eaten properly for a day, and hadn't slept properly for two.

I felt like an idiot, I couldn't believe how stupid I had been to not realise the importance of properly preparing for something even as short as a one day tournament and I can tell you I paid for those last 2 days. The only good thing was that I hadn't been drinking because of the alcohol ban from Juniors squad, turned out to be an extremely lucky thing too.

I came to the fields half asleep with no energy at all.

So I learned, a tournament is more than turning up on time that day, its preparing yourself for the days, and even weeks before. I might think that I've worked hard for 2 weeks, I'll be fine that day, but rest and recovery is just as important as being able to catch and throw when it comes to your game.

I'll never do that again, I'm glad I learned at this semi-serious tournament rather than a more important event.

But hell yeah Fakulbee. This is going to be an amazing year.

Bruce Lee and the One Inch Punch

Bruce Lee is Amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqtPkqLomDI&feature=user
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woRKpXJl0JQ

His speed and power its just unstoppable.

He fought a seasoned martial artist blind folded, and won.

He also popularised the one inch punch.

Walking along a beach with a friend, they saw a huge body builder his friend commented "Wow that guy is strong,"

Bruce Lee replied: "Yes he is strong, but is he powerful?"

Short One Inch Punch Doco
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx9iPFMriz0

My dream...
The one inch huck.

Share The Love

It struck me last night - as a Manly player (who shall remain nameless) was bitching ('Fakulti's going A/B!? What the fuck! Who the fuck would play for Fakulti B?' at which point I proudly put my hand up) - that this Sunday, I'm not just watching Fak play from the sidelines, I'm actually playing for them. Representing a club team.

This is big news!

Share the Love. It's a pre-Regionals tournament to work out kinks in your team's game. There are ten teams: Fakulti B, Barefoot, Manly, Hills, Ulmaut (eastern suburbs pickupish team), Fyshwick (and United, two Canberran teams), Westies (Bathurst), I-Beam (Newcastle?) and the 'Gong.

Here are my predictions for the final results:

1. Barefoot - it's hard to argue with this team, they have the right combination of Dingoes and junior Worlds pickups.
2. I-Beam - let's get this straight, I know absolutely nothing about this team or its players, but this is where I see them coming.
3. Fyshwick - are Canberra splitting A/B or X/X? This is the team without Twatson, so I imagine it will do well.
4. Manly - with the exception of a few players (and Steve Hayes's backhand blades - seriously, just hammer) this is a solid team for Manly, if Glenn/Neil don't implode.
5. Fakulti B - I didn't want to overrate or underrate anyone on Fak, so here we are in the middle.
6. Hills - I like everyone on this team, but wouldn't rate some of them particularly highly as players.
7. United - let's be honest, they probably will finish higher than 7th. I just don't know anyone apart from Twatson, and he's weird, even for someone with the same initials as me.
8. Umlaut - their captain is Wally.
9. Gong - I've put them 9th because at time of writing they only had 5 men on the team. Good luck!
10. Westies - A Bathurst team? Will win the party and spirit, as well as impressing with their hilarious set plays. (Marco Polo? Pasha Bulker?)

As far as my goals for this weekend go, I'm going to try to play good defence, followed by good offence.

Oh, and be helpful on the sideline, too.

T.

Learning to lay

I've been trying to make it part of my game to lay out more regularly as inspired by Jimmy's "Get off your feet!"

Victory tonight.

not the best team we faced this season, but good for experimenting.

The last point... I'd been thinking about what the article had been saying the whole game 'do not commit to a side otherwise the thrower will just throw to the other one and the offensive player can block with his body'

Well it was right, a lot of the time I was just on the wrong side to have any chance at the bid.

The last point, everyone's a little bit over it.

The guy isn't that quick, they aren't a very spectacular team, but good enough.

Chase him down stay in the middle but behind him, disc goes up and JUMP.

I have to learn to lay out on d...
I only ever do it on o...

Selection, and Playing Smart

When I was standing next to Tom Brennan at NUFL last year, he mentioned being a selector for 2008 Aurora Australis (a team who, judging by what I've seen of Fury at UPA Nationals '07, should at the very least win a medal or something is very very wrong with the world). I asked him what he was looking for as criteria for selection, and he turned to me and said 'Gosh... I don't know... people who are good?'

It made me laugh, but offhand jokes on the matter aside, being part of a selection process makes me wonder what selectors are looking for in their Ultimate team. I have practically no experience or knowledge when it comes to senior teams (Dingo's, Mundi's) so I'll stick with Thunder for the while.

Selection for Thunder - for any junior team - interests me a lot because the way I see it, it's much more a gamble. Here in Australia our junior Ultimate, while being highly developed in parts - Cupcake's epic performances at NUFL's, Phil and Ellie's ability to be a massive threat be it handling or receiving on offence and defence - still lacks the solid player base that selections for a proper Open's or Women's team might have. Not everybody has the disc skills. Not everybody has the fitness. What the selectors for a junior's team have to look for, apart from everything else, is potential, and I like that. I think it's risky.

An example: For Boston in 06, Thunder took Stephen "Cleetus" Johnson on as their token tall man. Missing out on his spot, though, was Seb Barr, who some say was much better at Ultimate during selections, though shorter. Cleetus went on to have a huge impact on the Boston team, pulling down massive hucks and getting big D, and they placed just outside of a medal finish, for 4th. That, as far as my (extremely limited) inside knowledge goes, is a case of selectors choosing height over athleticism and skill. That story, by the way, has a happy ending: Seb Barr today was selected for the Aussie Mixed team at Vancouver, the Barramundi's, beating several other Boston players for the spot through hard work and commitment to the game. Way to get back up from being down. Big props.

I held a party at my house once, and friends got to talking about who would make Thunder from my group, and how we all made the squad: Tom Cashman (hilarious guy, excellent long distance runner, tall, beats me at frisbee just by standing in the endzone even after all the training I've put in) used the soccer analogy of selection, saying that the guy making the team isn't the team player making the perfect assist pass, it's the guy who tries to dribble the ball solo into the goal, irrespective of the fact that soccer is a team sport. And as a spectator of Ultimate, that really is what impresses: the chest-high layout block in the endzone, the Callahan, the point block, the massive hucks. But Ultimate is a team sport, and surely that can't be all selectors look for.

Then again, the things I value pretty much at the top end of a skillbase are hard to see from just watching. Shutting down your man on defence aka 'hitting the D spot'. That's impressive, and probably one of the hardest things to do in any game with a half-decent offence. It's also pretty hard to spot because absolutely nothing of interest happens around you. People tend to follow the disc, and if you're shutting down your man so badly that they aren't getting the disc, generally people don't notice, unless they're on your sideline. Where a good defender lays out to get the block on his man on a sweet in cut, the excellent defender stops that cut from happening in the first place. Far less exciting, but a very valuable thing nonetheless.

Another thing I like is playing smart, or field sense. This is probably a little bit more noticeable. Being extremely unathletic, I have a tendency to hate on what I call 'dumb athletes'. And I should know, I've marked plenty of them. They're the sort of people who get open, then slow down to get to the disc, or don't notice their defender (usually me) is mismatched to their skill and they don't capitalise or make themselves a threat to the defence. Playing smart is probably much more noticeable in a zone situation. Recognise - if their wing is poaching on your third handler, play the space left in the middle of the field. Things like that really impress me, and are the sort of things I try to do.

My first introduction to 'playing smart' came from my hat captain at the second day of the Ultimate Stampede. Chris someone. He had a Deathstar shirt. Newcastle, I think. Definitely Newcastle. He taught me the importance of dumping and getting the disc off the sideline. Playing smart. What's the point of being much faster or taller or fitter than your opposition if you haven't got the brains to exploit it? Speaking of points, I don't really think this post has one. I hope I make the Worlds team. Will I be gutted if I don't? Yes. For the rest of my life?

Maybe. Maybe not.

T.

'Crazy' Frank and the New Games Report

Simmo's most excellent blog (ballaratultimate DOT blogspot DOT com) has inspired me, somewhat, to write a little bit about the New Games Report of Frank Huguenard and what I think about it.

To summarise the situation for those not familiar: Frank is pretty much the maverick genius of Ultimate. Frank is ambidextrous. Frank once owned a fusion Italian/Indian restaurant that made Indian pizza. Frank doesn't like the UPA. Not many people in the wider Ultimate community like Frank. Frank is combative when it comes to his thoughts on the game. Why?

It's not just the UPA's rigid conservatism that irks Frank the most. His research - this New Games report - basically states that Ultimate is a 'New Game', or in other words, that it was created and developed, along with a bunch of other counterculture games in a social movement in the 1970's, with an almost aggressively anti-competitive, egalitarian mindset.

It's quite a read, pretty much all of it in Crazy Frank's Crazy Rhetoric - a language rather like English, but more fanatical - but there was one part of it that I want to share, straight from the horse's mouth:

You can't have it both ways. Either you have a game that is fun and fair for all or you have a sport that is designed for excellence at the highest levels.

I think it most accurately sums up Frank's position on Ultimate, and why it will never take the world by storm. But it makes a false assumption: while few Ultimate players (and a surprising amount of casual pick up players who have mucked around with it once or twice, or even people who've seen it played like my grandmother) will dispute that the game is fun, it is, at the end of the day, a sport based on athletic ability which, by the simple convention of having a system of points scored, means that there will inevitably be a loser, and there will inevitably be a winner.

But is Ultimate a sport, or is it a New Game? Nobody is denying the strong roots of Ultimate in counterculture, and the perception by the greater majority that Ultimate is two bearded men in Tree of Life jumpers throwing around frisbees with their dogs in a park does little to help. Frank's says his report proves beyond a reasonable doubt that 'cross-pollination occurred' between New Games and Ultimate. And I'm not going to argue with him: similarities do abound between the founding philosophies of the New Games and the concept of Spirit of the Game.

But his report takes this rather tenuous link between the base axioms of one movement (the New Games' freedom from competition/egalitarian ways) and the adjudication apparatus of another (Ultimate's Spirit) and stretches it too far. They share superficial similarities but they are not one and the same, which renders the rest of his 'proofs' as baseless assumptions.

More on this later, as I'm rather tired. Sorry for going all tangential, this post doesn't express how much I admire Frank for continually trying to express his views in a way that, for someone with the nickname 'Crazy', is moderate at best.

T.

Reading Players and my experiences

Poker is a fun game to play. I mean, I'm terrible at it, and do not often win money, but I really enjoy playing it.

I remember seeing some youtube video about "Poker teaching life skills." I thought hey thats funny, but sadly true, a perfect poker player would make a good salesman, assuming they weren't completely addicted to gambling and sports betting (a reality for pro poker players), they know when to apply pressure to get more money out of a situation, they know when they are beat, they know when the person is disgusted or in love with the price. Useful isnt it?

Whats this got to do with frisbee?

Well for starters, after playing poker a lot of the game is playing off the player, laying down bottom pair against an all in raise doesn't take a lot of skill, but to be able to fold a full house to a higher full house takes some skill.

One thing since playing poker, is that I watch people a lot more, and try to understand what they're thinking when they're playing, from the way they sit, fidget, look and talk.

It works in frisbee too. I mean I know good players can anticipate cuts, but I've never properly been able to do this so the first time I did was a really good experience.

One of my happy memories from the Youth Training camp marking a player near the endzone. He faked one way, and then ran the other, I didn't bite on the first fake, and on the run, I didn't follow him but just run straight to the spot I knew he wanted. I didn't think about it this time, and I stopped the cut as he stood there with no where to go.

Not very special sounding, but for it me it was the first time I'd ever done something like this. I'd played enough with him to know which was a fake and which one was his real move, and when he did I knew where he wanted to go before he started moving becuase I was able to think from his perspective about it.

Not very advanced, but still a special moment for me... it should have happened sooner.

I'm going to focus on making this part of my D game.

It also means less running which I love!!

Fund raising Idea

There was some chat in the thunder 08 group about fund raising and I think I've got a good idea.
Star city casino, high stakes roulette wheel.

...

EVERYTHING ON RED 35

Things I have learned in the past week not playing Frisbee and Balance.

Frisbee was rained out all this week.
Thursday last week Fak training was thundered and hailed out at the same time.
Tuesday we missed out on Friskee, fields were rained out.
Went and did 120 throws in the city with Max.
Wednesday did nothing, went for my jog and did the core strength.
I'm getting better at jogging.

So really, nothing much has happened this week but I've learned so much, and been thinking... well fantasising about ultimate, after Jimmy's email about "Get off your feet," about chasing the defender down. (http://www.chasingplastic.com/archives/issue-pages/v3i2/two-steps-defensive.htm)

So a few things.
1. Never go for jogs after eating. I've done this twice now, and it makes the jog about 3x as challenging because my stomach hates me for jogging while it tries to digest my food.
2. Do pushups before situps, then your abs will hurt less.
3. Don't try to do throws or fitness with long jeans in humid weather. You will lose a lot of flexibility, and on top of that you will feel filthy.
4. Don't run away from barking dogs, it only makes them angrier.

But also I did a lot of thinking.

I think Balance and efficiency are some of the most important things in Frisbee, and unfortunately without actually having any formal training, its never something I've really seen emphasised enough. Think about it. Balance is what allows you to change direction quickly, sprint at full speed from letting go of the disc, throw without falling over, getting on the mark after a failed bid, keeping that pressure on the mark. Effeciency is saving the goal with a switch for deep, keeping you less tired on the field, and making each one of those cuts and attempted blocks sting the opponents for being lazy.

A few things that reminded me of this (apart from Parinella's amazing explanations of it all) watching the WUCC06 Dvd, there was one point that involved the Gak hucking it. What was so good about this huck? Perfect break force flow huck to an open receiver sprinting down the breakside with no pivot.

So how did this happen?

Well a little background. I hate getting broken. I hate it when one person is over enthusiastic on the mark and his entire team is punished for it. (Layout block attempt from fake, break force throw, flow down the breakside to score - 4 short/medium passes) Why is this annoying? It defeats Parinellas blessed principles of efficiency and balance. He made an inefficient act, wasted his energy in a lay out on a fake, and he completely lost his balance. The cost of this bid? A break force throw, and a free 3-4 steps before the mark can get up after the thrower has sprinted off.

So this happened to the gack, his defender makes a bid, he punishes the failed bid with a huck to score.

So what's my main argument?
Well back to this article: (http://www.chasingplastic.com/archives/issue-pages/v3i2/two-steps-defensive.htm)

It is fantastic, I am inspired, I will run harder and I will lay out, but I think it fails to miss the crucial point to please note timing and balance with a meager few lines at the end. Its like being on the mark, we are taught "Don't try to get the handblock, thats not your responsibility just don't get broken." I think this is the same, holding the force and not getting broken goes beyond being on the mark staying on your toes, hands low, it involves getting there, and on your face on the ground is not a fantastic place to be when you're on the mark.

I mean hey we're taught to be efficient all the time, Jimmy came to watch one of our friskee games, after a particularly enthusiastic point he spoke to me at the end "Use that energy in a more productive way!"

He was right. Wait for the moment, then bust your guts.

...

The last thing I learned?

Just because you raised half a guys stack, over bet the pot in position with JQs does not neccessarily mean that he will not call with q4o and hit 2 pair on a board of q/4/8.

I think...

I think a better team name would be "Your Mum,"
Think of the hilarity that would ensue as people read the results!

Team Names, an Anecdote

Disputes once arose about what our junior's team name for Longest Day '06 should be.

The eventual winner was 'Huckelberry Win', which was sort of funny because I don't think we actually won any games, as old hands saw Cupcake on our team and mistook our hilarity for arrogance, then promptly schooled us.

One of the suggestions still gets me to chuckle. What could our team name have been?

'The Fuckers Who Beat You.'

One day - one day.

T.