Ok, I'm opening up the phone lines for callers. Anything you want to ask that can be answered in no more than 75 words, ask away. I'm listening, America.
Update. Thanks, everyone, we'll do this again next Monday night, and possibly again the following Monday prior to Nationals. Next up: is something wrong with Regionals, or is it all ultimate tournaments?
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41 comments:
So my question is what kind of person tries to write some gratuitous traffic driving post just to try and get the daily hit lead back from a competitor who was seeing a spike of pent-up demand? Nice!
Someone who is #1 and wants to keep the sniveling wannabes in their place.
Next thing you'll start doing is posting anonymous questions to yourself.
Waldorf and Stadtler are back.
Or is it Alfalfa and Spanky. I'll let you two argue over who is who...
I knew I missed something while I was on vacation.
Ok, folks, don't let these interlopers dissuade you from asking those questions. They're just trying to ruin this thread.
Europe, I'm listening to you, too, although I'm probably less likely to agree with you.
I'm confused by the 10th edition rules that define what a marker can do. If he can't use his "extended arms and legs" to prohibit a pivot or throw, then all a thower has to do is watch out for the marker's trunk. I know you have thoughts about the so-called "aggresive mark", but don't you think the current rules almost negate the role of the marker? When I mark, I focus on allowing the thrower only one option, however, if he decides he wants to throw to a different option, the rules protect his decision completely by seeming to negate the marker's force. Thoughts?
do you think it's good or bad that all four divisions play at nationals together? would it be feasible and/or desirable for, say, the mixed and masters championships to take place at a separate tournament?
Can you say more about the other UPA board candidates (besided Henry Thorne)?
Is the future of the sport really gonna move towards a lot more throws with both arms? What is it going to take for the East to enter that top echlon that the West is in right now? Good fouls- your thoughts?
re: 10th edition marker rules. Marking is tough work to do well. You have to stay balanced and shuffle your feet in order to get into position first, rather than bending at the waist or lunging with your arms or feet. True, if a thrower is more interested in being fouled than completing a pass, then the honest marker is at a disadvantage. But you should work to get into position first, if you can.
re: see the field better. The calmer you can remain, the more you'll be able to see. And ignore the marker if you can. I'm not sure if you can do something consciously, but you can learn what will be open, by watching the downfield action when you're on the sideline, and by going over in your head what happened when you have the disc. If you see a poacher, trace back in the direction he came from to find the poached off guy. Alex, can you add anything here?
Re: four divisions at nationals. As an Open player, I find almost no value in having the Mixed and Masters div present, other than seeing a couple friends in those divisions ever-so-briefly. I hear that they value being at the same site as O/W. I think the Mixed would continue to show up if they were moved off somewhere, but maybe the Masters response would decrease. But there are competing logistics here: you need a really big site to hold all four divisions, but running two separate but equal tournaments nearly simultaneously is an overwhelming burden on the UPA staff.
Re: Board. Elizabeth Murray and Todd Demetriades are both good Board members, and I think Ricky Eikstadt will do a good job (he's running unopposed). I like what I see of Gwen, but I'd prefer that candidates be a little older so they have a chance to develop business and organizational skills that can be used to make decisions. I've learned many things in the last few years that would have been useful in my tenure on the Board.
re: ambidexterity. Not as long as there is a pivot foot and strips are illegal. Perhaps the lefty dump will become more common, but that's about it.
East/West: I guess it comes and goes. The East teams have the advantage of being close enough to each other to play each other frequently without having to fly. There will be some strategic shift (or maybe a climate shift so bad weather teams have the advantage) or something silly so that it's cool to be in the East again. Besides, the East Coast has won 11 of the past 16 Open Championships and 7 of the last 10 Women's.
There is no such thing as a good foul if you mean that the penalty from a foul (whether it's deliberate or just negligent) is less than clean play would have cost. But there are fouls that are the result of good effort that just didn't work out, or if the other player does something unexpected after you've decided to do something. They're still fouls, but there's no need to get huffy about those.
oh NO! hey y'all come on over to my site. i'm handing out 'cookies.'
Alex. He must be stopped.
in other news, i now have the world wide web at my house.
game on.
question: how could I go about advancing from middle level (mixed) ultimate to elite level (open) ultimate in the northeast? I feel like I'm not good enough to try out and jump on DoG or Metal - should I try to get on one of the lower open teams (New Noise, PoNY?), or play high level mixed (6 Trained, Slow White) where I know more people?
I'd really like to play open, but I feel like I'm stuck because I didn't play in college.
Luke,
Perhaps this "world wide web" will strike the whole West Coast and let the East rise again. It has already taken down Idris.
Tip of the day: don't accept cookies from ex-fish.
re: advancing in the NE. That's a tough question. If you know some DoG or Metal guys, try playing recreational tournaments with them (Fools, for instance) or summer league to hopefully pick up some good habits and make yourself known. DoG is usually pretty lenient about accepting tryouts for a spring tournament, but if you're really far away from even that level, it might get you blacklisted (not officially, but the team would be hesitant to have you back even the next year or two). There's winter goaltimate to get yourself known. You also need to play a lot, with at least some of the experience where you're in a position to carry or bury the team.
Regardless of the series being all divisions or not, do you see any merit to moving it up to earlier in September? It seems being so late the weather is more of a factor than it should be. Even in the SW when they play in Colorado.
It would push up the rest of the UPA series (early August Sectionals) and any preparatory tournaments would have to be held in the heat of summer, plus traditionally the series ends the season for most teams. The elite teams probably wouldn't mind a September Nationals if they could bypass Sectionals, though. And how would summer ultimate be affected?
Any thoughts on World Clubs 2006 over in Australia? Its a long way ...
I posted a while ago that I thought the UPA is going to have to do something innovative with rostering in order to get competitive teams at World Clubs. The timing just isn't very good for us, being so close to Nationals. And we've seen in the past that travel distance and cost affects attendance (European teams did 50 times better when they had the short trip to Scotland instead of Hawaii; remember all the talk about how Europe was catching up?). But I understand the decision. Once in a while, those who usually have to travel a lot get to host, especially if they have the best bid.
What is the best way for a beginner to learn how to throw? I would like to have a full repertoire of throws but I'm not sure how to learn them.
Opinions on the Farricker/Pufahl awards? Good, Bad, Ugly? I know my team doesn't take it that seriously... do others? Good or bad marketing?
Ultimate players: More or less sane than the general populace?
Learning to throw has two components: the mechanics and using them in a game. You should practice the latter through visualization any time you practice. Pretend there's a cutter, a poacher, a good marker, and you're on a particular part of the field throwing to a particular cut. For mechanics, you're going to need to go out of your way to get feedback from good throwers. Sadly, there's no definitive theory of how to throw properly, or swing coaches to hire.
You should treat these awards seriously, although if your team is not a candidate for the top 4 there is no way your man will win it. It's a better spirit award than the old 'oh-and-five but they had fun' award often given. But I wouldn't mind a more sportsmanship-oriented award either, at least in international competitions. And if you're going to rank, take the time to make them meaningful by assigning meanings to each score (e.g., 4 = no major problems, team knew the rules, but didn't go out of their way to enjoy the game).
Ultimate players' sanity? Well, there is the curious lack of planning for future security in order to play, so that could qualify as neurotic or possibly psychotic. But there's the childlike innocence or naivete that goes with that. I dunno, I'm crazy.
Ok, folks, thanks for stopping by. We'll do this again next Monday night. Til then, stay classy, San Diego.
For me and seeing the field, after I catch the disc, I always look to the continuation cut, literally beginning the throwing motion and only stopping the throw if no one is there/open. However, if that is not there, then I immediately bring myself back to vertical, and look up into the stack. I usually don't really focus on any one person until the count is very high, and then I will try and pick out one person to get his attention, especially if I see that they are already 'open' for a pass, typically a deep break side hammer, or some other non-standard throw. The key for me is that once I haven't seen that first pass, I wait for the offense to come to me. I am happiest when I have multiple cuts to choose from. One of my best attributes (putting on my flame retardant) is the ability to see the open cutter two or three cuts behind everyone else, and releasing the disc to hit that man, whether a curving forehand over the stack, or a flaring backhand into space to let the man catch up. As to how to learn this, um, play offense for 21 years? Not sure how else.
How do you throw better into the wind? I know imparting a lot of spin on the disk is important but there's a limit to how fast I can flick my wrist. Does wrist and hand strengthening help or is there anything else I can do?
Just a little comment on seeing the field better: much easier when your disc skills are good. If you don't have to think about the actual throwing mechanics, you can concentrate on the field more.
And a question: I'm from Australia. I've had little exposure to seeing good North American or European teams. What differences are typical in styles of play, and what are the strengths of different countries/regions, in your experience?
Question: Dear Jim, do you ever travel to Europe? Is there any chance to see you at our Continent? There are many here who would very much want you to do a Master Class of some kind.
Reading your book is good, but see you explain it is very different.
Well, "welcome to USA" you might say :-), but still...
Thanks
Question: Running towards the thrower, catch the disc, take two steps to slow down, on the third step establish a pivot (with the same foot thats making the third step) and immediately pivot, turning upfield to throw. Travel or not? If so, why? If not, why not? Thanks Jim for your input.
Biggest style differences are in "spirit" and what's acceptable. The US game is more physical, and everyone is willing to offer his opinion on the play, and often the players on the field will accept it. I haven't seen much of the Europeans lately, not since 2000 really, but they wouldn't listen to the sidelines tell them what a call should be. No plans to return to Europe right now.
Travel or not? It probably hinges on what establishing a pivot means. The receiver probably will not have come to a complete stop (by your description) prior to turning, so yes, I guess that would be a travel, but I probably wouldn't call it unless I'm horrendously out of position as a result.
Hopefully you're still reading comments on this post, Jim, as I've got another pair of questions...
Between the DoG website and the Above and Beyond DVD, I've heard of two things played by DoG that I've never seen, heard or read anything about. 1) Swedish, and 2) Stinky (both used in the '99 season, as far as I'm aware).
I don't know anything about either of these, and would greatly appreciate some sort of explanation. Cheers.
Swedish is just another name for the side-stack offense. Stinky is a version of the clam.
How is side-stack played? I assume 3 handlers flat back, with 4 in vertical on a nominated sideline... How do cuts happen and what happens if poachers appear (as I would expect)?
I've seen very little explanation of side-stack offence anywhere, and have never played it, but am very interested to hear more. Cheers.
I'm the coach of a London (UK) based team. We have a real mix of players from the experienced to beginners. The one area that causes us more turnovers than anything else is when a weaker player gets an up field pass and there's no easy continuation pass. The obvious thing to do is to dump the disc to a handler and reset the offensive formation, what ever that may be.
The problem is in getting these dump passes out. I know to teach people about eye contact etc but what I need is a good drill to encourage/practice making safe dump passes.
Please can you or someone help as it's causing me untold heart ache watching us move the disc 80% of the way up field only to lose it on a badly executed dump pass.
Kenee
Thundering Herd - London
I'm the coach of a London (UK) based team. We have a real mix of players from the experienced to beginners. The one area that causes us more turnovers than anything else is when a weaker player gets an up field pass and there's no easy continuation pass. The obvious thing to do is to dump the disc to a handler and reset the offensive formation, what ever that may be.
The problem is in getting these dump passes out. I know to teach people about eye contact etc but what I need is a good drill to encourage/practice making safe dump passes.
Please can you or someone help as it's causing me untold heart ache watching us move the disc 80% of the way up field only to lose it on a badly executed dump pass.
Kenee
Thundering Herd - London
In our book, there are two pages about dump cutting and a drill to do (pages 63-66). The drill is something like "play 2 on 2 in a 15 yard square field, with restrictions on the mark in order to better simulate dump conditions".
Hi Jim, I would like to read your analysis of 2005 Open Championships. Particularly your assessment of the semis in which you participated, the finals you most likely watched, and analysis of why Seattle, who appeared to have FG's number during the regular season and even in the crossover round at nationals, could not get the job done when it counted. It is unfathomable to me that Sockeye, a team so deep, so rich in talent, quality height, and Callahan winners is not head and shoulders above the rest of the field. Be as detailed as you like and as time permits. Feel free to delve further into other competitive analysis regarding some of the other contenders (DoG, Bravo, Jam) and/or pretenders (Condors, ROF)
Thanks in advance.
Jonny G
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