Evolve or die

Post-Nationals edit:
I should have said that there are a few teams that try to evolve. I knew GOaT was one of them, and if I heard someone was to knock off Revolver, GOaT would have been on my short list of teams to guess. They are extremely good at adjusting to what other teams are doing, have an extremely strong coach, don't rely too much on one thing, and have a bundle of top level talent. Additionally, their mental strength (especially against my team) is something I envy every time we play.

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According to most who follow elite ultimate, there are 4-5 teams who have a shot at a National title in October. In reality, they do all have a shot, but despite some middling results, one stands above the others. Unsurprisingly, it's the defending World and National champion. They have some great players, including the best player in the world (BPitW), and I mean to take nothing away from them when I say this: when it counts, they don't lose, because they've evolved.

Their only 2 big losses over the past 6 years have been to Doublewide in the 2012 National finals and to Chain Lightning in the 2009 National finals. They have had losses in the meantime, but at Nationals, it has just been those two over a 5 year span. One loss was not realizing their complete strategy yet, while the other was a combination of a bit of a too-much-winning hangover along with having not yet been challenged in that tournament.*

* - While most Nationals-level teams don't have a problem with this, the top teams don't get challenged as much as they should, because many teams know that they likely won't beat a top team, so they don't even try. They still put 7 on the line and they still run their game, but they are not surprised when they get broken, nor is their heart fully in the game in case of a loss. That same thing happened to Revolver in finals, except their competitor had to go through the road of adversity to the finals and was more mentally ready.

Adversity - namely losing in 2009 and being filled with a team of guys who (for the most part) didn't win it all until joining Revolver - leads to evolution, and that's why Revolver is good. It was why DoG was good in the 90's, Condors in the early 00's, and after a string of championships from teams who just had the best players in the game, it's back today. They keep that attitude of adversity, and it helps shape them into an evolved beast.

The strategy right now is simple enough: their offense "doesn't have rules," which lets the BPitW do his thing. Their team trusts everyone to make every throw and cut (nearly other top teams have guys whose hands they don't want the disc in/guys who they are afraid of covering someone). They are hyper aggressive in their man-to-man defense (both in terms of how much they play it and how they play it). Probably most importantly, they are mentally stronger than every other team. That's pretty much it. They still throw forehands and backhands, still have a mark, and still only have 7 guys playing. They just know how to evolve, how to change up their opponents' game while still playing to their strengths, and that's why they'll keep winning. Other teams (without necessarily evolving past Revolver) may steal a championship or two, but until those other teams (including my own) evolve, it's Revolver's crown to take.

It's time for the rest of us to evolve or die.

The "If Only"

The "If Only" is the reason you lost the game. Similar to the Loser's Lament, the only thing standing between you and a win is whatever if only your team has. The "if only" is not changing an uncontrollable aspect of the game. It doesn't mean weather (we beat them 3 times earlier in the year, if only it wasn't raining at Regionals) or wind (we crush them when they have to play man, but their 4 man cup is unbeatable). Instead, it's either a strategic decision (if only we didn't play man all game and mixed it up instead) or a person/set of players playing poorly (if only he didn't throw 3 turns close to his own endzone).

The "If Only" doesn't exist in games where the talent level is dramatically different. Some worse teams will try to ponder an if only, but if they really came to terms with it, they'd realize that they just need to improve. In reality, the if only is what separates most elite teams from each other, changing on a game-to-game basis.

A final note: being the "if only" for your team's loss, especially a "big" loss, sucks.

Getting (much) better

There is always time to get better. There is time to make the jump from B-team to A-team, from bench to playing, from roleplayer to stud.

Too late for you to start playing? Trey Katzenbach started at age 30 and has won both masters and grand masters titles since, as well as still playing elite open.
Too hard to make the jump from having fun to doing well? Jack Hatchett wasn't even on his B-team's universe line his freshman year of college and now is one of the top defenders in the game.
Too old for it anymore? Josh Markette was a good player when he was young, a great player when he was older, and now that he's in his mid-30s, is as good as he ever was, if not better.

There are plenty of examples of people who think they hit a wall only to realize that they had more in the tank and could keep improving. If everyone went as hard as possible, it'd be impossible to get better by working harder than others; however, that's just not the case. People rest, people get lazy, and people stop training. All of which opens up the opportunity for you to make a jump.

Influences

Sometimes, you get writer's block, and posting things seems more like work than just putting down your thoughts. Other times, you get inspiration, but it's at the wrong times, and when the right time comes, it's gone. And there are even times when you have nothing more to say. There are a lot of reasons for not posting frequently on a blog, but the main one I have for taking a 1+ month leave of absence is that if I kept writing at the same pace, I'd run out of stuff to say. I'm neither a prolific writer nor a prolific ultimate player, and while it occupies a lot of my thoughts, I'm still at the level where playing and how to get better take most of my time. So I'll cut back, posting less frequently until I'm out of season. Maybe when I'm older and wiser I can focus on looking back, but for now, I don't have a lot to look back on...

With that in mind, I'm going to look back on my 7+ years playing and thank those who have helped guide me on my career path:

ZM - Thank you for teaching me that ultimate could be a competitive game and not just conditioning
SL - Thank you for teaching me that goaltimate is more fun than ultimate
AF - Thank you for teaching me how to read hammers by consistently throwing them to me
AG - Thank you for pushing me to be better by being faster, quicker, better at jumping, etc. than I was
AL - Thank you for being my first Russian Wrestler, before I even knew what that was
BX and BB - Thank you for teaching me that deep throws end points a lot more efficiently than short ones, but when you have to keep it short, use scoobers
IR - Thank you for teaching me that some things aren't teachable, but rather you have to figure them out as you go along
TB - Thank you for teaching me what mental toughness means, even if I didn't learn how to use it until years later
BD - Thank you for teaching me how a handler can dominate as much as a cutter
AH - Thank you for teaching me than leadership and everyone liking you are not the same, and if you have to choose one, choose leadership
BL - Thank you for teaching me to use what I had
AB - Thank you for teaching me to get what I didn't have
JC - Thank you for teaching me that I can't teach everything
EG - Thank you for teaching me that champions come to play when it matters
LH - Thank you for teaching me to love to play
JB - Thank you for teaching me to love to win
MZ - Thank you for teaching me to love it all
DF - Thank you for teaching me that IO > OI, but OIIO trumps
WW and SD - Thank you for teaching me that leaders inspire
BM - Thank you for teaching me that I should always be striving to improve
JM - Thank you for teaching me that I'll always be learning
JH - Thank you for teaching me that complacency only means others will be getting better than I am

There are lots of others who taught me important lessons that are their own entries. There are countless others who taught me smaller things, either in person or in videos. I could never thank them all, because nearly everyone doesn't know how much they've impacted me to become the player I am today. But I am grateful for all of them.

Giving 100%

*Important note* This is only for players who are at or moving towards an elite level and have been playing for a while. Most of what in this post does not apply to nearly all youth players and even most college players.

I'm a big fan of mental toughness preparation for games, especially from sources like Tiina Booth or Alan Goldberg. I love the idea that you should only think of what you can do to help your team rather than uncontrollables. I have fought tooth and nail to focus only on myself and my teammates in game and practice situations. But at a certain point in most great ultimate players' (or any athletes') career, they realize that the idea that each game is the same is a myth. When you are winning nearly every game and/or on top, it is sometimes possible to say that you go in with no expectations; however, everyone else has expectations and needs to acknowledge them to get to the next level. Simply put, there are big games and there are not big games, and you should acknowledge that there is a difference.

No one can give 100% all of the time. As much as people hate to admit it, everyone needs to know when to conserve and when to sprint. This leads to the fallacy of people always being into a game - if everyone was 100% focused on the game at all times, the team would be tremendously better, but since that's 100% impossible, it's a moot point. So the questions become: 1. how does a team improve its collective effort and focus? 2. how can players increase their effort and focus? and 3. how can players recognize that it is the time to utilize that increased effort and focus?

Interesting questions that I will try to (theoretically) answer in a future post.

Skyd Draft

I talk about ultimate a lot. Friends, family, girlfriend (who points out that I probably talk about it too much) - it doesn't matter with whom I'm speaking, since I'll probably bring up ultimate regardless. So it was excellent when Skyd came out with a draft. Even more ultimate to talk about! The draft is here: http://skydmagazine.com/2014/03/2014-mock-draft-draft-board/ and there is additional analysis done by three ultimate minds (Kyle Weisbord, Brandon Malecek, and Alex Ghesquire) as well as team specific thoughts.

Here are some of my thoughts on the draft*:

Best and worst pick by round based on who else was available

1. Best = Kitteredge, Worst = Joye
2. Best = tie: Tunnell / Degirolamo, Worst = Koss
3. Best = tie: Natenberg / Driscoll, Worst = (Adam) Simon
4. Best = tie: Sneider / Farrell, Worst = Neff
5. Best = Wiggins, Worst = Nelson
6. Best = Vasilyev, Worst = Perston
7. Best = Loskorn, Worst = Kinley
8. Best = tie: Gehret / Dahl, Worst = Konker
9. Best = Foord, Worst = Nord
10. Best  = (Danny) Clark, Worst = Carneige
11. Best = tie: Thomas / Harris, Worst = none (cop out I know, but every pick in this round was great)
12. Best = Matsuno, Worst = Browar-Jarus
13. Best = Stuart, Worst = Herscu
14. Best = Wilson, Worst = Green
15. Best = Shofner, Worst = Allison-Hall
16. Best = Abrams, Worst = Kolinek

Best possible picks left on the board (not in any order)

• Morgan Hibbert
• Andrew Brown
• Andre Gailits
• Tom James
• Mark Poole
• Karl Loiseau
• Nick Menzies

Solid sleepers in a deeper draft

• Aaron Loach
• John Korber
• Justin Allen
• Bob Liu
• David Melacon
• Derek Alexander
• Simon Higgins
• Tim Gilligan
• Andrew Hollingworth

Overall thoughts

It's drafts like these that are the future of ultimate; people being this invested for this long are what differentiate ultimate between a game people enjoy playing and something with which a fan can connect. These aren't necessarily the "greatest" ultimate minds partaking in the draft, but that's what brings out the best in the analysis and commentary. I hope more events like this happen more frequently (last real draft was 5 years ago), and there is a running commentary on ultimate in general.

For an effort of full disclosure, I consulted with Team Jones Smith for the majority of their draft, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

* - To clarify, every single player in this draft is better than I am in many, if not all, facets of ultimate. I'm judging them solely based off of the draft itself and not saying anything about them as a player. Even a team of the "worst picks" per round would absolutely dominate a team of 14 of me in any aspect of the game.

A good mark is hard to find

Preface: Nearly all of what I said in the post regarding not pivoting can be made to be not true if marks were a lot better. Now if only someone knew how to do that...

Throwers move and fake. Markers react. What's the problem here for markers? If you answered that they never have the advantage, you'd be correct! You win 1/3 of a car (rounded down of course) Occasionally markers can react to others telling them "inside", "around", or any other marking help, but people don't always have the sideline/on-the-field players talking, leading to a lack of information most of the time. Markers, therefore, have to take the advantage by other means in order to make the throwers do what they want to do.

The three basic principles of marking are an athletic stance, movement, and taking away opportunities. An athletic stance requires you to lower your center of gravity by bending at the legs (not the waist), be on your toes, and extend your arms (that doesn't mean all the way - you put your hands far enough out while you still can move around with ease). Movement means small shuffles rather than large lunges - lunges should be saved for only (and I mean literally no other time) when you are about to get a stall (within one second). Taking away opportunities is the most important part, and it is hard to define; if it weren't, people would have much better marks.

As the mark, instead of focusing on taking away half of the field, try to take away opportunities that you know are happening or will happen. Typically people shift when the stall count is getting higher, citing a desire to take away an easy dump. Why then wouldn't the person shift to the open side on early stalls to take away an easy throw. I wouldn't advocate doing this frequently, but all you need are this to be done a few times a game, and it will both cause your thrower to think about it (and therefore not be thinking about throwing) and stop a look or two a game, which means more frequent chances for D.

This can also come into play in other situations on the mark. Randomly shifting around and inside while the thrower looks dump mean the thrower doesn't know where you'll be when a look opens up. This doesn't mean you give the thrower easy looks; if the thrower clearly wants to throw an around backhand and you shift to an inside, you were random for no reason. Instead, recognize what the thrower probably wants, and try to take that away. That's how the marker gets the advantage, and that's what separates a good mark from a great mark.

In defense of not pivoting

If you watch me play, you can tell pretty quickly that I don't pivot as much as other players. In fact, I think everyone pivots way too much. I know it opens up looks, gets your mark moving, and can help your players know what you're thinking, but I have suggestions for those three things, as well as the main reason I don't pivot.

Opening up looks - If you have a quick enough release, you need to fake a maximum of once before you throw. It sounds ridiculous, but marks just don't adjust to what throwers have often enough (that's another post in itself). If you have multiple release points (can let the disc go from different angles and spots while still putting lots of spin on it), you can find the holes in the mark (and they'll always exist) and exploit them. Don't believe me? Try to stop a thrower from throwing between your marking arm and your body - you can't, unless you touch your arm to your body, which isn't a very effective mark in the first place.

Getting your mark moving - This is where shimmies are much more effective than pivoting itself. It may not work well in a marking drill, but in the game, small wrist fakes, shoulder/hip shimmies, and eye movement will move a good mark plenty. Though once again, you don't need the mark to move that much; when the mark is stationary, you can exploit the already open holes.

Help your teammates know what you're thinking - Use your voice. Tell your cutters to clear or run deep or go to the breakside or to move. It's easier both to interpret/react to as a cutter and to say what you're thinking as the thrower.

Most importantly - When you are pivoting, you lose opportunities. You may have to look off something completely open because you're on the wrong side of the pivot. Great throwers can't hit wide open looks because the disc is in a backhand grip but the cutter is on the flick side. In good ultimate, you only have a second or two to hit an open look before it's covered again.

I'm not saying never pivot. I pivot occasionally,either my mark isn't reacting how I want or if I want to throw something and it gets covered, so I have to go back to standstill. That said, everyone should probably pivot less until there is a dramatic change in marking (again, to be posted later).

Knights

Relish in your teammates, because you only get so much time with them. For every single person, there is only a limited number of games that you'll play with the team you're on. Make sure that you enjoy each one, because when they're gone, all you'll have to look forward to are memories, and you'll want those memories to be good ones.

Helping out

There's not much to say on the subject that hasn't been said already, but everyone in the elite ultimate community (and theoretically everyone who plays ultimate) should either volunteer for, help, or take part in the ultimate community at least once a year. Here are some ways to do just that:

• Become a USAU certified observer
• Be an observer at a tournament
• Become a USAU certified coach
• Coach a middle school, high school, college, or club team
• Help out an elementary school
• Write for Skyd, Ultiworld, USAU, or your own blog
• Volunteer at a local tournament (that's volunteer at, not play in)
• Run or help run a clinic for new or young ultimate players
• Donate to an ultimate specific charity (Ultimate Peace and NUTC come to mind)
• Donate to a team or program (money or item donations are nearly always welcome for high school and college programs)
• Teach the game in a non-coaching aspect (camp counselor, volunteer at the physical education department of school where you don't coach, etc.)

Each of these will make someone happy, and by giving back to a community from which you've likely taken, you will create more people who love ultimate.

Personally, what's one of my favorite ways to give back? Throw with those who look up to you. As long as you've been playing for a little while (no matter your talent level), there's someone who either already thinks you're amazing at ultimate or would think that if you got to know them more. Throw with them and make their day/week/year.

Warm ups

To start off, let me say: personally, I do not like conventional warm ups. Coming from a track background (side note: I wish I were as fast now as I was then), I did my own thing before a race. Headphones in, maybe I would do some stretching with some teammates when I got there, but the time before I ran was mine.

By and large, ultimate teams warm up together, in a strict and predetermined fashion. Typically, the order of events is: some "on your own" time beforehand (typically to throw or get what you need), the same stretches done every time (typically active rather than static), some building up of speed and intensity, followed by some type of drill or game simulation, with a huddle before game time. Occasionally there will be talking interspersed throughout, with maybe one more huddle in the midst.

For me, warming up is about getting yourself ready for the competition as best as you can. This entails making sure that you are ready to play the best game that you are going to play. A bench player should take warm ups as seriously as possible, because no one knows what will happen with injuries and play time. In a world with ideal play time and ideal play, your warm up would theoretically look the same. Does that mean that each warm up should look the same? No, because the games themselves change, and warm ups should change with them.

I understand that teams should have something that increases familiarity while adding to team cohesion. Warm ups are a great way to get the team into the mindset of playing, and they provide a "constant" that a team can do and knows it can do. I postulate, however, that teams don't need these. Teams can find structure in what comes after chaos, where each member of the team gets ready on their own (or together, if that's how specific teammates feel), building towards an eventual goal of being warm. You don't sit together and go over how to tie your cleats, so why would you sit together and go over how to stretch your hamstring?

Instead, I propose that everyone does what they need to do in order to build towards the drill or game situation at a predetermined time. In the time that warm ups usually entailed, you can do the team exercises, but you have to be ready to go come game time, and if you're focused on something else (like the other team, your own players, etc.), you are not warmed up. Now, those who need structure have it (as there are surely a large number of people on the team who do), and those who do not want it are not forced to partake. Best of all, neither is in the wrong here, since they are both parts of the team and both are assumed to be preparing for their best.

In my ideal world, the order of warm up events changes from game to game, but most of them entail: casual throwing, focused throwing (typically forehands and backhands and reading the wind), foam rolling, static stretching, activation, speed buildups, and more focused throwing (typically hammers). That's what gets me ready to play my ideal game. It's not for everyone, but I'm not focused on them; I'm focused on getting myself ready.

Side note: Warm ups take, altogether, way too long. Do what is essential, and throw out the rest. If you don't have a specific reason for each aspect of your warm up, junk it.

Goaltimate strategy - Defense

It makes sense that it takes me so long to write about D whereas off of a whim, I was quickly writing about offense. While my ultimate defense is mediocre at best, my goaltimate D is not bad. I don't lose anything when the field gets smaller, and lots of pickup games, box, and mini have helped me get a nose for D on a small field. That said, there's not a lot to look at for points on goaltimate defense, so maybe this is the best advice out there? Either way, there's less to say about D than there is about O, since in goaltimate, D is a lot more reactive to O than in ultimate.

A maybe-interesting note before I talk about defense: I play without a goaltending rule. I know that many goaltimate games have one, but having played most of my games in Boston (for whom the rule was started, in order to stifle), I have not.*

Important D point: Your hands should always be high, and you should always have an active mark. There is no reason not to be marking close, hands high, to prevent high throws (no matter the defense).

1. Person Defense - Stay close to your person, make sure not to get beat on 2 pointers, no switching between players.

Involves: Hard person D, similar to an ultimate game. People frequently on the wrong end of leading passes. Lots of bodying the person without the disc on clears and goal shots alike.

Upsides: Easy for beginners, easy to assign blame if someone messes up, one of the few defenses that makes clearing hard

Downsides: Easy to beat with leading throws, no help if you're beat, most offenses can find a mismatch and abuse it a lot quicker than in ultimate

2. Zone Defense - 1-3, 2-2, 3-1, 1-2-1; it doesn't matter what the formation is, since they have the same key concept of light work and not giving up open goals

Involves: One person actively marking, one guarding whoever is outside of the goal (if any), and the others guarding the goal. Usually made impossible by a goaltending rule

Upsides: If you don't have numbers it's easy to play and easy to teach. Makes easy goal shots near impossible, since you're always defending the goal.

Downsides: Doesn't defend the clear at all, it's easy enough to find holes in a zone, and if you're not pressuring a team at all, eventually they can just wait it out until the zone opens up. Also susceptible to being posted up by the other team.

3. Switching Defense - A mix of man and zone, with the implicit goal that there should be no goal shots without at least one defender nearby

Involves: Lots of awareness of where the disc and goal are at all times, as well as keeping tabs on the other team's players. Help D whenever possible without leaving someone completely open.

Upsides: The other team has to work hard for every goal, finding tight angles and spaces. You can always chose your spots when to pressure and when to let throws get off, since there's either a person guarding the intended receiver, or the throw doesn't mean that much.

Downsides: This is really hard to do. It's very easy to just lose sight of someone and let an easy goal happen. It's also very tiring to be hyper-focused on your person, the disc, and the goal at all times.

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Almost all defenses are a variation of these three, including allowing a clear, forcing over the top throws, and marking one specific way. There are probably more variations than I could mention in one entry, but as I said, I'm more partial to O than D so hopefully this is a good start. Personally, I love playing switching D, but one needs the right team, or it's essentially a bad zone.

* - If there is a goaltending rule, my go-to piece of advice is play between your man and the front of the goal. Since there's only one place to score (and it's not that big), if you're between those two at all times, you will get beat less often than if you did something else. I think. Again, never played that way.

Something to reset

I wear a hat or headband when I play. It started off an idea from Zip's Tips and spawned into something I always had. When playing MLU, I wasn't allowed a hat, so I switched to a headband and it served the same purpose. Yes, hats are great for keeping sun out of my eyes and making sure I'm not sunburned, but it also gives me a reset.

Resets are incredibly important if you find yourself worrying about whatever just happened rather than focusing on whatever is happening right then. After a turn, even if it was 100% your fault, you have to forget about it because now you're on defense. Get beat for a goal in a spot you weren't supposed to get beat to? Move on.

That's where the reset comes into play. It can be something physical (hat, armband, etc.), something you say (disc disc disc, move on, etc.), or something you do (clap, shake it out, etc.). It's something that takes you from wherever you're at emotion-wise, and it brings you back to 0: where you have a level head and are calm/excited/wherever you need to be right then.

Other times (besides getting beat and turning it) when a reset is useful:

• You're called for a foul and you need a second before contesting or not contesting
• You're on D and your line produces a turn but wants to set up instead of moving it quickly
• Any time people are getting overexcited, anxious, or nervous
• Right before a point, game, or tournament
• Right after scoring, but before the next point starts
• Right before you pull

Use your reset frequently, and you'll start to find that it will cross over into other parts of your life as well. Work life, love life, any life you lead - they'll all want a reset at times, and if you have the ultimate reset down, you're fine anywhere else.

Zone Offense

First off, people should be throwing more. There's no reason that people should just be practicing forehands and backhands too. I know way too many elite club players unwilling to throw a hammer or scoober in a game. It makes your game better, it helps you mark better (if you can envision other throws besides the one the guy with the disc is showing, you can react faster), and it's easy to practice. So there is no reason.

Secondly, 3 handler zone offense is (for me) dead. I'm sure people will be running it for many more years to come, but the dump swing offense that slowly moves up the field is only useful if you're not practicing those upside downs and blades. Even when conditions are great and the defense isn't putting much pressure on, it's still hard to complete 100% of throws. For most people, trying to complete one hundred 99% throws isn't a recipe for success. Statistically, it actually happens less than 40%* of the time for most players.

Now, there are 4 handler zone offenses and 2 handler offense, but my preference is for 2 handler. Among the zones I have played and preferred, there are 4 positions in a good zone offense: 2 handlers, 2 poppers, 2 wings, and 1 deep. For all positions, the check down list that people should go through every time they have the disc is to look for poppers, then deep, then wings, and then back to handlers. And most importantly, never look away from the disc, no matter who has the disc, where you are, or for any reason.

Handlers

You are the field general. That means you're responsible for A. throwing any throw that's less than 100%, B. pushing up the field so that you can always provide a reset, and C. seeing the field so you can adjust other players to be where you want them to go. People should be looking at you every time you have the disc and back to you any time you don't. Don't hold it for too long (I'm guilty of this), but don't lose opportunities because you were swinging it. Fakes are your friends, even if they're small fakes. 

Poppers

See my entry on poppers. In this particular Zone O, also make sure you're never behind the handler (or the play).

Wings

Stay on the sidelines. You can move up and down those sidelines, but stay on them. Give yourself a 3-5 yard cushion so that a hammer slightly over your head is still in bounds. Once you get the disc on the sideline, move it back towards the middle as fast as you can. Stay closer towards your attacking end zone when the disc is not on your side of the field, stay closer to the handlers when the disc is on your side of the field.

Deep

One of my favorite quotes about deeps in a zone is that if you're doing it right, it won't look like you're doing much of anything at all, but if you're doing it wrong, you'll clearly mess up your team. Stay far away from the disc to create more space for the poppers; come towards the disc once it past the initial wall or cup; make noise or somehow get other players to cover you so that there's more space in the middle of the field; finally, just keep moving around since you never know when a deep shot will come up.

Zone offense is easy.

* - 0.99^100 = ~0.37. Even 0.999^100 is around 0.9, which is not how frequently you want to be able to score when the other team is explicitly showing you where there are not defenders (considering you can apparently complete a pass 99.9% of the time)

Handler cuts

Handlers frequently try to do too much. Dancing, juking, long cuts, etc. - I, like anyone else, am guilty of a number of these, but it's certainly rare that I try to do too much. Sometimes you're more open than you think and you have to take advantage. Getting up the line (upfield dump cut, strike cut, whatever you want to call it) is what defenders are constantly trying to prevent. So obviously that's the place to try and beat them. Try these 4 moves for getting open upline:

Swim move: While making a cut where your defender is in the way, act like you're swimming and move your arm over the defender, the pull the rest of your body through. Frequently used in the NFL and NBA as a way to get open, it's just not used frequently enough for ultimate. Caution: There may be some contact, so don't foul your opponent to do it.

Stutter step: Start running towards where you want to go. Stay on one foot a little longer than you normally would, as if you're about to plant and turn around. Instead, keep running in the same direction. Can be helpful if you turn your head or body in the other direction for a split second.

Curl route: Don't take a direct line to where you want to go. Instead, start running towards the person with the disc. Once you've passed your defender, curl the route so that you are already open up the line. Seal the defender off with your body so that bids are impossible (well they're still possible but the defender would have to bid through you).

Double cut: Similar to the stutter step, but with a longer follow through. Start running towards where you want to go. Stop and turn around, with a heavy plant and turn, as if you're not as good of a dump cutter as you actually are. Once the defender commits to your backfield cut, turn back up the line.

Bonus "move" = Make a break for it: Sometimes your defender is in the wrong place. Don't try to make a move or you'll fake yourself out. Just run.

Zone Popping

There are a lot of people out there who say "I don't know how to teach popping, but watch so-and-so and do what he/she does." While it's true that popping is very intuitive, there are basics that every popper can and should do. The difference between good poppers and great poppers is just like good and great throwers or cutters or anything else: trial and error and lots of practice. So I may not have the perfect teaching method, but here's a not-too-shabby way to teach people how to pop.

For getting the disc, the poppers should find a spot so that there is a straight line* of space between themselves and the thrower (whether that's a handler, another popper, a wing, etc.). The line will constantly be moving as defenders move, but a popper's job is to recognize the angles and attack them. Sometimes those spots are in the cup, sometimes they are just behind it, and most often they happen as the disc swings, but the key is to find those straight lines.

Once a popper has the disc, the job becomes that of a quarterback - check down your list. The primary look is the other popper (again, only if there is a straight line to the disc), then to the wing/deep depending on what zone offense is in play, then back to the handler. Just like a quarterback, the popper check down shouldn't take more than a couple seconds, just as a popper shouldn't be holding onto the disc for long periods of time. Once a popper no longer has the disc, it starts over again, with getting into a position where the popper get into a straight line of space.

* - The straight line can be over the top if the thrower has that, as long as the popper is stationary with space around them.

This works for poppers in any zone system (2, 3, 4 handler, etc.), but like my thoughts on zone O, I think it's most effective when there are only 2 handlers. I'll write something up on the rest of zone offense in the future, but in the meantime, maybe people can start teaching popping.

Different throws

Here is a list of throws I have thrown in a game that I was trying to win:

• Forehand (IO, OI, Lift, OIIO aka bladey forehand to IO lane)
• Backhand (IO, OI, Lift)
• Lefty backhand (IO, OI, Lift)
• Hammer (Blade hammer, invert, flat)
• Scoober
• Blade
• Thumber (easier to catch than a blade in mixed)
• Chicken wing (greatest greatest throw)
• Push pass

Here is a list of other throws I enjoy:

• Lefty forehand lift
• Upside down backhand
• Matador (fake backhand, behind the head corkscrew)
• Over the head McFloogen
• Over the head backhand
• El Toro (upside down matador)
• Bixler (no-look vertical scoober)
• Hachimachi (disc lying on the ground push pass)
• Sinker (opposite of a lift)
• High-release airbounce
• No grip pass (use air resistance and palm the disc to push it)
• The Future (thumb and pinky grip disc, only motion is a slight wrist flick in backhand direction)
• The twirl (spin it around on your finger and let go - not a paintbrush though)

If I had advice for every player, it'd be to throw more and to have fun with throwing more.

Watching game tape

I'm sure a ton of different people can tell you a ton of different reasons why watching game tape is important. There are the "learn your opponents" reasons, the "learn what our team is doing poorly and improve" reasons, the "look for something someone does and try to emulate" reasons, and even the "just for fun" reasons. However, the reason I watch game tape, and a good reason for many others to watch, is to look at a game of elite ultimate players and say, "I can do that."

There are numerous other benefits to film, and I love watching players and trying to throw like them, or seeing how I can get my defender out of position before beating him up the line. But if you can watch a game and not be intimidated, instead thinking of what you can do in each situation, with confidence, you are ready. You may not have the physical skills yet, but you're mentally ready.

There are plenty of resources for those who want to watch game tape, but here are a few (most of which are readily available) that I like best (in no order):

Florida vs. CUT 2010 College Championship - Yes this game is a call fest, and most people agree that the game itself sucks. But watch for Florida's efficiency, because if it weren't for that, they wouldn't make it to quarterfinals, much less win it all.

Chain Lightning vs. Ironside 2011 Club Semifinals - One of the most up and down games I've seen, with a huge number of highlights. Watch for the plays and ask yourself, "Could I have known to do that there then? Would my throw/cut/D have been better, worse, or the same?"

Ironside vs. Sockeye 2013 Club Semifinals - Another instant classic. Only 3 turns by Ironside's O-line, all in the first half. 6 turns by Sockeye's O-line, but they got 4 of them back (2 bad throwaways, a point block, and a nice D on a hammer). Watch for Ironside O's efficiency in the 2nd half and Sockeye's O's defense (lots of D-looks for an O-line). Also watch for Ironside's inability to contain Sockeye's handlers, making everything else easy for Sockeye.

Sockeye vs. Jam 2004 Club Finals (you need Disc 1 for this one) - This game is a reprieve from so many years of boring ultimate. DoG was efficient and therefore boring. Revolver is dominant and therefore boring. Between 2000 and 2007, there were only 3 different champions (Condors, Furious, Sockeye), each playing their own exciting style, and this is the most easily attainable game to watch of that era (Edit: OK, 2nd most easily attainable, but I'd argue that the wind from 2007 finals makes it not as great). Watch for the admiration of the stones they had to do everything they did on universe point. Plus bonus: you get to watch a young Danny Clark dominate the skies while on Pike if you have disc 1.

Chain Lighting vs. Revolver 2009 Club Finals - This was the first great game I watched online, and I was blown away. Revolver's talent was great, but it was just Chain's year. They had the huckers, they had the in-cuts, they had the patience, and their D was phenomenal. Watch for Chain (other than the first couple points) to take what was given, whether that was hucks or incuts and dump swings. Watch for Rob White's vertical. Watch for the look on a bunch of Chain guys' faces when they win the title after hardly being in contention in years previous.

Honorable mentions:
Ironside vs. Doublewide 2011 Power Pools for mental toughness, Revolver vs. Chain 2011 Labor Day Finals for how a good team can just have a few bad breaks and seemingly get blown out, and Pittsburgh vs. Colorado 2011 College Quarterfinals for having ice in one's veins.