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.