Gettysburg – Abe Lincoln’s Fall Classic

The first tournament of the 2009-2010 season took place the weekend of September 26-27 in Gettysburg, PA. We went into the weekend with high hopes having won here in 2008. The competition looked to be impressive though with strong teams from Dickinson, Gettysburg and F&M as well as other local schools looking to dethrone us. Despite that, we came in confident with a large squad (over 25 guys) including numerous rookies and a slew of returning veterans.

Day 1

Before we would get a chance to defend our title, we first had to survive pool play in hopes of getting a decent seed a perhaps a first round bye on Sunday. Our first game of the season was against Slippery Rock. We started out with the ‘Fab 5’ guys (Ness, C-Will, Sully, Stab and Eric) and our starting girls (Gazelle, Ginger). We came out strong and took an early lead, 3-0. This gave us an opportunity to see how some of our rookies and returning vets would fair so we quickly put in a rotation that allowed everyone an opportunity to play. We were able to stay comfortably ahead for the remainder of the game and took the game 13-8. Our next two games were against the B teams of Gettysburg and Dickinson. These games were learning experiences for both teams and everyone got an opportunity to show what they’ve learned in just a few short weeks of practices. We prevailed in both games 13-4 leadign into the bye for the day. With the weather alternating between cloudy and raining the bye was welcome. Returning from our break we faced what looked to be our toughest opponent of the day in VCU. They played a tough game against Slippery Rock earlier, losing on Universe point so we had to come out focused and ready to play early in order to secure the top spot in the pool. With a quick start from the starting line, we were able to jump out to an early 3-0 lead. With a mix of man-D and a strong zone we were able to get several breaks and maintain the momentum throughout the game, taking the game 13-4 and winning the pool with a record of 4-0.

Day 2

Winning the pool in Day 1 set us up with a bye for the second day so we were able to get more rest and a later start. The first game of the day was the quarterfinals against F&M who had defeated IUP in the pre-quarters. We started out strong once again, going up early 6-3. Thinking that we were on the way to another easy game we let up considerably and let F&M back in the game, allowing them to take half 7-6. Our numbers helped tremendously coming out of half, not just because our starters were fresh but mainly because the sidelines were active and spurring on those the field to push themselves further. We started out with 3 consecutive breaks to take back the lead and from there we never let up, winning 13-10 to move into the semi finals. In the semi-finals we faced the home team, Gettysburg, who were eager to knock us out and win on their home turf. We once again came out strong and took an early lead. This time we were determined not to let up and with the help of the our sidelines (who were even more active than the home team) we were able to make it back to another finals appearance. In the other semi-finals, Dickinson was able to pull out a victory over the Gettysburg Alums. This setup a finals appearance against our local rivals, a team that had knocked us out of contention at Sectionals in the spring. Just before the start of the game, the clouds broke and the sun came out, bringing with it a fairly strong wind. Despite the strong wind, the game was fairly clean with both teams breaking the others zone with ease forcing it to be a man-to-man matchup. We traded points and a couple of breaks but Dickinson was able to get a late break into half, going up 8-6. We received at half and the first point was long and hard fought, but a crucial one if we wanted to stay in the game. We were able to finally take the point and then quickly got a break to tie it. We traded points until 10 all, at which point we were able to make some traction with our zone and get the break to take the lead 11-10. The cap was on, making it a game to 13 so we just had to keep scoring on offense and we would have it won. We traded points again to make it 12-12, universe point. We sent back out the Fab 5 to receive and they were able to work it down the field prior to turning it over with a huck that sailed long. Staunch defense led to a quick turn over at mid field. Eric broke deep and this time the throw was right on, culminating the weekend with an undefeated run and a second consecutive championship to start the season.

Highlights

• Winning the championship on universe point
• Having a massive sideline presence
• Layout D’s from veterans (C-Will) and rookies (Ryan) alike
• Gazelle scoring on the only 4-3 point of the weekend
• Rookie points
• Ness not throwing an air bounce flick
• Breaking any zone thrown at us
• Debbie saving Eric in the finals
• Going undefeated

Video Footage

Down field defending

So it has been a good while since my last post. Things at work as well as the club series have really picked up over the last month, so you guys kinda take a backseat to those things. First I would just like congratulate those goats that played at sectionals. And big props to the kids on Pike for beating the shit out of those freaks from Pittsburgh.

Anyways, since we have covered the mark I figured the next logical step would be to move on to downfield defense. Now most people believe that downfield D is just following your guy around, and then once the disc is in the air, beating them to a spot. But a lot more work goes into it. Most of that work deals with positioning.

First you must decide what you are going to take away as a defender (the in cut or the deep cut). This decision is made before the pull and has a number of factors that go into it. What is the skill level of the team your playing? Do they have good huckers? Are you defending one of their deep threats? Are you defending a handler? Are you faster or slower than the guy you are defending? What kind of weather are you having?

Lets say that you have decided to take away the in cut (use the age old adage, force them deep until they prove that they can throw deep). I know that we attempted this a good number of times back in the day, but we never really did it well. Our problem would be that we stood way off our defenders and then would end up letting them run past us before we picked them up. We couldn't of been more wrong. First off, you will want to position yourself close to your defender. Personally, I like to make contact. Stand right next to them almost like you were marking them, using your shoulder to to take away their straight in lane. My legs are bent and I am on my toes (I tend to bounce a little bit to keep myself from being flat footed). This is an very effective defensive stance from a set position. The cutter really only has one direction to go now.

Once the cutter is moving there are two simple things to remember (when taking away the in cut). One is never turn your back on your defender and two is always keep a shoulder between the cutter and the openside of the thrower. The way to do this is to keep your hips open and facing the cutter when they are changing direction. Also, you will want to stay low and have your knees bent so that you are ready to explode out once the cutter chooses a direction. Don't be afraid to make a little of body contact at this point as well. Force the cutter to go in a direction that benefits you (i.e. deep or in toward the breakside more).

Drill: Set up offsetting cones that gradually get further and further away from one another (it will look like suicides if you were to breakout each part). start at the shorter end and sprint to the first cone. Once there focus on staying on the inside of that cone (the defender). Keep your hips toward the cone. Open your hips and get low while changing directions toward the next cone and then explode out. Repeat this through all the cones. It basically works like a suicide but with an ultimate aspect thrown in.

Drill: 1v1 drill. have a thrower with a force. Have the cutter and defender off to the side about 15yds off to the break side. Have the defender take away one of the directions. The cutter has no more than two changes of direction to get open. Simply get the D.

I know that some of this might not make sense or be a little vague. It is unfortunately a little hard to write out and much easier to demonstrate. As always, please ask any questions if you have them.

Good luck with up coming tournaments.

The Mark

Alright,

So I am a little bored at work and figured this would be a good time to send out my first little blog of the college pre-season. I have some things you should look to work on while you scrimmage and play this fall, as well as a bunch of drills that you can try during practice or after on your own to better your game. Also I am going to be writing this assuming that the people who are reading it understand basic ultimate (i.e. IO flick, the force, breaks, etc...). So as a coked up mrs boterin would say, "Okay, here we go"

The mark is base of an entire defense. If a team has poor marks it becomes almost impossible to create turnovers. I know that when I was in college playing, I would use the mark as a time to catch my breath. Now I find the mark to be one of the more exhausting parts of the game.

The Basics

Like most things in ultimate, it is best to learn from the ground up. So we can look at your body position and movement first.
-When in the mark you want to be on the balls of your feet the entire time. It takes a lot more time to move if your entire foot is in contact with the ground.
-Your feet should also be only a little more than shoulder width apart. This is important because it keeps your center of gravity even with your hips. The easy breaks come when the mark leans on way to far.
-As most of us already know, breakside hand high and force side hand low (lower than you think)
-You will want to have your knees bent to help get your hands lower and help with the following point.
-When moving, you will want to make small shuffling movement. It is not a slide! Your feet should never come together! Also the majority of your weight should be on your trialing leg. This gives you the ability to kick the front foot in order to get a foot block, and change directions easier because you are not leaning out. This is the most important aspect of a mark. Too many people try to get the hand block by leaning over... All good blocks come from moving your feet in order to get you hands into a position to make the block.

Drill: The ability to shuffle is something that you can work on and get better/faster at. Setup cones about 10ft apart from one another. Get into a marking stance (knees bent, hands in position, etc...). Shuffle back and forth between the cones, making a foot block (kicking motion) with the lead foot. This will help you get use to keeping your weight on your trailing leg. Do it for 30 seconds and about two sets. This is great to throw into your normal warm up.

Drill: Get a partner and a disc. Stand about 5-10yds from your partner. Run at your partner and set a straight up mark (thrower must let the mark set). The thrower can then pick a side to fake to (try to extend as much as your normal limit). The mark should shuffle their feet and either get their hand on the disc or make a foot block attempt on the disc. The thrower and mark should then come back to a set middle position. The mark then back peddles about 5-10yds. You should look to repeat this about 5-10 times and do two sets, switching spots with your partner.

Moderate

Now we can look at actually marking someone in a game scenario. For this section assume we are forcing flick. The number one job of the mark is to not let any throws go to the breakside. The best way to look at this job would be to take away the greatest threat at that time. So what does that mean: Triangle!
-When we first set up on a thrower, the mark is going to look to take away the IO flick opportunity. That means your moving your feet and getting your body in a spot that makes it near impossible for someone to throw that IO.
-Assuming your down field D is doing their job, the thrower is then going to look for a backhand break. It would be very difficult to move your feet in a straight line and cut off that throw, so what you will want to do is shuffle back as well as to the backhand side. This greatly cuts away at the throwers angle. You should really only have to move off 2-3ft to make this effectively. After taking it away you will want to start to close back in. Be careful not to over pursue to one side or the other.
-And the last side of the triangle... When the thrower comes back to the force side, you look to shuffle back into your original spot, sitting on the IO flick. You may want to give them a little bit more room in case they are looking for a foul call, but if it is an inexperienced thrower you should get right in their face.

Drill: need a thrower and a mark. Mark will setup on the thrower covering the IO position. The thrower will then move to make a backhand break, the mark will look to prevent like mentioned above. The mark will then begin close the space. The thrower goes back to flick and the mark covers as mentioned above. It is good to do about 5 triangles on both a flick and backhand force.

Advanced (Elite Level)

Some of this practice you may not want to use at the level of ultimate you play, but I figured I would share it none the less. The first is something that you will definitely want to do as a team. That is active sidelines. There should be someone talking with every mark on the field as to where the threats are on the field. (No IO, No Around, No Dump, No line) This simple talk makes life some much easier. The second might be a bit above the college level so I won't get too involved with it (you can ask me if you want to know more about it). The aggressive mark is a great way to disrupt an offense. A small bump on a thrower early in the stall count is a great way to slow an offensive flow and make a thrower thing twice. Now I am not talking about leveling the guy... just making contact... getting in his disc space and making him uncomfortable. This should be done early in a stall count, and then should be backed off by stall 5. It only benefits the defense if a foul is called early in the stall count. Downfield defenders can usually move slightly to get in better position for the next cut.

Drill (The best/worst drill ever): The marking gauntlet is a great drill that puts all of the above skills into one drill. It can be done with or without the bump, so either way you should be able to run it this year. You start off with two even lines parallel to one another. There should be about 15 yards of space between the two lines. There should also be about 5 yards of space on either side of a person within a line. One of the two sides should have discs while the other should not have any. The drill starts with someone marking the first person on the side with the disc. The thrower will throw fakes for at least stall 3 and and then throw to the person across from them. The mark will then run across the space and set another mark. The thrower will fake for at least stall 3 and then throw the disc back to the person that threw it to him. The mark will then run to mark the 2nd person in the line with the discs... The mark will continue to work down both lines until the come out at the bottom (exhausted). As the first mark reaches about his 5th mark, the first person in the line without discs will run to mark the 2nd person in the line with discs and go through the whole line. Then the first person in the line with the discs will peal off and make his way through. When two people get to the end of the line the will become throwers like the rest of the team. It is a great drill that works on marking when dead tired. I hope i explained it well enough... if not please feel free to ask.

Alright that is finally it. Hope you enjoy all that... and as always please feel free to ask questions about anything.