A word or two on cutting

When I started playing, I was not a very good cutter. Aside from not being anything special in the speed, quickness, or leaping ability categories, certain concepts that were thrown around when I was taught usually left me more confused than open. Older players would tell me where to line up, when and where to cut, and where to clear, but once the disc was tapped in I usually wound up feeling like a chicken with my head cut off. In other words, no matter how many times cutting was explained or drawn out on paper, I still wound up clogging lanes, cutting off others, and clearing to the wrong place.

Over time, I've developed a better understanding of the skill. Some of this has come practicing and refining my own cutting while some has come from seeing the field as a handler. For anyone trying to get better as a cutter, the following basic guidelines have proven themselves handy for me.

1. Use the space
When I coached at camp this summer, this was one of the most basic and common concepts that was stressed to the kids. Very often do all four of a team's cutters wind up on one half (usually the force side) of the field, dragging all four of their defenders with them, and more times than not this can be remedied with the simple reminder that the other half exists. There's a whole lot of space out there, and as a cutter, you should be looking to use it. Regardless of what any formula, strategy, or play says, if you are looking to cut somewhere and there is someone already there, you should find someplace else. Aside from avoiding the formation of a blob of offensive players all wondering why they aren't being thrown to, cutting to open space is nice because it's a gift that keeps on giving: by going to space, you're clearing the space that you were previously in, meaning that someone else will fill that space, which will lead to someone else filling that space, and so on. SPACE. Which leads me to my next point...

2. Recognize that you're cutting not as an individual but as a memeber of a unit
What this truly means is this: not every cut you make should result in you getting the disc. Since you have to focus on where you need to be and what you need to be doing, it can be really easy to fall into the trap of thinking that your objective is to be receiving the disc at all times. Not true. Yes, you want to sell your cut, and yes, you absolutely want to be running your ass off, but it's important to note that a cut that makes space available for a teammate to get open contributes just as much to the offense as the cut made by said teammate. For a really basic illustration, picture the ho stack set up off of a stopped disc. The middle two cutters are likely to be the first to move. It's also likely that one will go in and one will go out, giving the thrower two options. In this situation though, throwers are generally looking to throw to the in cut, meaning that the cutter going out is really serving two purposes: obviously, he's a deep option, but, more importantly, he's clearing space for the in cutter. If he didn't move, his defender could poach in the lane and the defense could clamp down on the single cutter in motion. This idea also goes for clearing: when you've been looked off, it does a whole lot more good to move quickly out of the lane so that the space you were just in can be used by the next cutter than it does to clog it up, expecting to get the disc because you think you're open.

3. Look around
In the spirit of cutting as a unit rather than an individual, make sure to take a glance at where the other cutters on your team are and to note what they're doing. This will help you see both the space that is immediately available and what's about to become available, as well as what's about to be occupied. I've often heard the mantra "if you don't know what's going on, run harder," and while I generally agree, looking around will give some purpose and direction to that running. A bit more on making adjustments while cutting can be found here.

4. Dont. stop. running.
If my last point was self-evident, this one should be coming in loud and clear. Whatever you do, do it at full speed and with every intention of getting to wherever you're going before your defender does. As a cutter, your own sense of timing regarding when to move, when to look around, and where to go will come, but one thing you can do at all times is run as hard as you possibly can. At the very least, you'll tire your defender out and eventually get open because of it. Once you've decided on where to go, go there, and go fast.

The first half of the latest Clip of the Day does a pretty good job of illustrating these concepts. Watch Sockeye (in blue Team USA jerseys) cutters (in order as they appear in the play) Mike Caldwell (#20), Sam C-K (14), Ron Kubalanza (25), and Moses Rifken (10). After the pull is brought down and Wiggins is looking upfield, Caldwell immediately streaks in under, and after seeing that he's not open for a backhand, plants hard and clears, getting the disc on his clear cut. As Caldwell catches and turns upfield, C-K is streaking in, his man a few steps behind him. Even though he appears to be open, he immediately plants and gets out upon seeing that he's being looked off, cutting to the deep space that is open behind him. This clears room for Kubalanza, who moves in and gets the disc. As he looks up, who is coming in? C-K, whose deep cut for Caldwell set up his in cut for Kubalanza. As for the rest of the point, things kind of deteriorate and wind up in an overthrown huck at a tough angle, but the ideas of cutting to space, clearing room for teammates, and being aware of where things are developing are all there. Also, the speed at which they're doing all this is pretty high.

As with any kind of strategic thought, there's always both the really basic and the extremely detailed. Some stuff on the finer points of cutting can be found here (along with everything else Parinella has to say, I really like the phrase "coordinated mayhem") and here.

For our rookies, I hope this helps. If it doesn't, take solace in knowing Robert's self-given animology as well as his favorite sauce.

GM

Ain't that some shit

Capital Open Sectionals was postponed this weekend due to heavy rain Friday night that apparently put the polo fields in Poolesville in jeopardy. Sucks. Floodwall wound up organizing a fairly productive four team get together in Fredricksburg (O and D line, UVA rookie Sectional team, and Woodside HS [actually mostly alumn]).

In lieu of a write-up, I'll just comment on the Sectionals results around the country that have caught my eye.

Back in Washington, Sockeye beat Furious 15-10 to take the Section. One funny side note is that my brother texted me immediately after their game against Sockeye to tell me that he had scored one of their three points. His man was poached off of him and he caught a hammer, but I thought it was pretty cool nonetheless. Anyway, given that this Section and its respective region (Northwest) seem to always be a toss up between the top teams, I wouldn't read too much into things. I'm willing to guess that Sockeye had an easier time playing Furious than they did with Furious+, but with the loss of Chase, both Seths, and Sam O'Brien, maybe each team's subtractions since Worlds will turn out to be a wash. With the addition of Oregon and Northern Cal, the Northwest Region should provide a pretty exciting tournament.

That brings me to the Northern California Section, where Jam took care of Revolver 15-10 as well. With both the MSSUI article covering them and having gotten a chance to watch Revolver first hand at Solstice, I was curious to see who would win that one. They're a pretty high energy team that seemed to rely a lot of having fresher legs and working harder than their opponents. All I really know about Jam is that they are really experienced playing with each other and are purported to move the disc pretty quickly (Plinko?). Jam wins this round, but like before there will more to come in two weeks. YR seems to have done alright, losing only to the higher seeds, but it's too bad there's no score on their game against Revolver.

Another team I had my eye on was Guillermo Y Compania at East Coast Mixed Sectionals. Since, Tyler and Robert played with them all summer and Brooklyn's continuing to do so, I was rooting for Guiller. They did alright, taking 4th in a pretty tough Mixed section, but I know that the expectations before the roster purge were, justifiably, much higher. It's worth noting that they did beat the champions, Bucket, which has me thinking that a trip to Nationals isn't out of the question for the remaining members of this team.

That about does it. Sectionals is now in two weeks, with Regionals the week after. Yesterday has me feeling even more optimistic about Floodwall's chances, as the D line really put together some quality possessions after turnovers and the O line seemed to value the disc more as the day went on. Along with writing about how things go, I'm hoping to get into some stuff of actual substance in the near future, so stay tuned.

GM

2008: A Summer

This club season has been an interesting one for me. Back in the spring, I talked to Xtehn Titcomb at Roll Call about possibly practicing with Voodoo while home for the summer. My plan at the time was to spend June-August in Seattle and then return to play for either Floodwall, the Richmond open team I played for last faIl, or Axis of C'ville, the Charlottesville mixed team that made Nationals last year. Either way, I wanted to be up to club speed by the time I returned. Plans changed, though, and by the time classes ended I had both decided to stay for only a month or so and heard from Voodoo that they wouldn't be taking practice players.

It seemed for a moment that I'd be left without an option while back home, but luckily both my brother and RSD came through with word of Third Team (they've since changed their name to Downpour), which is exactly what it sounds like: a third Seattle team made up of players who either didn't tryout for Sockeye/Voodoo or didn't make it. Not wanting to go seven weeks without doing much more than working out and playing pickup, I was more than happy when Rusty Brown, the captain (and also assistant coach at Northwest) said that I could play.

I had actually pulled my hamstring chasing down a huck from Conger at Axis practice right before leaving Charlottesville, so I spent the last two weeks of May running distance and trying to strengthen my leg. Once I got back to health, things were great. I was playing at least four times a week, along with working out with Matthew (my brother) and friends from both Downpour and high school. The team itself was a lot of fun; practices were actually open to virtually anyone, making for a pretty cool mix of local Seattle guys, up and coming high school kids, and college players like me who were back for a period of time and in need of some avenue by which to play. A lot of the 2007 Northwest guys came out and practiced, (namely Casey, who was willing to put aside the fact that I spent the latter years of high school schooling him on his macking degree and put me on some serious Ultimate knowledge all summer long) which was cool for me since I had played soccer and interacted with them a lot but never got to play disc with them up until now. Quick thought: they're really good. Also, Fisher from Richmond randomly turned up one day and wound up representing the Blue Ridge with me.

In June, we went to both Flowerbowl in Vancouver and Solstice in Eugene, the latter of which was a particularly great experience for me because I got to play a whole tournament with my brother Matthew. Albeit against a below average team of Eugene pickups, he threw himself a coming out party during our second game on Saturday, pulling down a number of hucks over experienced players and showing a lot of composure against more pressure than he hadn't seen before. He only played YCC mixed this year, but I'm predicting a blow up between now and his college days. As for the team, our results at both tournaments were on the whole unimpressive (we got bageled by Voodoo and lost to Furious 15-1), but I got lots of minutes and touches on the disc, and since these were some of my first real interactions with elite ultimate (outside of Truckstop at last year's Sectionals), I felt like I was improving constantly. Besides, all of the dudes on the team were real cool and every game we played was a lot of fun. I really had a blast playing with Downpour, and I'll be rooting for them in the Series.

Quick side note: After seeing them and their players a couple of times, I do have a point or two of commentary regarding the new world champs. On the whole, I was pretty impressed with Furious. Their studs (Lugsdin, Grant, and Oscar) didn't really play in Vancouver, but even then their discipline as far as spacing downfield and throws was really something that I noticed. Other teams, even Voodoo at times, were able to match up athletically, but Furious just didn't seem to fuck up. When they did, their help D deep prevented D lines from quick huck scores, making breaks more difficult for players who perhaps weren't as confident playing offense. Also, Morgan Hibbert is really fun to watch play. All of this being said, I thought Sockeye was going to win Worlds because of their depth and athleticism. Congrats to Match, the greatest man in Ultimate, for all of the hard work he put in to prove me and all of his haters wrong.

While we're at it, let's just stay on the tangent tip. I spent a few chunks of time playing and being around stuff that wasn't strictly club play. I coached middle schoolers at Mike Mullen's Seattle Youth Ultimate Camp during the last week of June, and believe it or not have no complaints about playing frisbee with a bunch of cool (and really talented) kids while being paid for it. Teaching basic Ultimate is an interesting thing, as it both makes you think about your own fundamentals as well as forces you to articulate things that may come as second nature, something that I'll benefit from with regards to this year's rookies. I also played in both Potlatch (there's actually been a really long write up in a holding pattern that I may or may not get around to finishing and throw up here at some point) and Wildwood. As for Potlatch, it's a party: great play (Conger flew out and joined me on a NWS+ team) delicious beer, and still the best tournament in the world. That being said, Wildwood is a close second. Four v. four on the beach meant lots of hammers, laying out high and long, and the bright, flashing cavity that is the Jersey shore. Up next: Kaimana and Paganello.

So after my time back in the 206, I headed back to Charlottesville in early July to live in Peter's apartment, find some kind of job, and keep playing. At the time, I was pretty set on playing for Axis. They had been to Nationals, and have some vets who really know what they're doing. The only thing holding me back was that my teammates from school didn't really want to play for them. I went to Philly Invite with them and actually had a good time, playing well against AMP, Slow White, and some other good mixed teams. Without getting into too many details, though, it soon dawned on me that Axis really wasn't a good fit. I play this game because of the fun I have playing it with my good friends, and with the majority of them playing Floodwall and the others playing for teams that aren't Axis, I decided to stick with open.

My first Floodwall tournament this year was early August's Furniture City Shootout in High Point, North Carolina. Our results were disappointing at something like 2-4 with our only wins over old North Carolina has beens, but given that we only had 14 guys (with maybe 10 in decent shape at the time), I saw some real positives. Disc movement is way better than last year, and I think Tom running the D line is a good thing. Other highlights included Tom's boisterous account of an early teenaged hookup while sitting right in front of a couple and their teenaged daughter at IHOP, as well as Mike G trying to eat a frisbee. It was a good time, and I've since been comfortable with my choice.

With school's approach meaning a new crop of players, the reuniting of everyone, and all around good times, my excitement heading into September was buzzing more and more each day. I headed off to be a counselor at a summer camp for a week (where I taught a few willing kids to throw impressive flicks), but was ready to kick things into an even higher gear upon my return. I came back in time to settle back in for another week before school started, giving me time to welcome and chill with returning friends while enjoying the last bits of summer. All was well. Then I sliced my thumb open on a meat slicer at work and had to get ten stitches. You know, my right thumb, the one I use to grip the disc while throwing, which is kind of important if you're a frisbee player. Pretty shitty.

Fast forward to now: I cut my thumb two weeks ago yesterday, and got the stitches out last Friday. I can more or less throw right handed, although I'm not gripping the disc the way I'd like and am prone to the occasional slip. One benefit that has come of the situation, however, is that my lefty throws have vastly improved. Waste of time practicing them all summer my ass. I'm going to take it easy on it this week (read: keep going lefty) but should be fine by Sectionals on Saturday. As for Floodwall on the whole, practices have gotten better and better in the last month, with more coherent strategy emerging and attendance actually resembling what we hope to field during the Series. I was moved to the D line, an idea that was totally foreign to me six months ago but with which I am infinitely pleased. On the whole, I'm pretty optimistic about our shot at making Sunday of Regionals. Oh yeah, it also doesn't hurt to have recently picked up Tim MacGougan and Connor (of Richmond and Mary Wash-doublegamepointcallahanagainstwilliamandmaryinthegametogotheyearafterw&mmadesemisatnationals fame, respectively), who are probably two of the best players to come out of Virginia in recent years.

Three teams, two divisions, two coasts, and a shitload of frisbee. Like I said, it's been an interesting club season. Shit, it's been an interesting summer. Which brings me to this blog and its function. This entry has been sort of a word vomit that probably won't serve much purpose to anyone other than myself or those who have particular memories regarding the number of events I briefly mentioned, but I wanted to get it out so that whoever's reading has some kind of idea of where I'm coming from. What I hope to do in the coming months is keep a running record of my interactions with and thoughts on the whacky world of frisbee. I'm primarily looking to document UVA's season from now through the spring, but I'll probably come at you every now and again with thoughts and commentary about general strategy, teams and players I may or may not know, and whatever else that's got the internet goin' nuts. You can expect some long, rambling narratives like this one and some short, to-the-point commentary; really it'll be whatever strikes my fancy. Sit back and relax, cause the scene's about to get real thick.

I'll leave you with two thoughts:
1. Free Bobert Congstar. The legend lives on this blog.
2. Fun fact: When Ron Artest was a rookie on the Bulls, he applied to work at Circuit City so that he could get the employee discount. I couldn't really find much more, but I'm assuming the organization didn't really like the idea of Ronron pushing the latest Sony gear.

GM