Adam Sigelman
Good club teams often have a core of stars who have played with each other for
a while. Looking at Chain Lightning’s roster last year, I was struck by how
little turnover the team experienced. With a few notable exceptions, last
year’s Chain team was the same team that lost in the semifinals in 2008,
bolstered by the addition of five rookies, all of whom Chain used in key
defensive roles (e.g. Robert Runner and Patrick Dempsey). Chain’s O line, with
the exception of Asa, was the same O line that lost in the semifinals in 2006,
only with a few more years of experience under its collective belt. And these
guys are far from being beyond their athletic prime — the average age of the
O-line was 27.
Contrast Chain’s roster with that of my team, Ironside. The average “tenure”
of Chain’s roster is 4.3 years. That’s almost 1.5 more years than Ironside has
existed. The average tenure of Chain’s O line, where on-field chemistry is
arguably much more important than on the D line, is a whopping 6.3 years. On
Ironside, that number is 2.0. Even if you look at how long Ironside’s O-line
has played Open Ultimate in the city of Boston (either for DoG, Metal, or Boss
Hogg), the tenure only increases to 3.7.
Watching Chain play in Sarasota, I saw a team that played with great
chemistry. Throwers seemed to know exactly where cutters were going. Cutters
saw space and cleared effectively. I didn’t see as much trouble resetting the
disc with Chain as with other teams. It was clear that the group of players on
the field for Chain knew each other and their tendencies well.
Adam Sigelman
I have traditionally posted to this website with answers that questioned the
question instead of answered it. I feel that I owe Ben and Andy a single
straightforward response.
My teams have traditionally fielded the pull with the three handlers. The
“Catch,” not surprisingly, catches the pull. I am surprised how often capable
players choose to let pulls hit the ground instead of catching them on the
fly. I encourage attempting to catch all but the most vertical of pulls. The
risk of dropping the pull, in my opinion, is overrated.
The “Catch” then throws to the “Hitch”. Before that throw happens, however,
the “Hitch” has positioned himself on his preferred side of the field, where
he plans on eventually throwing the disc. He announces this side of the field
loudly to all of the players in the stack (i.e. “Play Left!” or “Left Side!”).
Note that in a horizontal stack, the “play side” is always in the middle of
the field, and the “Hitch” doesn’t need to communicate the “play side”.
It’s important that the “Hitch” gain as many yards as possible without risking
a block. Many first throws do not take advantage of this free yardage before
the defense is set.
There is always a third handler who is neither called as the “Hitch” nor the
“Catch”. The role of this handler is to provide a second option should a
speedy defender take away the first pass. He typically goes on the opposite
side of the “play side”. If the “Hitch” catches the first throw, the 3rd
handler is now setting the stack. If a defender takes away the throw to the
“play side”, the “Catch” can throw to the 3rd handler on the opposite side of
the field for an attempt up this side of the field.
Adam Sigelman
The anti-reset mark is very effective at putting throwers in an uncomfortable
position. You’ve been working it up the line effectively, dumping when needed,
but generally marching up the field. Now, the defense has shifted, and you
either have to make a tough break backwards or hope that your resets can break
free up the line. The sideline, as the 8th defender, limits your options.
Typically in these situations there is a flood of players close to you, as
cutters come in for the bail or defenders sag a bit into the lane.
I find it helpful in these situations to make a 90 degree turn and pretend I
have a normal force mark moving horizontally, not vertically. Now, instead of
looking at a garbled mess and a shrunken open side, I am looking at 40 yards
with both an open side and a break opportunity. More times than not, there is
chaos in the new open side but a decent throw available to the new break side
— either an IO to someone coming into the middle of the field, or an angled
throw (think hammer or blade) to a cutter whose defender is sagging in. Not
only do these throws beat the anti-mark, they also often lean to additional
yardage up the break side.
Adam Sigelman
To me, Spirit of the Game has two principal components: respect (don’t be an
ass) and integrity (don’t be a cheater). I think you could go through reams of
paper defining how those two principles should and do play out, which is not
my intent here.
My point is that playing with Spirit is much harder than I think we give it
credit for. What we are asking of people is to fight against their ego, their
desire for appreciation and status. These are basic human desires—humans
compete for them in all sorts of arenas (money, popularity, who can hook up
with the most attractive member of the opposite sex, and, of course, sport). I
believe it’s possible and worthwhile to attempt to overcome those desires, but
it’s a much more arduous process than just deciding to do so.
As a player, I’m probably worse than most in the Spirit category. When I lose
my temper, I’m prone to make bad calls, treat the rules as guidelines, or
raise my voice in argument. I’m not proud of this behavior.
At the same time, I value the challenge. It’s an opportunity to get to know
the demons that lurk inside of us, and, with hard work, allows us to get rid
of one or two. I value a sport that asks its athletes to take on this
challenge.
Adam Sigelman
In game two of this year’s Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando
Magic, LeBron and the Cavs had a set play. They were down by 2 with seconds
left and needed a quick bucket. LeBron was to cut hard to the hoop for an
alley-oop. Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu had an idea what would happen and
positioned himself between LeBron and the basket. As the play unfolded, LeBron
took a few steps towards the rim, and Turkoglu sags off him. So LeBron changes
course, v-cuts back to the arch, and drains a (ridiculous) game-ending three
pointer.
Winston Churchill once said: “Planning is essential, plans are useless.”
LeBron had a good plan, but he noticed instinctually that his odds of
succeeding would be better if he changed course. In Ultimate, like basketball
& other sports, set plays are useful to designate a cutting order and give the
thrower a good idea of how the field will unfold. I find them especially
useful near the endzone, where the offense only needs to complete one short
pass and individual cutters do not have much space to improvise in. At the
same time, plays are guidelines, and smart players will always throw out the
plan and capitalize when the defense presents them with good opportunities.
Adam Sigelman
Like all things holy, the more you try to explain it with words, the farther
you get from its essence…
Look: If you are on the field and thinking about getting a layout block,
you’re likely not playing good defense. I don’t think there is a recipe for
getting a layout block . I suppose you could practice, and I have seen people
working on their diving and landing techniques. But it also requires a
tremendous amount of luck.
First, the thrower has to make a decision that throwing to your man is the
best option. This point sounds obvious, but it’s important to recognize. It
means that for whatever reason, the throw either yields a big reward compared
to the risk of turnover, or the thrower miscalculates and thinks the receiver
is more open than she is. Let’s say you are the best defender on the team and
consistently smother whoever you are guarding. You will end up with no layout
blocks if the throwers always look off your man. How many layout blocks you
get should never be the barometer of the quality of your defense.
Second, the thrower has to make a bad throw. Perhaps the throw is a little too
far on the inside, or floated a little too long. Whatever happened, you had
the time to hurl yourself at it and get a piece. But if you blocked the throw,
it should have never been thrown or it should have been thrown better. Good
throwers and cutters know this. If you are thinking “layout block” and baiting
a throw, they will make you pay by either putting the disc out to space where
you can’t get it or throwing a pump fake and hitting your man going the other
way.
Here’s my advice for getting layout blocks, both for individuals and for
entire teams. Play hard-nosed, take-no-prisoners defense. Follow the
guidelines for effective D that have been enumerated many other times
throughout this blog and elsewhere (dictate, triangulate, limit the cushion,
use your body, etc.). Get in your man’s shorts and deny the disc, beating her
to every spot. And then, when the thrower does make a mistake (and even the
best will on occasion), you’ll know what to do.
Adam Sigelman
When most players think about breaking the mark, they envision a thrower
throwing around or over a stationary mark. However, I’d argue that the
majority of break throws in high level ultimate don’t happen this way. Most
breaks I see are simple forehands and backhands thrown in motion with the mark
trailing behind the thrower.
You can be a great at switching fields with the Frisbee and have terrible
“break throws”. Here are three keys. (Note that this scenario assumes the disc
towards the force sideline and you set up slightly behind or parallel to the
disc. However, these same principles can apply in other scenarios as well).
1. Separation. Breaking the mark starts first with your legs. It makes
your life much easier if you can get a good few yards of separation. The
typical (but not only) move is to drive your defender a few yards up the line.
Wait until she turns her hips, plant, and then go back towards the line of
scrimmage. The defender has to respect the up-the-line cut, giving you a
chance to create separation going back towards the Frisbee.
2. Positioning. Once you have some separation, you need to make a key
decision in a split second. It comes down to whether you want to secure the
reset or go for a break strike. Lots of factors play into this decision; the
competency of the thrower, the conditions, where the mark is standing, etc. If
you decide to secure the reset, angle your cut to make the throw easy,
regardless of how it sets up the break throw. If you like your chances on a
slightly more difficult throw to space, you want to curl your cut towards the
break side of the field. The thrower should lead you in this direction with a
somewhat floaty throw. Make sure that you put your body between the disc and
your defender. When you catch the disc, you are moving in the direction you
want to throw with the defender behind you. Getting this angle right is an art
not a science, and mastering it is key to getting this break off easily.
3. The Release. Don’t stop. You have two and a half steps to throw the
disc without committing a travel violation. Use these steps to maintain
separation. Throw in stride. (You may need to set a very quick pivot foot to
get off a forehand, but not necessarily with a little backhand flip.) It helps
to practice catching and throwing the disc on the run, working on making your
release as quick and accurate as possible.