Ted Munter
I would argue that field vision, like speed or height, is pretty hard to teach
and learn. The best athletes don’t see what’s happening so much as take a
picture of the field and respond. A few brains can do that kind of thing, but
most can’t. Bill Rodriguez would counsel deeps in a zone to move up if they
saw seven opposing players in front of them. Super, if, like Bill, you can see
them all at once and count them at the same time. But of course something
comes with seeing patterns. A player who comes to Ultimate late, after playing
years of soccer, will probably have a better feel for the game than a cross-
country runner. One of the best first year players I ever saw had been a
quarterback. With no one trying to kill him every three seconds, ten seconds
seemed like plenty of time to survey and throw.
Three suggestions to getting better:
1) Play a different position. Seems obvious, but do it. In that zone or on
offense, find a different spot. You will see the game differently and that
helps. Famously, Bill Russell ran every Celtics play from every position, not
just his own.
2) Play some scrimmages with different parameters: A shorter or narrower
field, a shorter stall, six on seven.
3) Find a way of trying things you know are never gonna work. “After he
throws a swing I am going to stand in the lane and watch as I count “one, two”
and look around. Yeah, my guy may go score, but I am seeing what happens. If
your team allows for such scrimmages (and for more sensible versions of what I
am suggesting) you may be able to develop a better sense of “go now” or “don’t
wait,” which is really all we are talking about.
Ted Munter
This topic is not useless, but I find that my thoughts on it are fairly
disconnected.
A phrase that reminds us to respect each other and the game makes sense even
if it is not as effective as some would like preventing players from cheating
or acting like jerks. We are really just codifying the idea that Ultimate
players should practice good sportsmanship, That has value, I hope.
A lot of people discover Ultimate after some bad experience with another
sport. Turned off by the win at all costs attitude of little league or youth
soccer they find the culture of Ultimate inviting. To some degree Spirit of
the Game helps us maintain that valuable difference, even if those who battle
for a national championship only think of spirt as a kind of anachronism.
But as much as possible I hope the top teams try to invest a little
preparation time into playing with good spirit.
For the record, the team I help coach, Ironside, sets as one of our main goals
to be considered a fair team, a team our opponents want to play. Honestly, I
don’t know how we are doing. The scoreboard supplies a clear metric of whether
or not we win a game. How we are doing in terms of earning the respect of
other teams is harder to tell. No doubt we have made some dubious calls. This
year and last we have had a few tiff’s against various rivals. Our fault?
Theirs? Depends on who you ask. No matter, I assume it is on us to do better
and have tried to make myself more accountable for this to the leadership of
other teams. Not easy though. What happens on the field should (I think) be
the player’s responsibility and, like everyone else, I often see with biased
eyes. When I hear my players say something incendiary I get on them right away
but every once and a while its me saying “are you serious” with that call. We
all have to police each other in this respect.
(I am a big fan of the Farriker award, but not sure what team spirit ratings
do. Maybe Farriker award nominees should have to put in the spirit score for
their own team?)
It’s worth remembering that there is a difference between cheating and not
knowing.
We all put a ton of time, effort, and money into what we do and all that makes
the dragging toe or little bump that would never get noticed in summer league
seem huge in late October. We all want shape the reality in our favor. Of
late, I think top club teams have come to recognize this and are ever more
comfortable just going to the observer. That we are getting more and more
qualified observers helps, obviously.
You may not know John Bar or Stu, but there was a time when everyone in
Ultimate knew those guys. They went to every tournament and the sport was
small enough for such guys to be at every party. (Is there a spot in the hall
for them?) It was one of them who said that the arguments in an Ultimate game
were not what kept us from getting on T.V. In fact, if we want higher ratings,
what we should do is get a microphone and camera in on the arguments. Fans
would love that. And unfortunately, that’s probably correct.
Last note, from the showcase game at ECC. Ben Wiggins burns his defender (a
former teammate, Seth Crockford) up the line. As he does so, he says something
excitedly to the effect of “I got you, Seth”. But as Ben catches and throws,
Seth has not slowed down, never thought about marking Ben. He just runs after
the throw itself, which he blocks from behind. Now, I don’t know if Ben and
Seth are buddies, and maybe you think what Ben said was “not spirited,” but it
led to one of the best blocks I have ever seen, and no one was smiling more
after the block than Ben himself. If we are enjoying ourselves, and smiling
the way he was after that play, we are playing with spirit.
Ted Munter
What makes a great play is if it works on the field with the players you have.
No matter the nomenclature, strategic genius, or underlying theory: what
happens on paper matters little.
In general, I would say most team’s playbooks (and plays) are too complicated.
Go simple. And a few simple rules are:
1. Does the play work? (Not, “it would have worked if…”)
2. What is option B if the first pass doesn’t go as designed? Assuming
first pass works, options for second and third passes get tricky. Be careful
with being too prescriptive.
3. What do you do when the opponent defends the play perfectly?
Often it is dealing with number three that is player dependent. Your best
handler or your smart role player whose been at every practice may bail things
out if no one else recognizes what is happening, but that often puts you in a
defensive position, re-grouping to get your O cranked up again. How well (and
how quickly) you go from the plan not working out at all to something that
puts pressure on the opposition is something you hope to get to with a set
play, and your O in general. To practice that, just tell the D what’s coming.
All this said, commit to a few plays and get them down as a team. Run them
over and over at some tourney. If later they don;t work as well they will at
the very least help you probe out how another team plays you or give you a
framework from which to adjust.
Ted Munter
If you are behind because the team has something you can’t handle (a few
players or a defense) you are not behind, you are getting beaten. Change it
up. Play a different D, run the counter play, even if you have to invent it.
Maybe the risk means you go down 13-7 and later people whisper about how you
got blown out. But if you can’t get the score to 11-9 or 12-10 so what?
There is no all-the-time rule for who to play and what to say. Depends on the
game, the time of year, and the opponent. But, do your team’s top
playersdeserve the opportunity to climb out of a hole they probably dug? Or is
now as good a time as any to find out who else can get it done? Is the change
a prayer or include some combinations you have practiced once in a while?
What are the one or two technical things everyone needs to do to close the
gap? Stop their tall recievers from going deep? Slow down the give and go?
It’s fun to see if you can make those changes and execute. Maybe not the
script as you would have written it, butthe kind of opportunity you and your
team should love once its there, whatever happens. Or did you really think you
were going to win everygame 15-7?
Ted Munter
Ah the layout block, the play that got you started, the one you still dream
about, the slam dunk of our game. Or maybe the three-pointer.
On a bad throw everyone can get what looks like a good block. That’s why you
play summer league. But when teams are executing well, coming up with a piece
is tough. Don’t over-commit to laying out or you will end up getting burned on
jukes and lying on the ground as the person you are supposed to cover has a
free throw.
Which is to say that layout’s, like all blocks, come from team defense. If
everyone is always going for a layout block (like everyone heaving up three-
pointers) each player might look good once and a while, but mostly you will
have a bunch of teammates playing as individual, not applying pressure as a
team.
So don’t just count on your best players to get blocks for you. Your top
defenders have to cover top O players and O has the advantage. Great defenders
play well within a team concept—forcing deep, forcing out, whatever—and set up
their layout blocks within that concept. They know that most offensive players
have a few pet moves. If you can identify them, you have a better chance of
getting a block. But players today are too athletic to bait. Let your team
bring pressure; you make the play when it comes your way. Unless it’s summer
league, your block should be the play everyone celebrates because they all
helped make it happen—even if you get the glory.
Ted Munter
Three points about zone offense that are usually true:
-
Your poppers have to identify the zone they are playing against and adjust their positioning/movement accordingly. Handlers must do the same and adjust their throws.
-
Keep moving. It’s easy for deeps and wings to start standing and watching. Even if your zone offense calls for you as the deep O threat to go to the back of the endzone, move around there.
Let the deeps on D see you moving. You don’t have to sprint, but you can’t
stand. Zone defenders want to keep track of what’s going on. Give them more to
keep track of.
- Never throw to someone backpedaling and don’t turn your back to the play. For some players this will seem obvious, but lots of people playing zone O do both.
Ted Munter
Let me answer this question with a question. When was the last time your best
cutter defender spent a scrimmage covering your best handler? How about the
other way around? Sure, your best on the ball defender talks all the time
about hounding the region’s best handler, and your best athlete wants to stop
the receiver all others fear, but you don’t want to go into a game hoping (or
just hoping) your top players match up well against their top players. Funny
matchups at practice teach defensive skills and offer insight into what a
given player likes or does not like. A handler who loves getting bumped might
excel when your grittiest, most physical defender matches up with her. If the
tallee cutter/defender you want to try on the handler has never covered
someone who gets the disc a lot, then it will be harder for you to change the
matchup.
Ted Munter
Moving the disc does one of three things:
- Gains ground (i.e. attacks)
- Moves you to a better place from which to attack
- Maintains possession
Because there is less room, the sideline can often be a harder place from
which to do 2 and 3. But if you can make space for your teammates, it can also
be an ideal place from which to attack.
As always, personnel and approach determines much of what you do. A dominant
handler who can always get the disc makes the liability of going to other
players on the sideline less risky. A team that wants to send it often better
know how to get a few attacking looks once there. A team that likes to work
the disc or does not have a lot of downfield offense should spend less time on
the sideline and have a clear system for moving the disc back to the middle
and across the field.
In practice, do lots of starts from the sideline. After a turn in a scrimmage
just stop for a second, throw the disc to the side and start again. If you are
comfortable on the sideline—attacking or moving off it—your team will excel.