Chelsea Putnam
We all know how exciting it is to play Ultimate, and we all know what it feels
like to have those butterflies before game time. Having a well executed pre-
game warm-up can literally mean the difference, in my opinion, between winning
or losing the game. Setting the appropriate tone for game time is essential
because this game we play is at least 80% mental. Here are a few things to
keep in mind when you are creating a warm-up:
Dynamic Warm-up is the key: The warm-up is not just drills, it is also
jogging, plyos, stretching, throwing, and logistics (flipping, changing
jerseys, eating that wonderful Gu). Many elite club teams have moved, in the
past few years, to a dynamic warm-up. I completely agree with this move, and
it can be awesome if you do it right. A dynamic warm-up incorporates getting
your heart rate up, stretching, and plyos all together. Most teams follow a
set pattern of plyos (ex. butt kickers, lunges, frankensteins, and many more)
and once your team learns the exercises it can be very easy to run. My team
would also use this time to focus and visualize about personal goals for that
game. I think for most teams the dynamic warm-up works better than static
stretching because it is less time consuming and incorporates more movement
into your warm-up.
Find your fire and stick to it: Every team that I have ever played on has
drills that they excel at. It depends on the personality of your team and what
kind of players you have. For some, it is a D drill and for some it is a
simple box drill. The key is finding drills that will fire up your team, but
also get you game ready. Look for drills that are not too complicated, ones
that get many repetitions in (as opposed to standing in lines) and ones that
mimic game time motions (like cutting, throwing with a mark, and defense). I
say develop an arsenal of 5-6 drills that work well for your team and then you
can choose 3-4 of them to do before a game (if it is your warm-up before your
first game of the day). This could differ depending on weather conditions,
what team you are playing, and how late it is in the tournament. The important
thing is that everyone on the team is comfortable and confident in the drills
you choose. By doing this, you will find that your team will be more fired up
and focused to do the drills, and therefore more game ready!
Leave strategy for another time: Almost all elite teams have a strategy
plan for each of their opponents. This could include different team goals,
different defenses they will run, or key match-ups. In my opinion, all of that
should be discussed at a team meeting at a different time then your pre-game
warm-up. I personally like doing it the night before you play that team
because it gives your players time to mentally prepare. I think it is totally
fine to re-visit your team goals for the game before you start, but the
logistics about the other team should be dealt with at another time. Pre-game
warm-up is about your team – don’t let it get clouded by worrying about the
other team’s best player or how good they look doing their drills right before
your game.
Allow time for individual needs: One thing that Schwa did that worked
really well is that we had a set warm-up time. Everyone knew it, and everyone
committed to it. It also meant that if you had things you needed to do – the
rule was do them before our team warm-up starts. That means if your warm-up
starts at 8:00am, but you know you need to get your ankle taped, mix your
Citomax, and go hug your friend on the other team, then that means you start
that process at 7:40am. By doing this, players won’t be worried about the
things they need to do and they aren’t feeling rushed. It allows the whole
team to be more present during the warm-up. Everyone has different things they
need to do to get themselves ready for a game, but it is also essential that
your team find their flow together. By committing to the team warm-up, you can
achieve this.
The bottom line is that you have to find what works for your individual team.
Some players need intensity, some need defense, some need focused throwing,
and some need it to be light-hearted. We all get fired up in different ways.
Take input from your team and mold your warm-up to what it needs to be to fit
the needs of your specific players. Remember, it WILL set the tone for your
game whether you like it or not, so choose wisely. Finally, don’t forget to
put a stellar D drill in there because we all know defense wins games :)
Greg Husak
The pre-game warmup can take on any number of forms, and I have seen
successful routines span a huge range, from individual to team wide and from
fully choreographed to ad hoc. In all cases, the general goal of the warmup
should be to get the body ready to perform at a peak performance. This will
require people to exert some energy, get a light sweat on and get the muscles
firing, and should also include a few throws to help players calibrate to the
conditions.
One critical aspect to the chosen approach is that the team recognizes the
value and feels that the team gets best prepared to play through the selected
method. As a team, this buy-in to the method used will make a huge difference
in how mentally prepared the team is to play their best. The successful Condor
teams I played on derived strength from getting to the fields, doing
plyometrics as a group, and running through a few drills together. A lot of
the confidence in this approach came from the work some players did with
trainers. Jam teams that I played on also had a strict routine that players
enjoyed, involving plyometrics and drills, as well as a consistent playlist
that helped serve as a countdown to gametime. My interaction with players from
DoG revealed that they took pride in warming up individually, putting the
responsibility on each player to do what they needed to do to get ready. I’ve
seen other teams use half-field scrimmages to get the team warm and in game
mode.
One issue that can occur is an overworking of the body in warmups. In ultimate
you usually have 3-4 games per day. At nationals there may be over an hour
between games, and so you have to figure out how to get your body ready
without exhausting yourself with a difficult regimen of exercises. In really
hot weather, a warmup for a second or third game may only consist of a couple
plyos and maybe a sprint or two. In cold weather, an extended jog just to get
the muscles loose may be required before an active warmup. Understanding your
body, and the condition of the team, will help determine how to to adjust
warmups to the conditions.
This diversity of successful approaches to pre-game warmup indicates that
there may not be a single, superior warmup method. Certainly understanding the
basics of what is needed in a warmup, how to create and tailor a routine to
match the needs of an individual or team will determine what you or your team
does pre-game. Getting support from the whole team that the chosen approach,
while maybe not best for each individual, does the best job of getting the
whole team ready for the first pull is a critical component of a successful
pre-game warmup.
Max Cook
There are many strategies for trying to prepare your team to get properly
warmed up. I will hit on the main scenario for pre-game warm-up- preparing for
the first game of the day.
Most teams have their own set warm-up that they perform; however, in my
opinion the overall goal for warming up before the first game of day should be
to get everyone’s body and mind ready to compete at its peak level. The
problem with that is with a team of 25+ players, all those bodies and brains
react to stimuli differently. Due to this, team leaders should always be open
to allowing teammates to deviate from the set warm-up if it better prepares
that player for action. Most teams allot about an hour of time for a proper
first game warm-up, so that means you should try and get your team to the
fields about 75-80 minutes before the round starts to allow for everyone to
cleat up, slather on some sun-screen, and toss around the Frisbee to feel the
wind.
Once you get everyone rounded up, I always think it’s a good idea to give
about five minutes for everyone to mentally prepare for the game at hand.
There are various mental exercises that can be performed, but my overall goal
during this time is typically to have players envision being successful
(getting a D, catching a goal, throwing an assist, breaking the mark, storming
the field, etc). The mental preparation can be at the beginning of the warm-up
or at the end of the warm-up right before the game, my personal preference is
to have it at the beginning because I feel the team is usually more focused
for the hour leading up to the game. After the brain exercises, some form of
cardio (extended jog) is good to get the blood flowing and the muscles ready
to go into some stretching.
Some form of dynamic stretching is then the next step: recent studies state
that dynamic stretching
(high knees, butt kicks, lunges, shuffles, etc.) is a preferred method to
properly get the muscles fully prepared for intense movement; however, some
players still prefer static
stretching. After getting a
good stretch, to further assist the muscles in getting fully prepared for game
like movements, I like to do multiple progressive cross-field sprints that
culminate in a full sprint.
After the stretch/cross-field exercises, it’s good to allow everyone to get
some liquids (water or drink-ade) and eat some food. The next 10-15 minutes
are usually occupied by some drills that will prepare your team for the
upcoming game; throwing drills that incorporate game time cuts, and marking
drills that focus on not getting broken. Ideal drills don’t involve lots of
standing around allowing muscles to get cold. After going through a couple
drills, it is always good to get in a short scrimmage so that come point one
in the game, everyone has already gone through game-time situations at game-
time speeds. In my opinion, the opponent’s end zone is where most turnovers
occur due to the field space being minimized, so I look to practice a few end
zone sets during this scrimmage time.
After a good intense scrimmage, I usually allot about five minutes for free
time so that players can practice aspects of their game (pulling, hucking,
three-man mark) or better prepare themselves for the game ( additional time to
stretch, additional mental exercises, etc.). Last but not least, the final
five minutes are used to bring the team together to discuss strategy (Is it
windy? Are we going to run zone? Do we need to be ready for zone? What players
do we need to identify, and what are their strengths that we need to take
away? Is this a physical team?). Once all those things are completed, it
should be game-time!
For me, the key aspect to a successful warm-up is having a set routine that
the entire team knows and is comfortable with and that maximizes your time
before a game. However, you should always be dynamic and ready to alter your
routine to change if the conditions call for it. Below is a quick timeline of
a generic pre-game warm up.
- 755-800: Mental preparation
- 800-810: Jog
- 810-825: Dynamic Warm-up & Cross-field
- 825-830: Drill (Throwing)
- 830-835: Drill (Marking)
- 835-850: O v D scrimmage
- 850-855: Free time (pull, eat, drink, rest, shade, etc.)
- 855-900: Strategy discussion
- 900: Game-time
Matt Mackey
You show up early.
Your team has a routine: a slow jog to get the blood flowing, the usual
dynamic warm-up routine. From there, you move into the handful of drills you
always do, working out the kinks, getting ready for prime time. Sound like the
warm-up you know and love?
While this is the current paradigm, I believe there’s a lot of room for
continued innovation. Dynamic (active) warm-ups have become the norm over the
past decade, but the next step is to make your dynamic warm-up more…dynamic.
Progression is a fundamental component of any training program – add weight.
Do more reps. Work on less rest. Why, then, do we keep the same old tired
warm-up routine? Eric Cressey, a forward thinker in
athletic development, changes up the mobility drills his athletes do to warm-
up on a weekly basis.
I’m not suggesting that you go quite that far. However, given that most teams
have at least one player who’s really into fitness, you can task this person
with leading your warm-up and mixing it up every so often (or if you have a
couple, let them each audition their ideas in turn on the team). Okay, you
still want stability and familiarity for your pre-game warm-up; make things
more routine over a couple weeks’ practices before the tournament.
Routine is great in that it lightens the cognitive load of what you’re doing,
allowing you to focus on your mental game, execution, and the big picture,
rather than losing the forest of a tournament for the trees of how to place
your feet. However, when it comes to your body, routine breeds stagnancy. Yes,
dynamic warm-ups are better than static stretches after the long jog. However,
by doing the exact same knee pick-ups and butt-kick runs over and over again,
your body will fall into a rut, forgetting the whole wide range of motion it
hasn’t been exploring otherwise, and you’ll be leaving some of your still-
dormant athleticism on the table when you step onto the field.
Some examples and ideas for you:
-
Stretching the hips: One of the few areas that needs actual stretching in most. You can do this with a Warrior Stretch if you like; more dynamic forms include the rocking rectus femoris stretch, or even a walking lunge with overhead reach.
-
Gluteal activation: This is something I don’t see teams doing much of at all, much less progressing in. Start with the cook hip lift or bilateral glute bridgesomewhere between loosening up the hips but before extended lunging or build-up runs. Progress to a one-foot-elevated glute bridge to really get your butt working for you.
-
Other hip mobility drills allow you to really work a lot of variety in; pick a couple and rotate which you do as you go.
-
Hamstring work
-
Ankle mobility
-
Upper body and core warm-up: There are options here too. You can work it in to the lower body work (think about adding a T push-up or arm- or foot-elevated planks to add complexity at the bottom of lunges or inchworms; consider adding overhead reaches from the bottom position of any of the lunge variations).
-
This list is by no means exhaustive. think about the many different body-weight exercises you can do for training, cut back from the normal workout volume, try new combinations, and turn them into a warm-up that limbers you up and continues to challenge your body on a daily basis. Like many changes, the prospect can seem more daunting than the reality. Start with what you can manage - mixing up the various lunges, trying a new exercise each week and rotating out one you’ve become too accustomed too.
There’s an ever-growing world of possibility that exists out there when it
comes to fitness. A “warm-up” can be so much more than just getting the blood
flowing!
What’s more, the bodily work is perhaps the easier component of your team’s
preparation to work on. Here’s a thought exercise for you: while there’s
plenty of room to add a degree of planning and progression to the physical
warm-up, there’s even MORE potential for you to continually challenge your
team with a progression of the drills and skills you do. As your team
continues to gel and hone skills over the season, is it enough simply to run
your warm-ups and drills the same way as always, or can you nudge yourself to
greater heights with more modifications?
Melissa Witmer
The number one mistake teams make in their pregame warmup is too much focus on
the muscles and cardiovascular system and too little focus on the nervous
system. There is too much focus on volume and too little focus on intensity of
movement.
Last year when I was coming out of retirement I enlisted the help of some
speed and agility training professionals.
These guys specialize in training football players for the combine. I had an
hour session with them once a week for six weeks. The first session I was
shocked by how little warmup they had me doing before we went into trials of
sprint starts. The first exercises in the session was always sprinter stance
starts. Starting from a stationary position and accelerating as quickly as
possible is a fairly intense activity. This was preceded by a warmup that took
less than 8 minutes total. Most surprisingly this warmup did not literally
warm me up. There was little sweating involved. There was no stationary
biking, jump rope, slow jog, or jumping jacks. We skipped all of that and went
straight into the exercises that would be familiar to most teams doing dynamic
warmups. The difference was that they were done for distances of 10 yards or
15 yards, not 25 yard endzone’s worth. The second, and most important
difference was that there was sufficient time between plyos (high knees, but
kicks) for sufficient recovery.
The Physical Components of a Warm Up
Getting ready for sprinting is more about preparing the nervous system than it
is about preparing the muscles. The nervous system is what gets your muscles
firing in a coordinated manner. To get ready to play all out first point, the
nervous system has to be excited and ready to go.
What I often see at tournaments are teams doing iterations of shuffles,
cariocas, butt kicks, high knees, etc. with little rest between exercises. If
players are going a full 25 yards, by the end there is no way they are moving
at full intensity and full speed. Athletes might worry that it’s a sign of
weakness to take a break between warm up exercises but think about what it is
you are trying to accomplish. You want to be ready for explosive movements and
quick feet. If you do your warm up exercises under conditions that do not
allow for maximally quick feet, you are not ready to have maximally quick feet
on the field. If the purpose of the warmup is to get players ready to be
quick, the warmup must allow them to be quick by using shorter distances with
more rest. Plyos are not the time to increase the heart rate. This is the time
to excite the nervous system and get ready for 100% focus and effort. Trying
to do both at once is counterproductive.
People tend to focus on the other biological systems in the warmup because
those systems are more easily “felt.” You can feel when your muscles are warm.
You can feel when you’re sweating. You can feel when you are breathing hard.
The nervous system is a lot more tricky. It’s not something that’s consciously
felt very well but it is what’s most important for being ready to go on the
first point of the day.
The Psychology of the Warm Up
The first time I experienced such a short warm up before my sprint sessions I
was nervous. And for the next three weeks I was nervous every time. Then I
started to realized that if I could do zombie kicks and not pull something, I
would be fine. For the rest of the season if I ever caught myself wondering if
I was ready or if my muscles were too tight, I would do a few zombie kicks as
a kind of self check.
Was there anything really magical about zombie kicks? Are they a perfect
indicator of readiness? Probably not. the point is, I felt that they were.
They put me at ease and helped me feel confident in my body’s capabilities.
This is the tricky part of a team warmup. The physical part is important, but
the psychological aspect will trumph whatever physical things you take care
of. Even if you could design the perfect team warmup up, if players don’t
believe they are ready to go, it doesn’t matter.
This I believe is why teams focus on what they can feel versus what is
actually best for them. I would probably still be the same way if I hadn’t
experienced for myself week after week the success of a short but intense
warmup before my sprint workouts. But now I know.
(VIDEO CREDIT: Tommy Riggs)
Final Thoughts
If you are in charge of your team warmups I’d recommend making minor
modifications at first. Move your team toward the direction of doing slightly
less, allow slightly more time between plyos, and emphasize full intensity
effort movement on footwork (cariocas, high knees, etc) rather than doing a
lot of reps.
John Sandahl
Team Warm ups should accomplish two goals:
Prepare a team 1) mentally and 2) physically for the game ahead. Most teams
perform at their peak if they can use their warm up to feel like they
comfortable with their system and their bodies. Any team warm up should
include enough things to get the team focused and ready for the task at hand
without becoming drudgery.
The “warm up” should generally start an hour before the first pull. That means
cleats on ready to run an hour before the first game of the day. Obviously,
with tournaments the corresponding meet times may change if games are tighter
than an hour between and players are already physically warm. The most
important thing to remember is that you will perform how you practice. If
you’re casual and laid back in your warm up – that’s how you’ll likely play.
Some experienced teams in some situations can flip a switch but don’t count on
this unless you don’t care about results.
There are a lot of variables to consider before deciding on an exact warm up:
1. Physical Situation (One game or part of a tournament/)
a. What are the weather conditions?
b. Current physical state. (Hot, Cold, Tired, Fresh, injured etc.)
c. How have you been performing physically to this point vs similar situations
in the past.
2. Mental situation
a. What is your teams mental state? (Beaten, over – excited, blasé?)
b. What is your team working on improving?
c. Who are you playing and what do you know about them vs. your teams goals
and strength/weak areas?
Assuming that a your team is looking to perform at their peak at it’s the
first game of the day here is a basic outline for a standard team:
Space Check in – Meet – and huddle. [2 minutes]
A chance to answer question, How are we? What’s present in this huddle right
now? Things that might be present include: excitement, tiredness, resentment,
frustration., fear of opponent and many more including things unrelated to the
game at hand. You shouldn’t assume as a coach or captain that what’s in the
huddle will always be the same and therefore that the warm up will
correspondingly need to be the “same.” Address what is present and you will
help your team become more prepared mentally to play. Jogging before you’ve
addressed the team’s current mental state can impair warm up and therefore
focus and performance.
Physical Warm-up (as needed depending on situation). [15-20 minutes]
Jogging, Plyos/active stretching, then Rhythm drill with limited or no defense
to get in the flow of moving and executing. The best is usually a simple drill
with Running/Throwing/Catching. Working your way up to game speed gently over
20 minutes. If you’re not sweating by then end of the 20 minutes you’re not
working hard enough.
Its ok to have several different Rhythm drills but ideally they involve timing
and lots of touches. A double box drill (two discs) with in or out cuts can be
very effective for this. You can also vary the box in size depending on the
wind. Using a very small box to practice short reset passes in the wind and
big box for cutter timing and throwing. For those with basketball experience
this is similar in function to a layup drill in basketball. Make the simple
plays in the flow of the game as you allow your body to ramp upwards in speed.
Mental check in – Situation – where we need to be strong to be successful.
[3 minutes]
Things that may factor in:
1. What just happened in the previous game(s)
2. What are the opportunities for us to improve?
3. Who we’re playing in this game – what they like to do.
4. Is the weather dramatically affecting our performance? Is this a field
position (Bad weather) or a possession (Good weather) game?
All of these things can be considered by the coach or captains – perhaps even
before the day starts.
Most teams shouldn’t focus too much on what the “other team” is doing as this
thinking can put a team into worrying instead of preparing. As a coach,
however I will often consider the other team (if I know something about them)
and tailor our pregame drills towards the skills that are important for us to
focus on in order to be successful. Many teams at the highest level will know
the skills that they need to focus on each and every game no matter who the
opponent and so can easily just look at which skill needs attention and go
from there.
Drill for focus areas – 2-3 drills with limited time between each. [20
minutes]
Once you’re decided what needs attetion then simply drill the skills necessary
for optimal game time performance for 20 minutes.
Some things that you might want to work on:
-
Short throws and catches in windy games
-
Continuation cutting
-
Resetting practice
-
Long throws in games where that will an important option.
-
Marking against a good throwing team or when marking needs focus
-
Defending against a good cutting team or when person defending needs focus
-
Drill to apply physical pressure on the mark or downfield to prepare for the same in the game.
-
Zone applications
Situational scrimmaging [10-15 minutes]
Simple half-field scrimmage practice to warm up to game speed and practice
communication. Situational scrimmaging ( Endzone, fastbreaks or getting the
disc off the sideline. ) No more than 10-15 minutes of this.
Final throwing/Personal time [5-10 minutes]
Leave the last 5-10 minutes for players to work on private time stuff - adjust
cleats, stretch, Practice pulling and getting lots of throws in the last few
minutes.
Final huddle [2 minutes]
In the final huddle there should be no new information. Players should know
who is playing and what they have to do to be successful. If you get to this
huddle and find yourself adding ideas – you didn’t do a good job preparing for
your warm up.
Things to avoid in structuring your warm up:
A lot of people standing in line waiting to do something.
-
Unless the drill is specifically because you’re trying to avoid running too much (a la – masters team before third game of the day) while also getting some game speed action in.
-
Rule of thumb – more throws is better. Two people doing a circle drill and getting 40-60 throws in is far more productive that 20 people each getting 5 throws in.
-
Even three person marking with a little running and marking but a lot of throwing is better than standing a lot.
Over warm-up.
- Especially true in “big game” and “late in tournament times” Matt Tsang (coach of Fury) was quoted recently as saying, “Ultimate teams warm up too much.” I believe this is a function of warming up that goes beyond mental and physical focus and leads to tiredness and drudgery. Be looking for this with players. Also recognize that if the weather is warm or you’ve already played a game or two then a long jog to ‘warm cold muscles’ is probably unnecessary. Similarly – if you’re well into a tournament day – drills with lots of running may be unnecessary and actually impair performance.
Under warm-up.
-
Easy to do if you feel like you’re “supposed to win” a game. This can lead to injuries and bad habits.
-
Introducing new skills/learning/Drills into pre-game warmups.
-
Any drill that you want to do to warm up for a game should be introduced and explained at practice. Spending warm up time trying to explain how to do a drill is wasteful.
Tim Morrill
A quality warm up should simply prepare the body for the work to follow. What
is to follow? A match of our beautiful, dynamic sport that involves sprinting,
jumping, throwing, marking and changing direction…
Ok, so how do we prepare for all that?
The New School Warm Up:
Pros: The most effective way to prepare the body to work out
Cons: Takes a relatively long time, requires tools, is not flashy
Here are all the components, in order:
-
Roll (foam roll, lacrosse ball, stick) to decrease tissue density. SUPER IMPORTANT!
-
Static stretch to increase tissue length
- Note, in Ultimate, the hip may be the single most important area to stretch. Think about the hips as having four quadrants and makes sure to hit them all! Partner stretches work great.
- Inside Hip or Groin: Partner Seated Split Stretch
- Outside Hip or Gluts: Chest to Shin Stretch
- Front Side Hip or Hip Flexors: Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch
- Backside Hip or Hamstring Group: Partner Hamstring Stretch
-
Mobilize or increase range of motion of a joint. Pay lots of attention to ankle, hip and thoracic spine.
-
Activate (mini-bands, stretch bands) or “turn on” some smaller yet important muscles (i.e. glut medius, rhomboids)
-
Reinforce patterns seen in sport (sprinting, jumping, and cutting and lateral movement mechanics)
What this accomplishes? We have rubbed out the bumpy dense pieces of tissue to
prepare them to be lengthened (rolling). We have lengthened the tissue
(stretching) and mobilized the joints to allow for greater range of motion. We
have activated important muscles and trained our neuromuscular system to
recognize and replicate patterns we may encounter in the game. We are warm,
supple, and moving well. We are ready to jam.
The Old School warm up:
Pros: Time efficient, requires no tools
Cons: Fails to address tissue density, tissue length and activation
The “new era” warm up is the most effective way to prepare the body for
exercise. Though to some, it may seem unpractical…
“Do you really expect me to bring my foam roller and stretch bands to the
field and spend 20 minutes rolling and static stretching before I play?”
If you want to perform at the highest possible level, Yes.
“Whatever, I am just going to take my team through some traditional cone to
cone dynamic warm ups”
That is fine. Though conventional cone to cone style team warm ups may not be
the most effective means of warm up, they do have benefits. For example, it
does create team chemistry. Teams look organized and sometimes intimidating if
everyone on the team is on the same page as they go through all the dynamic
patterns. Also, it may be the best way to warm up when in a crunch for time.
I have accepted that until athletes become more educated, the majority of
teams will warm up this way no matter how much time is available. Therefore,
here are a few tips if you chose this route:
-
Reinforce fundamental linear running/ jump mechanics. i.e. A March, Sprinters Skip, High Knee Run, Starts, Transition Jog to Back pedal to Jog, Approach Step Single Leg Jump – Approach Step Double Leg Jump
-
Reinforce fundamental cutting/ lateral movement patterns. i.e. Shuffle, “In- Out-In” Cut , Jab Step with Serpentine Pattern, Lateral Skip, Lateral Cross Over Skip, Lateral Bounding to Sprint
-
Use lunge variations. i.e. Spiderman Lunge, Cross Over Lunge, Opposite Elbow to Opposite Ankle Lunge
-
Use groin openers. i.e. Squat and Pivot, Squat Hops, Side Squat to Side Shuffle
-
Pay special attention to hamstrings (especially when deep into tournaments) and hit them from all angles. i.e. Frankenstein, Walking Toe Touch, Single Leg Reach, Inch Worm
-
Don’t forget to Hit Upper Body. i.e. Trunk Twists, Arm Circles, Windmills
-
Be Creative! Combine movements together to add variety. Ie. Lateral Shuffles with Arm Circles, Push Up to Inchworm to Reach for the Sky, Long Lunge to Hip-up to Tall Lunge and Twist
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Have private time. Every “body” is different. After your warm ups, allow time to each player to handle individual issues. You should know your body well enough to know what you need to feel just perfect. Perhaps it is some additional hamstring stretches or using “the stick” on a tight piece of tissue.
In sum, Ultimate is an extremely demanding sport. In order to ensure
longevity, remain injury free and perform at the highest possible level we
must spend time rolling and stretching (decreasing density, increasing length)
and taking care of our individual issues. Though foam rolling and static
stretching may take time, cause relative discomfort and not look very
intimidating, they are essential. And yes, static stretching before exercise
is perfectly fine, despite what you may have heard.
Circumstances may not always allow this prior to every game. If this is the
case, use an old school warm up to increasing body temperature, reinforces
patterns and gets you feeling relatively loose.
I have a feeling we are going to be seeing a lot more players rolling around
on cylinders or foam and PVC at tournaments. Others may see that guy and think
“what the heck is he doing rolling on the ground, he looks silly” I agree it
may a little silly at times but as a strength
coach, I love it.
When I see it I think “now, there is an educated athlete, good for him!”
Perhaps that should be you.
Bottom Line: high level educated warm up = high level play
Miranda Roth
While others may be more concerned with adjustments for each game, specific
plyometrics, or the most useful drills, I have 3 solid beliefs on fundamentals
of warm-ups:
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Try to do the same thing for each game. No matter what you may include in your warm-ups, teams and individuals respond well to a routine. This way players don’t have to focus too much on the timing or progression of warm-ups and can instead focus on their skills, body and/or uncontrollables around them.
-
Don’t introduce new drills in warm-ups. While coaches and captains may have a vast array of drills that could help in many situations, it is more important to use known drills in warm-ups to temper the mental taxation of pre-game or pre-tournament play. Make sure you learn enough drills in your practices that you have a significant repertoire to choose from in warm-ups.
-
Warm up defense and offense. We often focus so much on warming up our throws and catches that we forget to warm up our defense. I think the easiest way to do this is to add marks to throwing drills and to finish warm-ups with some sort of game play whether it is half-field 7 on 7 or mini.
Ben Wiggins
Within 5 years, I firmly believe that we will look back on the warm-ups we use
now and laugh. This isn’t true for every team, but I think that most high-
level teams are warming up in ways that are more similar than they are
different. Team huddle, jogging, stretching, plyos, throwing, catching drills,
personal time, huck drills, 7v7, pre-game huddle, cheer, etc, etc. And those
combined similarities are holding us back. Before that happens, I’d at least
like to record why I think we got into this situation.
The situation: Many teams use intense, 45-60 minute warm-ups with lots of
sprinting and full speed physical drills that last right up until game-time. I
am not an athletic trainer or accredited in any way, but I believe that
several parts of this routine are probably lowering the chances of our playing
our best. So why do we do this? Here’s my analysis of why each part of our
collective routine developed.
Last year, your team did W, X, and Y before you played. This year, one of your
teammates had a great idea for a new drill (Z) that would add a little bit.
It’s easy to add something in principal, and then no one has to tell the
teammate that their idea is not wanted. With few controlling coaches, ‘mission
creep’ tends to make it easier to add to the plan than to take away from it.
With relatively little experience in leading teams in our sport, few captains
have the time/energy/experience to look at the warm-up as a whole and say,
“Wait, this is too much”. We need to cut something." So we add Z.
A second reason: We see the extremely organized teams running long warm-ups.
They tend to be successful. Colorado’s Mamabird used to show up to the fields
intimidatingly early…and other teams tried to match them in a misguided
effort to take away the source of their power. Trust me when I say that Mickey
wasn’t tough to stop because he woke up earlier. Heck, maybe they would have
been even better with the extra sleep. But we (and I definitely include myself
in this) tried to match every part of their game, including their long warm-
ups. Mistake.
Another reason is that the first time you did Z, it was new and different and
brought a little more energy from your team on some early morning. That energy
is precious, and the new drill gets the credit. Not ‘any’ new drill, but this
one in particular. So we keep it.
Before long, you have 5…6…7….pieces in your warm-up. It makes sense
until you look at it as a whole, and then it’s almost as complicated as the
game itself. When you look at the whole thing, it’s overkill. Imagine at the
end of an exhausting tournament, in those last important points…wouldn’t you
love to have 20 more minutes of jet fuel in your muscles? Or that much more
hydration, or focus, or quickness in your first step?
One major difference between Expert and Novice coaches is confidence. An
Expert knows when they are doing the right things, even if the results aren’t
showing yet. A Novice worries that mistakes from the team reflect on the
quality of the coach. True or not, this rattles the Novice much more than the
Expert. Most ultimate team leaders are Novices when it comes to coaching (if
you don’t believe me, at least allow me this: few team leaders have had real
extensive professional training…and even less could argue that they have
Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours of relevant practice).
Novices worry about what they didn’t do. When your team drops the third pass,
does your leader assume it was the mistake of a too-short warm-up, or do they
methodically roll this occurrence in with the rest of the expected drops for
your team’s ability over the course of a day? Too often, I think this leads to
a well-intended but anti-productive drive to be at 100% full speed for point
#1. This means sprinting like crazy in warm-ups, pushing and sweating until we
have already used some game-energy to ensure that we haven’t done too little.
I think we are routinely burning the lasagna to make sure that we NEVER fail
to cook it thoroughly. And I think this is because our hard-working and
incredibly dedicated and well-intending leaders are put in a position to make
decisions for which they do not have Expert experience. This is why you are
running 20-25 full power sprints before your first point of an 8-hour day.
Over the course of the season, we warm-up many dozens of times. I believe that
if you introduce a player to a 30 minute warm-up at the beginning of the
season and then force them to go through it every day, eventually their body
is going to adjust to need that warm-up time. Essentially, we are spending six
months out of the year training our bodies to need that 30 minutes to move. As
a pro trainer said to me at his first Ultimate-watching experience, “What are
you doing? This is too much. Look at the NFL. Those players are worth millions
of dollars. And they only have them really moving around for 20 minutes before
a game…and definitely not just before kick-off.” Do you really NEED six
different hamstring stretches and plyos? Or have you trained yourself to need
it?
I think that elite teams have, however, taken major benefits from these long,
plyo-driven warm-ups. Ultimate is played in long tournament days where you
have to play well when tired. Practices, however, are rarely that long. Teams
that do these warm-ups are simulating longer days by doing a 30 minute
plyometric workout before they play. Every time! They will be more ready for
the end of long games or tournaments, because of all of those extra workouts.
This is great benefit…but it doesn’t mean that you want to do the same thing
before game-time.
Who runs your team warm-ups? Think about that person right now. Are they your
in-shape, loves to work out type of person? Do they love writing workouts? Do
they get excited about cool new ideas to add in? Do they themselves typically
warm up for longer than the rest of your team? I bet for many of us this is
true. It makes sense, because these are the people most likely to really love
this stuff and be willing to give us their time. We are grateful, and we
should be. On the other hand, it is a little like letting the over-eating chef
plan the menu. Or letting the OCD gal plan the initerary. Talented, but also
the most likely to overdo it. (If I am wrong about the work-out leader on your
team, then at least grant me this: for most teams, the person that can just
tie their cleats and play full speed without a warm-up is almost never in
charge, right?).
To do these warm-ups, we give up extra sleep and comfort and energy and time
to eat and hang out and enjoy the pre-game time. We give up the excitement of
running around for the sureness of knowing our teammates are ready to play
hard. We give up our bodies natural ability to cleat up and kick butt at a
moments notice (especially important between games) and we give up that little
extra boost at the end of the tournament. I think that it makes total sense
why we got to this place, but I think that we will look back on it and wonder,
like we wonder about short shorts and leg warmers, why?
I am no expert on athletic training or energy systems. My former teammates
will tell you that I despise warming up, so I’m biased. If you want my
opinion, I think you should try to be at the fields 60-70 minutes before game-
time. You should do a team drill or game ~35 minutes before game
time…something that focuses on making simple decisions against a living
breathing defender. Do something that you’ve done in practice, so it is
routine and not stress-inducing. Do this for 5-10 minutes, then take a little
break. Then play near the endzone in some little, non-exhausting, 7v7 way for
10-15 minutes. Then take a break and eat and drink a little water before game-
time. Use practices to teach basic plyos that can help individuals warm up,
and do them yourself to set a good example. Remind players (and mean it) that
we should listen to our bodies and not try to play beyond our physical limits.
Encourage your teammates to throw or run as they need to be ready to go, and
trust them to do this (or don’t play them early in the game if they can’t seem
to get the hang of it). Cheer, compete, and don’t worry about the sprints you
could have run that just might have given you a tiny advantage on a super-long
sprint on point #1 maybe. And play.
Lastly, I think great team leaders know that the game is sometimes exhausting
and complicated. Practices (including the warm-ups at those practices) should
reflect this. Pre-game routines are where great leaders keep it simple, fun
and efficient so that the energy goes where it is needed most: the game.