The end

Well thats it, I fly out tomorrow for Australia. I will not be adding to this blog any more. If you wish to see how we do out in Australia then check out the Ltdrelease blog, which is linked at the side of this blog.

I think we will rock out there, but I am not so sure we will win so many games...

word out

The end is in sight

The end of this blog that is. I have though this over, and when I began the idea was to make this a sort of online diary mainly about frisbee. It was a place where I was to dump my thoughts on how training was going, how matches went and how my training went as we built up to the World Championships.

Perhaps later I will sit down and put my thoughts down on how it all went in a logical well planned order, but I doubt it. So here are some thoughts for now.

It did not go as I hoped. Dislocating my shoulder was a major bummer. I had not planned to do that. I was having a great time up till then, laying out all over the place, getting D's and reaching up high. It was a major downer being left on the sidelines watching my friends play. I respect all my team mates, some more than others, but I trust they all want it in their own way. We have lost many games recently and there are no more tournaments left, no more training days, no more team talks. In three weeks we will be out in the sun, sweating and grabbing discs. I hope we win many games, I always enjoy myself more when we win.

So just remember, we are better than those jerks.

Laters
Scuts

Long day at the office

Not that I really work at an office given that I am a phd bum, but today was long. One more week till I go to Australia and only one more training session I can make it to. Today I had fun explaining Ultimate to my superwiser over a cup of coffee. I think he understood...

I was just thinking about development of the game, and is it selfish of me to say that I don't give a dam about teaching wee kids to play the game or encourage schools to play ultimate in their curiculum? I enjoy playing and working together as a team. I like thinking of stratigies and how we can win games, but outreach... give me a break.

The habit of losing

Personally I think there is no such thing. But, Ltd Release have got into a rut of losing. We should be building and getting better for Worlds, which is only 30 odd days away. I believe that we are getting better, and everyone idividually in the team cares. We are all trying hard (I was trying too hard so I was doing very well at throwing the disc far, out of the pitch), but we were not working together. We played one of the local teams yesterday whom are also on their way to Australia, and there was a lack of communication on the field. People were running all over the place but not in the pre-planned structure. There was a nice article about strategy that Si pointed out to me. The idea is that a winning team structure is a fun one. Or is it the other way around, is a winning structure fun?


Fun ultimate in Arkansas.

I am in the belief that the fun comes first. While I was out in Texas I played with a bunch of friends in a quite disorganized team. We went there as it was a awesome fancy dress tourney. We dressed as Southern hicks as you can see above. We had one strategy: play horizontal offence in lanes. We trusted each other and despite the varying ability took the eventual tournament winners to a point of winning. That was as good as it got, we lost many games. But the ultimate was fun. Equally at Texas sectionals we lost every game but the ultimate was fun. We believed in our strategy and despite losing countless games stuck it out.

A question to all the Worlds players coming with me to Australia to play with me: Are you on the same page? We have a team plan, we have a set way of playing. Disregard thoughts of the type: I don't like how we use the isolation, I would not play it like this, and other splitter thoughts. If we work together and play hard, then we will come away feeling good despite losing. If we are all over the place, don't hold it together and I end up calling you all a bunch of fucking retards again then we will come away sad.

I know I have things to work on, my play this weekend was suspect. So please join me in taking this game seriously, be quiet when Will asks for it, listen during time outs, read the plays. The time is not for adjustments, but going out to Australia and doing the best we can. You never know we may make a quarter final again, even the semis. Who though we would last year at Europeans.

First training back

It was shit. Maybe I'll give up with this shit sport.

Skids Tips #4

I am a bit tired tonight, but I thought it is about time I added another tip. So this one is learn to catch leading edge, and do it always despite how cool trailing edge catches feel. The advantage of catching leading edge...

hold up, for those who do not know what leading and trailing edge are, trailing edge means the rotation of the disc is such that you can mac it on, it roles off your hand. Leading edge is the opposite, the front of the disc.

So, catch leading edge, this may mean you need to use your off hand for the flick. Be positive, agressive and take the disc early. Trailing edge catches are the pussy way of catching as you need to let the disc go by you.

And just a further thought, when you are running to that disc do not run with your arms out in preperation to catch. Doing this slows you down. Run normally to the disc and then reach and grab. Don't forget that you may need to lay for it too, to beat the defence.

Check out

Five Ultimate

Motivation

I hope everyone on Ltd Release makes their flights to Perth, unlike Garry O'Conner. I guess the Ukrainians made him scared...

Skids Tips #3

When the disc is wet and you are just chucking around, don't dry it. You will not have time to do so during a game unless you pick up a stopped disc. And the only people who do that in our team are Gynga, Si and Jane.

Next weekend is a big weekend, the last training weekend before worlds! Bring your game!