Want to learn a bit more about Ultimate?

[John Vetrano]

All,

One thing I love about the Blueberry Hill group is how supportive everyone is, no matter what the skill level.  But while we are playing it is hard to really teach players how to improve and honestly, despite the fact that I've been playing ultimate now for 42 years I am not always sure that "my" way is really the best way.  

So, I was watching a couple of YouTube videos and thought you might be interested in seeing some instructional videos about playing.  In particular, the first one is about cutting and the second is about marking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqpPfVZ1HeI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rDJ8vLjtk0

I am sure there are a million others, too.  These each mention an aspect I try to tell people about cutting and marking.  

For the cut, speed is not as important as changing speed/direction to get separation.  That may mean a major change in direction but it can also be jogging and then sprinting (perhaps with a fake direction reversal to transition).  One thing they don't explicitly mention but I find helps, is to try to time a cut/pace change right when you make eye contact with the thrower.  Then they see the move and can make the throw right away so even if your defender is faster than you the throw will get to you before they can catch up.

And for the mark, the primary goal is NOT to handblock but to stop the throw to half the field.  We don't call the force much in our game but the default is generally to force forehand with a right-handed player.  Note the "athletic" position the marker should be in.  Legs spread just past shoulder width, knees bent and "sitting" so you aren't leaning too far forward or backward, staying on the balls of your toes so you can rapidly move side to side.  One thing they don't say explicitly is your arms should be at or below shoulder height (it is a lot easier to throw a disc from a low point than a high point, so unless the thrower is tall or throws a hammer, you force them into a harder "high release" throw by keeping your arms low.  This is something you can practice at home, too; getting into that stance with your arms wide and a bit lower than your shoulders, moving side to side quickly to cut off half the field.  

One last short clip is about covering your person downfield.  Basically it is about keeping good balance and being aware of which direction the force is.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD9RHwrcAGU

Now, if I just had speed and endurance to do all of this effectively!

If you find this useful and want a few more videos or tips here and there, I am happy to share what I know and find videos that can describe it better than I can!  Most of the videos, though, are for really organized offenses and defenses and that is not us :-)  

See y'all this weekend!

cheers,

JV

[Dan Nunes]

Great info. Thanks JV! Adding the Fernwood group too.

Dan

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[Eric Li]

Oh I have more videos!  

General Throwing Technique (By DC's own Rowan): https://youtu.be/muoVBRmX6Rs

Flicks! (By DC's own Rowan): https://youtu.be/AiU5518a1q0

For Outside In and Inside Outs Throws: search Ultimate101, she has a lot of videos on handling in general as well.   

I know our groups don't use stack but in case people start playing with groups that do.  Personally it may be overwhelming at first, but overtime you'll find stacks to give you more space and less crowding in lanes.  

Horizontal Stack: https://youtu.be/FTZdFGvHuXs 

Vertical Stack: https://youtu.be/eQdYZCHuIcI

Eric

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[repmo...@gmail.com]

While we’re talking instruction— Memorial Day will be my 46th ultimate anniversary, so I feel justified in offering some advice. 

Discs are much more controllable than balls and pucks. That fact makes pass completion much easier in ultimate than other field sports. (In ultimate, we can all “bend it like Beckham.”).  Against a typical pick-up-level defense in decent weather, turnovers should be rare. Which means that a high-risk long pass is usually a poor choice:  e.g., a series of five 95% probability passes has a >77% end-to-end success rate, much better than a 50/50 huck. 

Pickup games can get into a negative feedback loop where we don’t trust our teammates’ skills or choices, so we take the low-odds long shot lest they turn the disc over. Let’s play smarter than that. 

On Apr 16, 2021, at 7:46 PM, Eric Li <ejl3...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Alex Kim]

Hi everybody!

Thanks for all the great feedback and tips. Blueberry is a casual culture game where a lot of different players of skill levels come together to play and have fun. I definitely encourage players to play intelligently and share the disc. I'm guilty of throwing long passes when there's a wide open player 10 yards in front of me. 

I want to take this opportunity to remind players that while we encourage positive tips and feedback, we don't like it when players become critical of others' or boss others around. We're here to have fun and get some exercise. Again, I'm guilty of this and I'll try to be mindful of my comments - I hope everyone else can do the same.

THanks for keeping this group fun and friendly.

See you guys tomorrow. Happy 46th anniversary Dave! 

Alex

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[Adrian Ele]

Agreed! This group has been around for over 10 years for those two reasons: 

Fun and friendly. There's mostly been instant camaraderie and positivity among pretty much all the new people. (Except for the guy who never threw a frisbee before joining the group and accidentally threw the frisbee into my nose on his first day- he never showed up again, not sure why though). 

They played at their own skill level and improve at their own pace. Sadly the more aggressive some of the better players got the less frequently the less-skilled players continued to come back. That's a shame because new players can't improve unless they participate.  last time I checked nobody here was getting paid to play,  which means nobody is playing for a new contract. We're mostly here to have fun.

If people want to throw a long pass, a short pass, or throw it into the ground by testing out their hammer throw  So be it. 

If they ask me for tips and suggestion on how to improve then I know many fantastic players on the field that I can direct them too. Otherwise let's continue to have fun and be friendly.

[Mark Libby NWC Alumnus]

I second what Alex and Adrien say! While I’ve been overseas for a while, I consider myself a Blueberry Hill lifer having played regularly with the group for many years before I left.  Rejoining this fun, collegial pickup crew is one of the things I’m looking most forward to about coming back to the US - since I know that even though I’m a few years older and more out of practice, the vibe will be good, the disc will be shared, and recriminations will be few.  That’s all too rare, unfortunately; I’ve played in various DC-area leagues and tournaments over the years and hated it.  So thank goodness for Blueberry Hill. I am super excited to see you all again in just a few months!

Stay healthy and safe, everyone!

Mark

On Apr 18, 2021, at 05:36, Adrian Ele <ael...@gmail.com> wrote:

Agreed! This group has been around for over 10 years for those two reasons: 

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[Steve Chang]

Hear, hear!  I haven’t been to this game much since moving to VA, but it’s a joy to see the spirit and game thrive with you all. 

Steve

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[Marc Sorini]

Looking forward to your return and hearing about any great Belgian beer discoveries you have made in the past two years.

On Sun, Apr 18, 2021 at 3:18 AM Mark Libby NWC Alumnus <mark.lib...@ndualumni.org> wrote:

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