Food for Thought

Captain James and myself played on the same club team, Natives, this past season as many of you already know. During this time we had some interesting conversations. I do not remember the subject for a lot of these, I do remember a particular conversation about DP’ing (with some modeling on the field) but I will save that for another time. In all reality a lot of our conversations revolved around ultimate, and more times than not past ultimate with Reaper or the upcoming, now completed, fall season for Reaper. James mentioned he wanted to coach and eventually made the commitment to do so. I on the other hand decided to be selfish and let you all fend for yourself. Let’s just say that a few select alum care more than others, really its only James. Anyway I believe that there were some things that could be useful or insightful for everyone who still is playing whether captain or rookie.

                Be proud, this past fall the club has taken huge strides. Our freshman class has the potential to be great, the key word potential. Everything I have heard coming out of Reaper nation is that this may be the very best class we have ever had. So rookies take this with a grain of salt. I hope that many of you have realized the cult which is Reaper. Every single year in the short history the postseason results have gotten better. Need proof go to UPA (I’m not James and don’t feel like wasting my time to link the results from sectionals and regionals from all of the past years). These results are not magical. Results are a direct relation to the endless hours of hard work past and current players have put into bettering themselves on the field. So rookies keep working your tails off at practice and plyos. Absorb the things that the captains, older players, and coach are teaching you. Believe it or not they do know a thing or two about the game (I’m going to keep track of how many times I make fun of James. That’s 3, I’m going to count the DP). You guys can take Reaper to another level with continued hard work. You have a great base of talent, but you are NO where near where you can be. With that being said, experienced players step it up. There should never be more rookies at practice or plyos than you guys. Be the example. Be patient, you were there once. Be proud.

                Be patient. I talked a lot of results in the previous paragraph. I am proud of the results which Reaper has had the past few years (I may be most proud of never personally losing to ISU in four years, suck my balls Gnomes). In honesty the end results are not what matter. It’s about the process of getting to those results. My freshman year, 08-09, our team was in a similar place to where the group is now. We would practice 5 days a week, 5 legit practices. My senior year, 11-12, we were down to 3 practices a week. Yeah, I know that we would get together and toss but throwing is different than the practices we have. Throwing still has its purposes obviously. You can’t become competent at anything unless you actually perform that action. They say it takes 10,000 repetitions to master a skill (I think its 10,000, it really was the first number that popped in my head). Well let’s all be honest with ourselves I have not mastered a single throw in ultimate Frisbee, if it takes 10,000 repetitions in a given condition to master it (Don’t lie to yourself, neither have you). Many of you can barely keep your attention on working hard with game like throws for longer than James can last in bed, approximately 45 seconds (that’s 4). But in reality that is hard to do, in both circumstances (5). What I am trying to say after that long tangent is the results will come. Do not stress about the fall semester. All of you know that huge strides were made in becoming a better team. You have another 5 ½ months before you need to be playing your best ultimate.  Stress the importance of winning repetitions. 1 great rep is better than 10 shitty ones. One step at a time. Good things come to those who work patiently (I know a crappy ending sentence but I have never been good at introductions, transitions, or closures).

                Be precise. I learned a lot about ultimate in a short time at Eastern, I had to. There were only a handful of players who attended tournaments my freshman and sophomore year. The culture now is different. There are tournaments where we have 20+ guys roaming the sidlines and the playing time is spread out more. With that being said, all of you know when the more important tournaments come around the PT is going to be cut down drastically. There is a one way to find yourself getting called on the line more and more, by being precise. 10,000 repetitions yada, yada, yada…. Don’t worry this will be worth your time. At practice I would always get matched up against James, so I would judge how successful I was at practice based on who won the individual match up that play. This can be a great concept. For me however this didn’t mean that I was playing to my greatest ability, this might mean at times I was giving just enough effort to beat James (6). It didn’t take long to realize that I needed to set a new target for success. So what if I could break James’ half ass mark (7), but when I was matched up against a different opponent, say on Illinois, Nut, or ISU, would that same throw work? You are competing against one another at practice but there is another competitor you need to be preparing for. Just recently I received a critique email about my game from someone who has an unbelievable knowledge of the game. Guess what, I  have major flaws in my game. After 5 years of play and practicing certain techniques I found out that I could have worked in a precise manner which would have yielded better results. Sucks, I know. Not trying to nag, but work with precision! Don’t be complacent. Act as if you are working every drill against the best player you have played against, not the player you are matched up against at the time, in my case, James (8). When running drills go slow if you have to the first few times, but get it right!  Set a goal for scrimmages. For someone like Nate, he should say I’m not going to have a turnover during this round of 5 pull. For Zach, I will not get beat upline whenever my man is the middle handler. For Hardie, after I receive the disc I will go through my progressions every time (just a few examples, set your own goals). Keep track in your mind and set up consequences that suck. If the consequences aren’t severe enough then the habits will not change. Every single action at practice should have specific purpose and if you are not working as if you are playing in the game to go to natties then you are robbing yourself and more importantly your teammates.

I'm done, enough writing from a washed up alum. I’m excited for the upcoming season. I plan on making a trip down soon (you can call BS if you want but it truly is a plan).  Oh I almost forgot.

Be prepared, for the ass kicking by the alums in the spring.

Mike Schwenk #29

 

Check back here with in the next few days for a blog post from another alum. It’s will be a good read and definitely something all the alum and myself agree with.