Spring season

In one week James Roush and myself will be traveling down to good ol' EIU. After hurting myself at the end of club season with Natives, I have had a bad taste in my mouth with how my ultimate season ended. Since then I have had almost zero ultimate in my life, and I am extremely excited to play with you all in a week. With that being sad some of my excitement was taken away after watching some video footage of a practice from Wednesday, January 30th. Let me back track a little bit first.

 HR contacted me awhile back about coming down and helping out on a weekend. With a few emails back and forth and getting into contact with Nate, I really wanted to do my best to help out as much as I could. After getting into contact with James we wanted to get some background on the team from the spring semester because we haven't had the opportunity to watch anyone play this year. After watching probably 5 minutes of a scrimmage that night I honestly can say that I was a little disappointed in what I was watching.

It is finally spring. This means that the intensity and focus of practice should be much, much different than the fall. I don't want to sound completely like an ass (for any rookies ask a veteran about me and it may be the first adjective used to describe me), but I have few observations I would like to share.

Fundamentals fellas..

Marking has to improve. It is impossible to take away an entire field but you must take away a small percentage and be accountable for that. In the film many throwers broke marks with ease and it is not because they are superior throwers. I believe that marking is the most valuable part of a successful defense and it can be one of the easier skills to master. For those of you who want to see the field over and over again, work on your mark..

Off the disc D: Similar to marking it is very rare for a defender to be able to take away every option of a cutter. Therefore the defender needs to dictate where he wants the person on offense to cut. When James and I come down, this will be one of the main topics I go over. This skill is difficult to master, I screw it up alot still, however there are some key things which can be improved very simply. Knowing where the disc is at all times, your man, understanding what the offense is trying to do, and hip placement.

On Offense...

Take the high percentage throw. It is like a free throw in basketball. Everyone complains how can a guy be in the NBA but shoot 50% from the line. Take the free 10 or 5 yarder and put it on the money.

Set up cuts. When making a cut you must read your defender before cutting. You cannot assume that taking three steps deep every time will allow you come under open. The defenders hips must turn and be going deep before you can come under.


These are the two biggest things I noticed in a very short time when watching the film.

While I may seem negative there are also many good things I see being done. Fakes to open up some throws. The Zone looked pretty decent, there were a lot of rookies at practice...


Over the next week get out and work your butt off and think about a few of these things. Ask questions and ask more questions.. Don't do something wrong because you don't know what you are suppose to be doing.

My last thought before I sign off.. The weekend of the 15th and 16th get your shit done that week so you can dedicate practice time to ultimate. It is the weekend before your first tournament of the year. Hopefully, you will learn something or at the very least sky James. (He has offered a free beer to anyone who is successful, myself included). Practice times may be different than usual but this is no excuse not to make them. Attendence is highly encouraged, aka mandatory.

Let's get back to the hard nose, in your face D that we had at the end of last year. I truly hope to see 20+ guys at practice in two weekends.

Mike Schwenk #29