Sleeping with a Disc

I went to a ton of basketball camps as a kid (shout out to Drill4Skill) and they all taught similar principles and fundamentals of the game. Coaches emphasized shooting like you’re pushing the ball out of the top of a phone booth (which… my 19-year-old sister doesn’t even know what a pay phone is so I have no idea what they’re teaching kids now), dribbling low, and shuffling on D. At the end of every camp, the head coach would give a speech that included about how to apply the skills from camp (and give out Gatorade awards for hustle, naturally). A key principle of the parting message every time was to spend as much time as you could with a basketball.

Coaches stressed that if you wanted to be good, the basketball had to become a part of you. Every extra moment spent with a basketball is an extra opportunity to learn something about it. You could memorize the ridges and bumps of the ball, learn how high it bounces if you dribble harder, or figure out how to control your wrist when you’re shooting it up into the air when you’re laying on your bed.They always mentioned sleeping with the ball, which confused me and still does. But the principle of getting better by bringing a basketball with you everywhere makes sense.

I love this principle for frisbee, especially as a rookie. You learn more from every extra moment you’re around a disc. You find a grip that works, memorize how your thumb feels against the ridges of the disc, and you feel the weight of the disc when you bring it back to throw.

Tossing dishies to yourself in your dorm room as a study break stands to add so much to your knowledge of how to handle the disc when you’ve never played. Some of our rookies (and all rookies, I’m sure) can’t remember how to hold a flick - if they had a disc of their own to mess around with between practices, more of what we teach at practice would stick.

I think everyone who makes it to the first tournament should get a disc to keep. I know a ton of those rookies quit, but would having a disc of their own keep them around because they could see their skills improve more quickly? I think it’s worth the investment to find out.

The kids who went to Drill4Skill camps weren’t always the kind of kids who were receptive to the coaching there. Those camps were harsh and intense, and the campers were often mediocre athletes with very enthusiastic parents. Luckily, rookies (usually) aren’t being pushed by anything other than their own interest. They want to soak up the game. Give rookies discs so they can sleep with them under their pillows.

Three Lists

From a non-ultimate blog (yes, they exist):

When considering a new project, it might help to make three lists:

A list of everything that has to be true for this to be a good project (things you can look up, research or otherwise prove).

A list of all the skills you don’t have that would be important for this project to work (things you can learn, or hire).

And a list of everything you’re afraid of, or things that are essential and that are out of your control….

On paper, it's a lot easier to find the real truth.

I like this as a personal and a team exercise at the beginning of the season. Maybe you do this in a team meeting, maybe you just write this in the Notes app on your phone and check back every few weeks or months in the season.

List 1: What has to be true for this to be a good season

It would set you or your team up for failure to make your list something like:

• Winning Nationals

It would be productive to have your list include things like:

• Having the whole team buy in
• Attendance at practices and tournaments
• Dedication to fitness and conditioning
• Recruiting
• Learning and running endzone sets
• A loud and helpful sideline

List 2: Skills we don't have that would be important for a successful season

It would be unproductive to say:

• Everything
• Rookies who can jump onto the starting O line
• Good defense

It would be useful to think about:

• Help defense
• A good mark
• Pivoting with the disc
• Handler sets
• Knowing which way the wind is going (apparently this is a thing that people struggle with)

List 3: What we're afraid of/what we can't control

This list can include anything. There's nothing off-limits for this list - if you're afraid of it or you can't control it and it matters to you, put it on the list. Then start to forget about it.

A reasonable list for your team:

• Michigan
• The weather
• Ultiworld coverage
• Other teams
• Not getting invited to good tournaments

A reasonable list for you:

• Michigan
• The weather
• Getting mentioned in Ultiworld
• Starting on O or D line
• Playing time

Three lists: What you want, what you need to work on, and what won't stop you.

Q&A: GungHo Coaches Ask the NUT Coaches

1. What was the biggest struggle for NUT and Bolt last season?

YNGVE:  Attendance.  In 2013-2014 we were consistently getting 20+ out to practice.  We had a core of 12 guys who all had 90%+ attendance numbers for the Winter and Spring.  We had 3 guys with perfect attendance: Bif, Jeremy, and Burger.  It should not come as a surprise that the guys with the best attendance improved the most and made the move to NUT.

In 2014-2015 we only had 6 guys with 90%+ attendance numbers.  Garmin was the only one who was perfect through Winter and Spring.  We had practices in late Winter where we were flirting with single digit numbers.

2014-2015 Bolt was objectively more talented at the start of Winter.  When we did Texas drill we would finish with ease, whereas the year prior we would have struggled.  But the team couldn't improve as much we might have since attendance just wasn't as good.

BRUNS:  Confidence.  NUT would be winning a game, give up a break, and then the entire DLine would put their heads down and start shuffling their feet.  Or maybe NUT would be at about 10-10 in a game, realize that there have been zero breaks the whole game, and start getting down.  After losing a game on universe they'd look around at each other and start wondering why they are so worthless.  NUT didn't even want to go to Easterns because they thought they would get waffle stomped.  

They need to get over themselves, realize that no one is judging them, realize that none of the results matter, and play for the love of the game.

2. How would you describe the team culture / mentality of NUT?

YNGVE:  Chuck, Bruns, and the captains (current and former) have worked very hard to cultivate a strong culture for the program.  The positivity and work ethic is evident.  The standard for that is high and should remain high.  I love IHD and how we implement it and reflect on it.  I think we currently view ourselves as underdogs in big games, which seems to have both pros and cons.

BRUNS:  I think they go very hard, but have high expectations for themselves.  They stress out easily, are quick to fret, and turn to doubt with no more push than a gentle breeze.  NUT pushes Chuck's IHD as a way to combat this.  The idea being that we can rise above our own expectations and shrug the pressure that we artificially place on ourselves by the process of IHD.  If we can focus on the moment, believe in each other, and just react to the moment knowing that we are giving our best I think that we can definitely rise from the sticky and steep pit of self-doubt.

3. What have you been most surprised about in your time coaching?

YNGVE:  I am constantly surprised by the level of greatness players in the program find within themselves.  When a new player shows up, I find myself often thinking "You have no idea how good you can be."  But what has happened time and time again is that they exceed even my expectations through hard work, dedication, and focus.  So really, not only do you not know how good you can be, I don't know either.

BRUNS:  I am most surprised by the excuses that are actually advantages.  When I first arrived I heard these excuses and also believed them.  It surprises me to discover that these are advantages and I think NUT should stop whining:

1.  The Quarter System:  This is viewed as a negative for a number of reasons.  NUT starts later than everyone else and misses out on development time.  NUT goes to it's first tournament the first weekend of school meaning they can teach the rookies nothing before taking them to a tournament.  NUT has midterm's all the time because of this system.  NUT has finals near some major tournaments like Centex and Easterns.

Why I see it as an advantage.  Having a 16 week semester is long.  I found the fall at Illinois to be exhaustively long and it was easy to lose focus or get burned out.  10 weeks is far more manageable and it wears you down much less.  A NUT player only has to go hard for 10 weeks at a time, twice during the year.  A NUT player is not taking finals during Regionals, the only tournament.  NUT needs to come down from their "sub ivy league" mountain top and realize that every school has homework and midterms.

2.  Northwestern Students:  The negative view is that kids who go to NU are popsicles.  They have big heads and skinny bodies making them ideal for studying rather than sports.  The NUrds that show up to NUT are naturally positioned to be weaker players than state schools.

My view is that NU kids are extremely motivated people.  You don't get into NU by sitting on a couch and eating potato chips.  I see the NUT players as smart people that have a strong internal push to get better.  I also see them as very competitive people, again you don't get into this school without some competitive edge.  I think these are the kinds of kids who can be taught to do something, when the upside is so strong it is easy to gloss over how low the starting points are.

3.  We have to practice on Lakeside Field:  The negative stance is that it is so windy that it's hard to get Freshmen excited about frisbee.

The positive is that you get a lot of practice in the wind.

4. Who was the biggest dark horse on NUT and Bolt?

YNGVE:  Bolt is inherently entirely composed of huge dark horses.

BRUNS:  Dark Horse: (noun) a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds.

Are you looking for a Dark Horse that has already won or succeeded of one that will?  I guess I can answer both.

I would call Jeremy Piech the biggest Dark Horse that has already succeeded.  I thought there were a lot of reasons for him to just be mediocre.  He's small and only throws high releases.  But Jeremy has a competitive fire that few on NUT can rival.  He figured out how to throw and go, hustle on defense, and throw a space pass all of which came together to make him one of our better DLine handlers and our go to OLine handler sub.  

Bif has to be the biggest Dark Horse that has yet to succeed.  Although Bif has never put it together on the field, he has all the hardware components that matter.  He can throw bombs with touch, he has a killer release point on his backhand, he can run fast, jump high, and lift heavy weights.  Someday, given enough patience on my part, Bif will click on the field.

5. What will it take to get NUT to nationals?  

BRUNS:  The class of 2017.  When a fire starts to burn, right, and it starts to spread she gonna bring that attitude home