Regional's for the Great Lakes Regions

This weekend, 16 of the top women’s team in the Great Lakes Region will head to Bloomington, IN, to compete in Regional’s. Check out where they’re all coming from:


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Playing against the Zone

                 
Lately, Athens’s has been having some pretty weird weather. One day it’s as nice as can be, but the next day it’s rainy and cold. The one thing has stayed constant day by day is the wind. And as all Ultimate players know, a strong wind leads to playing against a zone!

In The Huddle, author Peri Kurshan described playing against a zone as a game of chess. This is a good comparison because the point of working against a zone is to wait and be patience till the weakness of your opponent show. This requires skills with disc from not only the handler, but also everyone else on the field. One of the specific skills is a quick release. All offensive players need to be able to pass the disc along before the cup can get situated. No player should hold the disc for more than 5 seconds, the disc should be constantly moving. Even if the handlers swing the disc back and forth with short throws, they are still playing the zone effectively. These small throws make the cup run back and forth, until one of the handlers can either break the cup or get the disc to one of the poppers.

Speaking of poppers, they play an important role while playing against a zone. The most important thing for poppers to remember is always be moving! Nothing is worst than for a handler to look up the field and see no one moving. When it comes to moving, poppers have to be sure to always look for the holes in the cup as well as watching the swings done by the handlers.
Recap: Wind=Zone, but that shouldn’t scare a team offensively. Just keep your passes short, limit the amount of time the disc is being help. Those little throw will tire out the cup and help you move up field. While playing against a zone the most important thing to do is not lose your patience, even though it might appear that you’re not making any progress I promise you will.

Spirit of the game

The thing that makes Ultimate unique the game is run on the idea of spirit of the game. This means no refs, just you and the other team; the players are responsible for calling any fouls and scores. The spirit of the game is a way to show respect to the other team. Through my six years of playing I have learned that spirit of the game expands further than just on the field. Because we are talking about respect, one has to be respectful off the field. It is because of this we shake hands after every game and congratulate a player after a big play.


This past year I have found that people’s talk on the sideline can affect other people on the sideline as well as those still playing. For example, if the sideline is up and moving with the disc yelling positive feedback, the players on the field will get pumped up. This can be found on any sports teams.

On the flip side of things, people take this idea of talking to the players in a negative route. Instead of talking positive to their team, the focus solely on the other team and giving them negative feedback. While playing, we seek out people’s voices on the sideline to help us figure out where people are and who the biggest threats are. So when you get people on the sideline start talking bad about your playing you can’t help but let it affect you, which is what they want.

So, how do you deal with this? Breathe, just breathe. This might seem to be a small step, but you would be surprised how much it helps. With breathing you slowdown your body and your mind (which is working in overdrive during a game), and this helps you concentrate on what you’re doing. The most importing thing is to know that they are just trying to get to your head, so breathing will help you keep your cool. If this doesn’t work and the situation is getting to far out of hand you may want to talk to someone on the other team. This doesn’t have to be rude, just explain the situation and how you feel like this person is disrespecting the spirit of the game.

Recap: Spirit of the game is essential to the game of Ultimate. And that spirit has to extend to off the field. The most important thing to do if someone is disrespecting the spirit is to not let it get to your head. Also, you have to make sure you don’t sink down to their level. Don’t fight back; don’t start doing the same thing during other games. Spirit of the game is what makes Ultimate unique, and if we lose that, this sport will lose its integrity.

OU women's team scores high at Sectionals

This past weekend, Stacked, OU women’s Ultimate Frisbee team, competed in the East Plains Sectionals in Granville, Ohio. The women went 6-2, landing them in third place and giving them a bid to Regional’s on May 1st and 2nd. Below are some of the team’s highlights from the weekend. The photos are courtesy of Josh Kleymeyer.

The Making of a Mark

Man-to-man defense is popular with many teams. So to do this, one must throw a pretty dang good mark when their offensive person has the disc. So today I am going to give you some tips to have a fierce mark and basically dedicate where the disc will go.

The most important thing about marking is that you have to KNOW YOUR FORCE! This means you have to know which side of your player you need to stand on. With this, you will create a pie-shaped segment of the field and force the thrower to throw to only one side of the field.

To throw a good mark, bend your knees to about 90 degrees to get yourself low to the ground. Then with your arms kept them low, but also move them around to block the disc. While you’re marking, stay on your toes. This bouncing will keep you alert and also intimidate the thrower. While the thrower is throwing the fakes you should move with them, but you should shuffle (not lunge). This will help you with balance as well as help you move quicker.

Now, according to the rules, you have to be at least a disc space away from the person you’re marking. I suggest that you step off a little bit more than that. This will give you a wider reach, as well as more room to shuffle (so you don’t get tripped up in your players).

Recap: Your team is relying on you to remember the force and set a good mark. To do this stay low and always keeps moving. If you would like a visual aid, I suggest checking out this video.

PS: Good luck to Ohio University men’s and women’s Ultimate teams in Sectionals this weekend. Kick some butt!

Run your butt off!

Personally there is nothing worse than watching the girl you’re defending causally jogging into the end zone to catch a floating huck, while you’re halfway down the field with an empty tank of gas. The reason for this is lack of endurance.

One of the most important parts of Ultimate is running. In every point, you should be busting your butt up and down the field. So an important thing for all players to do off the field is to work on their endurance. This is a very slow process that takes a lot of dedication. Most of the sites that I read suggested that you start out with an easy 15-30 minute run, and then causally add distance on to your run. The Livestrong Web site made a good point of slowing building distance on your run to prevent injury. Make sure you stretch a lot before and after your runs to prevent injury. Stretching also helps prevent you from being extremely sore the next day.


There are two main workouts that one can do to help build endurance. One is running hills; running up hills exerts a lot of energy. Constantly run up hills will make running on the field will seem easier. Another popular workout is Fartleks, or interval runs. Players will alternate between fast sprints and slow jogs.


Recap: Endurance is really, really important in Ultimate. Building endurance is something that every player has to work on off the field, it does not occur in practice. So I hope you take these tips into consideration.

Why I'm Here

Through my experience in Ultimate Frisbee, I have found it to be a love it or hate it kind of game. After the first time playing, people either get hooked to the thrill or decide staying on the couch is a better fit for them.

I started playing after my brother complained that his team needed more girls due to a 5/2 regulation his league established. After the first season of playing I was constantly looking for more ways to get better, and I have found the best way to do that is to learn from others. So this blog will be used to help inform you, as the reader, of things my team does, as a whole, to get better or individual things you can work on. This blog will also be a learning experience for me because, as I stated, I’m looking for ways to get better as well. I will be looking for constant feedback, on either my post, agree or disagree, or stuff you want me to look into. The best way to get better on the field is to learn and practice, so help me help you!