Cartography

So you've done some orienteering and you have a decent picture of where you stand.  Maybe you've done some self-assessment, gotten some external feedback, and taken some video.  You have identified where you are on your path.  Now what?

Maybe the next step isn't obvious.  I think there are some paths where the trail ahead is more clear than others.  For example, maybe you have noticed that you generally throw short flicks too hard.  So, you have found some drills to work on wrist speed control and throwing touch passes, and all that is left is to simply execute them with focus repeatedly.  But maybe you have identified that one of your biggest weaknesses is your ability to win aerial battles.  This is an example of something that will require a structured plan to address in a useful way.  It will take specific adjustments to the kind of lifting you do, as well as drilling reading the disc, boxing out, setting up/defending deep cuts on initiation, and so on.

To move along a skill path, you will need a map.

To be more specific, this map details the actual steps you will need to take to improve at something (move along a "path").  This isn't the same thing as a skills map, which simply lists skills in ascending difficulty.  This map will instead contain all the important information on how to get from one stage to another (to take steps forward along the path).

To draw up a map like this, references are critical.  Making a map from scratch without using references of any kind is like trying to read an almanac with your eyes closed.  The good news is that there are tons of excellent resources once you start looking.  These can be books, articles, videos, even experienced players willing to offer advice on improvement.  Unfortunately, since The Great Big Book of Ultimate Throws (TGBBoUT) has not been published yet, there isn't a book out there that is a particularly useful resource for improving at throwing.  For throwing, various articles and blog posts are as good at is gets.  This is not the case for strength, conditioning, agility, mental game, and many other paths.  Your research efforts on these topics will be fruitful rapidly.

As for what the map will actually look like, this will vary widely.  But good maps will tend to have certain similarities.  They will typically include: a written plan with goals clearly stated, an outline of a strategy for improvement featuring well-researched tactics, objectives that are measureable (i.e. 100 focused throws per day), a day-to-day plan that fits well with your schedule, and a method of keeping track of progress and challenges.  A map might describe as short a time period as 6-8 weeks, or as long as a year.  It is important to be able to refer back to your map while you are in the thick of traveling, in order to have perspective on where you are and where you're going.

The improvement process has two main chunks that need to happen before honest hard work and discipline can carry you to success.  Assessment and planning (Orienteering and Cartography).  Once you have assessed, and once you have used your references to draw up a map, all that is left is for you to travel along it as best you possibly can.

Orienteering

Self-assessment is a massive challenge.

It's difficult to accurately determine how good you are at ultimate without receiving external feedback.  At best your understanding will be murky, and can easily be misled.  I think this is because you will tend to measure yourself based on your performance against a variety of opponents, all of whom have their own strengths, weaknesses, energy/focus levels, etc.  So for example: you may find yourself dominating a low level pickup game with relative ease, and overestimate your abilities based on that.  Or you may end a hard practice with a feeling of frustration, thinking to yourself that maybe you aren't as good as you thought, perhaps underestimating your abilities.

I like to look at ultimate skills development as a bunch of paths.  Some people might refer to these as skill trees, but I think paths make more sense.  I'm walking down a path, not climbing a tree.  Maybe there's a path for forehand, backhand, getting open, playing defense.  Each of these paths branches out into other paths as growth continues and more in-depth development begins.  The paths aren't clean and concise.  Sometimes they will diverge, other times they will overlap.  Often times they won't be linearly incremental, i.e. perhaps spending some time throwing hucks will help your control with flat forehands.  One possible map for a throw might look like this:

Paths will look wildly different for different skills and between different people.  Not everyone will travel the same path, and not everyone will find success traveling the same route down a specific path.  I think this is one if the biggest challenges both players and coaches face in the development process.  There must be an element of individuality considered in attempting to find your most ideal path.

A critical part of the improvement process is assessment.  Players have a couple weapons they can use when trying to assess.  The first is asking for feedback from others.  Ideally someone with relevant experience on that path.  Since opportunities for this tend to be infrequent, a second weapon must be developed.  This second weapon is self-assessment.  In self-assessment, you must assess where you are on a path in order to determine how you should progress forward along that path.  Without an accurate assessment of your location, you are essentially blind.  Maybe the work you are doing is helping, maybe it isn't.  You have no way of knowing where you stand.

Self-assessment requires an honest (sometimes brutally honest) critique of your strengths and weaknesses.  It can be awkward or uncomfortable at first to think critically about these things, but doing so will bring you closer to understanding where you are on your path, and therefore where you might need to go next.

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Me and Matt were discussing self-assessment a few days ago, and he brought up the idea that the questions asked in the WUGC application are a pretty good starting point for players to use for assessing the basics of their game.  Food for thought:

Your Current Team

1. Describe your off the field role on your current team. What do you bring to the team as an organizer, leader, captain, teacher, follower, sideline presence, etc.?
2. Describe your offensive role on your current team. (What position do you play? What skills make you good in that role? etc.)
3. Describe your defensive role on your current team. (What position(s) do you play in zone defense? What type of player do you guard when playing person defense? What skills make you good in this role?)

Self-Evaluation

1. How do you train for ultimate? (Physically)
2. How do you prepare for ultimate? (Mentally)
3. What are your main offensive weaknesses? (What are other players better at than you? What are the specific areas of your offensive game you are focusing on improving)
4. What are your main defensive weaknesses? (What are other players better at than you? What are the specific areas of your defensive game you are focusing on improving?)
5. Describe one of the best offensive plays you have ever made, and explain what made it great.
6. Describe one of the best defensive plays you have ever made, and explain what made it great.

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After some discussion with Walden, he brought up some other useful cues that can be used for self-assessment.  These can be used to bring another level of depth, as they can be applied to various specific situations (offense, defense, specific types of plays):

• What are your physical strengths/deficiencies?
• What are your skill strengths/deficiencies?
• How do you play with other people?
• What external factors cause you to struggle or play well?
• What internal factors cause you to struggle or play well?

Pressure

Outside:

It's a beautiful day in April.  Crisp, the sun is out.  Not too windy.  You're at a grassy soccer complex a few hours outside the nearest city, with no loud noises and no spectators.  It's just you and other players, maybe a handful of alumni and friends.

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Inside - 1:

You didn't sleep well last night and your stomach aches this morning.  That hotel sucked.  You ate a balanced pre-Sunday breakfast, but you didn't really have an appetite and you barely tasted the food.  Your breathing is short and inconsistent, your palms are extra sweaty and you just can't seem to grip the disc well today.  Maybe you feel like you want to throw up.  Food poisoning?  Your body feels sore from the day before and you are struggling to get moving.  Legs feel like lead, hamstrings are toast, shoulder aches.

The upcoming day of ultimate is the culmination of 5 years of work for you.  Your mind is racing.  This is it, your last chance, your legacy.  All written in one day.  Success or failure simplified down into this single moment.  Maybe you feel a sinking feeling in your stomach.  Maybe you drop a pass in a warmup drill and it really gets under your skin, starts a fire in your dojo.

Maybe your mind is a whirlwind of thoughts.  Agonizing all the little pitfalls throughout the year, all the pebbles in your team's shoes thus far.

You're afraid of failure.  Maybe you are afraid that your team isn't ready.  Maybe you're afraid that you won't be able to be the pillar the team needs today.  Maybe you are wallowing in that fear.

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Inside - 2:

You didn't sleep well last night.  You were too excited to lay the beat down on some unsuspecting chumps today.  You crushed some eggs and coffee this morning.  You were a little tired, but the coffee took care of that.  3 hours of sleep would have been plenty.  Today's the day!

Your body feels a bit sore, but nothing you haven't experienced before.  You're mostly fired up to bring the pain today.  You know what you're capable of, what your teammates are capable of, and you love the battle.  It gives you energy and drives you.  Rip the disc out of the sky, layout some unsuspecting underclassman cutting under, bomb it 40 yards the other way, who cares.  You're here to kick some ass.  Today's the DAY!

This might be the final day of your ultimate career.  Time to step up.  Write your story.  Fulfill your destiny.  Win or go home, but you have plenty to say about that and you aren't afraid to say it.  Maybe you love the big game, and this is the biggest one of them all.

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Inside - 3:

You slept fine last night.  Maybe you got up early and had a nice leisurely breakfast at Bob Evans.  Border scramble omelette.  The morning was undramatic and quiet.  You arrived at the fields 4 minutes before everyone else with the guys in your car.  No big deal.  You knew what field you were on so you headed over and started cleating up.

You feel pretty good.  You know your body will take a bit extra to warmup today, so you make sure to get that done, too.  All is well.  The team is present, on time, and spirits are high.  The weather is nice.  You feel confident in your preparation and your abilities.  You are the master of the internal.  Your dojo walls are sturdy and tall.  No fires will be started there, today.

It could be the last day of your college ultimate career.  You feel some sadness at this, but mostly feel proud of the road that has lead you to this moment.  The path has been long, but worthwhile.  No matter how the dice fall today, that won't change.  You would like to extend your final season, to spend more time with your brothers and achieve success, however you defined it.  So, you will be all that you can be, today.

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Some thoughts:

I think people handle pressure very differently.  Some people are crushed by it, some people are fueled by it, and others are unaffected by it.  I think there's a full range of reactions people will have to different kinds of pressure.  I also think an individual's reaction to pressure is flexible over time.  A player can learn to handle pressure in a different way.  I think all good players (and good teams) must have an effective way to handle pressure constructively.  Be that getting up for big games/playing better under pressure, ignoring the pressure/tuning it out, or some other method.

I also think pressure is almost entirely self-imposed.  No one outside of your team will care or even know how your college ultimate club team did on a random Sunday in April.  Even if your team is contending for a national title, only a few thousand people will even know about it.  I think recognition that the source of pressure is within yourself is a key piece to helping players understand how they react to pressure and if it is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Intra-team pressure is a bit different I think.  This ties into the responsibility process, will vary from team to team.  Seems to me like additional pressure can either help or hurt your team, depending on how your team handles pressure as a unit.  Note: I think how a team handles pressure as a unit is related to how individuals on that team handle pressure, but is not always that simple.  E.g. the ability to handle pressure can be greater (or less than) the sum of the parts.

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I think ranges exist for each of the above numbered cases.  There can be strengths and weaknesses to any approach depending on how a player interprets things.  For example, if we were to describe a possible power and possible flaw of each of the above 3, it might look like:

#     Power   -   Flaw
1.      Fueled by Fear   -   Paralyzed by Fear
2.     Competitive     -     Overconfident
3.     Steadfast     -     Indifferent

I also think individuals can land anywhere in these ranges.  It gets trickier, since there are a lot of other ways to deal with pressure that I'm not mentioning here.  I think the goal should be to attempt to understand how players handle pressure and figure out an effective way to make it constructive.

IO Box to 100

The In-Out Box Drill:
Required: 4 cones, 15 yd x 15yd field space, 5+ players, 1 disc
4 cones set up in a square.  Lines of players at each cone.  Player 1 cuts to the center of the box then back out, receives pass.  Player 2, from the next cone over cuts to the center of the box then back out, receives pass from player 1.  The drill continues with cuts and the disc progressing clockwise around the box.  Players clear to the next line after throwing.  After the players get the hang of the progression, have the team count completed passes.  Any drop or throwaway results in the count returning to zero.

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What's the point of this drill?
It's pretty simple.  Time and execute a scripted cut, catch the disc, throw a good pass to the next person doing the same.  It's basic, doesn't involve much explosiveness, huge throws, or anything fancy.  In fact, it's so nondescript and easy that after a while it almost dares you to tune it out and just go through the motions.

Then you add in the count.

Counting the number of completed passes fundamentally changes this drill.  It transforms it from a basic "touch the disc while moving" drill into one that challenges an entire roster in unison.  The seemingly mundane drill that dares you to tune it out becomes a trap for the distracted.  Players will suddenly bid for discs just out of reach, not because the drill itself has changed, but because it's no longer about them, it's about the team.

With the count, this drill is a team focus drill.  It's no longer about the cut, the catch, or the throw you have to make.  It's about whether you can make them when the pressure is on, in the moment, and while the team is relying on you to do so.  Can't handle the pressure?  Well, good thing we're practicing it.

With the count, this drill is also about executing when energy is low.  Not many teams get amped up for IO box (not that they shouldn't).  When there's a lull in energy at a game or a practice, is this an excuse to lose focus and let the disc drop or let throws suffer?  Of course not.  IO box makes the entire roster focus on a collective goal.

I used to think IO box was too basic to yield results worth the time spent on it at practice.  Now that I have some perspective on the value of the count, it would be foolish to dismiss drills like this.  Good teams bring the focus in all situations.  Low energy, high energy, external pressure, etc.  Why would we leave focus up to chance when we can improve at it in practice?

Go until the target count is hit.  When you hit it, the team is stronger for it.

Probabilistic

Food for thought:

- What is the probability that your oline can score on any given possession?  Your dline?  How can your practice plan/strategy maximize these?  How is this question different in the short term and long term?

- A player doinks an incut.  Statistically, this will happen.  Is this an outlier?  Or is it an indicator that strategy/practice must be tweaked?  Can I ignore this, or does it need to be addressed?

- Your team loses a game.  Was it just a bad game?  Did you land on the wrong side of probability this time?

- Your team wins a game.  Was it an outlier?  Can you do it again?  How many would you take in a 10 game series?

- Halftime.  Your dline is generating great pressure and getting close on lots of stuff.  But no turns yet.  Does an adjustment need to be made?  Should you stay the course and see if the dice start to fall in your favor?

- Your zone set makes your opponent throw 20 passes to score.  None are contested and the opposing handlers are executing flawlessly.  Should we continue to throw zone in hopes that they'll drop one?

- It's getting windier and is gusty.  Passes that were 100% before are now maybe 90%.  How should our offense and defensive strategies change?

- The oline puts it in the big box, it floats, and one of our players skies a pack for the score.  Was it a good decision and just bad execution?  Was it a bad decision and we just got bailed out by our athlete?  Was that us using our strengths, or did we just get away with one?

- How do I maximize our probability of success?

Responsibility

Saturday morning at MLC, 2008.  There's a steady 15 mph wind gusting to 30, 34 degrees, and a pleasant mix of freezing rain/snow.  I've only been outside for 30 minutes, and it's already apparent I'm woefully underdressed to play in these conditions.

We're running a warm up in-cut drill.  I make my cut, disc goes up.  The wet disc slips off my cold outstretched hands and hits the ground.

"TWO HANDS"

The response is swift and automatic.   A captain shouts at me and the team, but mostly me.  I feel a collective groan from the team.  It hits me like a slap in the face, but I'm used to it.  This is the norm, the status quo.  They shout, I take blame.  Why shouldn't I?  It's my fault, right?

Three hours later.

We're playing Truman State and we're getting wrecked.  Down 2-7.  I've played 1 point so far today.  I'm mostly here because I agreed to tag along on the 9 hr drive.  The leadership decides we aren't coming back in this game and decide to give the bottom of the roster some PT.  We're on offense.  My defender peels off to help deep and I catch an incut.  Disc in hand, I turn upfield, no mark.

"CHILLY"

Automatic.  They shout, I take blame.  Chilly seems to mean: you suck and we don't trust you to not turn it over.  Blame assigned for a turn before the disc has even left my hands.

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If a team wants to be successful, I think a high standard of play must be set by both the captains and the non-captain leadership.  I also think that successful teams have trust in each other, and this trust must also be projected and amplified by the captains and non-captain leadership.  So the challenge is to both cultivate trust and a high standard of play.

When your team is fighting hard to get better, I think it is easy to be ultra-sensitive to the blame/fault process.  Especially in the heat of competition, be that at practice or in a game.  I'm going to refer to this as the "responsibility process".  As a player, I think it is natural to want to know if a turnover was the result of your mistake and how you can correct it.  As a teammate, I think it also feels like your duty to hold your teammates accountable, and even let them know if they made an error that needs fixing.  As with most things, I think there is a full spectrum of good and bad ways to go about this.

The little things matter a lot here.  I think the way a team goes about assigning and accepting responsibility is massively important in the long term development process.  If handled badly, the responsibility process can put a huge amount of pressure on interpersonal relationships, and as a result, team culture.  I think this can build up over the course of the 7 month college season and really wear guys down, leading to frustration, burnout, even quitting.

This gets further complicated by the wide range of perspectives and personalities most teams have.  In particular, maybe your team has guys who thrive when shouted at and love that pressure. Maybe you also have guys who hate that and feel that they're being attacked with that approach to the responsibility process.  Maybe you have guys who are off in their own world and need to be alerted to things, or maybe you have other guys who verbally berate themselves whenever they think they mess up.  So how can all those different approaches be managed at once, constructively?

I have a few theories that I like:

Trust

I think trust has to be a constant at all times.  I like to talk about trust when coaching.  It takes effort to build and give trust.  I like to design practices that give players a reason to trust in each other and themselves.  For example: everyone on Bolt throws a minimum of 50 throws every time we see each other.  I can put a guy in the game and trust him to complete a 20 yard open side flick, because I have seen him do it at least 3 times a week for the past 7 months.  I can trust his ability to do so, his team can trust his ability to do so (they've seen him do it), and he can trust in it (since he's put in the work).  Drills, games, and conditioning should build trust, not erode it.

Feedback

I think that the ability to accept and give feedback is massively important to the responsibility process.  I think teams must be constantly challenging themselves to do this well.  Some caveats: 1. It must be recognized that different players will receive feedback very differently (i.e. it doesn't matter what you say, it matters what they hear).  2. Feedback must always be constructive in nature.  3.  It must be clear at all times that the objective is to create the best team possible, together.  Feedback without constructiveness is just blame and degrades team culture.  Language and tone matters a lot here.

Lift Your Teammates Up

I think that if we are truly focused on creating the best team possible, the best version of ourselves as a team, we should always be striving to elevate each other.  This could mean a lot of different things.  I think the critical piece of this theory is that you are the support system for your teammates.  When times get tough or things get chippy in practices or games, I think it is imperative for players to be able to rely on each other.  Good plays should be encouraged and reinforced by teammates.  If the team energy is low, a player should help their teammates bring it back up.  This requires mental effort and must be practiced.  I think this is critical to creating a healthy team culture and giving guys room to grow.

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Aside:

I hate "chilly" and "two hands".  They're just noise and are meaningless.  It's like shouting "catch it" to a receiver.  Totally pointless, a waste of energy, faceless non-constructive blame.

Focus, Desire, Belief

"Effort alone does not win titles.  Effort -- hard as it is, and admirable as it is that you give it -- is like punching the clock.  Focus and desire and belief is what wins."  - Z

Focus

Desire

Belief

"This year's book is still open.  Let's make the last chapter a story of FOCUS, DESIRE, and BELIEF."  - Z

Photo credit: Ultiphotos.com  

[NUT] Some thoughts on motivation...

From: RF

To: [NUT]

Date: Tue, Mar 5th, 2013 at 7:30 PM

Subject: Some thoughts on motivation...

Hey NUT,

I have been thinking a lot lately about the direction of the team and why we sacrifice in order to work and improve. I've had a great fucking time this year pushing with my brothers on this team and I think it would be beneficial to run you guys through how I approach each and every practice, tournament, gym session, film session, etc.

Every day I motivate myself to be the best I can be through two main concepts:

1.  Plateaus-

“If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” –Bruce Lee

To me, the true essence of intensity and discipline can be summed up by the concept of plateaus. In all facets of the game (and in life), we reach what we believe to be impenetrable limits, both on an individual and on a team level. For the past two years, I, among many on NUT, have tacitly presumed college regionals to be the limit of our potential. Within this mental barrier, my thoughts over the past two years have been limited by irrational doubts. I convinced myself that teams like Illinois and Michigan were simply too good; they had a larger pool of athletes to draw from, they were more experienced, they had tasted victory before and were hungrier than I was. The problem here lies not in the content of these thoughts and doubts, but rather in their mere existence. There will always be moments, both mental and physical, in which we try to set limits on what we can do. This cannot happen. As a team, it is essential that we understand the concept of working through plateaus and constantly reaching for more. I am always fucking hungry for more. If we are truly hungry, we can take down big, athletic teams. It just takes one hell of a disciplined and concerted effort to reach a higher plateau of ultimate play. 

In every aspect of the game, you need to evaluate what plateau you are at and ask yourself: how can I improve? What can I do in order to challenge myself and my teammates? During practice, this is crucial. How can I stop more break throws? How do I position myself in specific defensive situations? When I am on the sidelines, how do I effectively communicate with my teammates who are on the field? If you want to truly succeed at ultimate, then you must be brutally honest with yourself each and every day. You must take humility to the max and understand that you are an essential member of a continuous unit that succeeds only when you push it to. This unit demands you realize that when your rate of improvement has stalled, it is time to work harder and level up. Most importantly, you must remain disciplined in this approach. It is not enough to purely push yourself completely day in and day out with no strategic direction. 

As a team, we are going somewhere and we fucking know it. When we play an opponent, we don't care what that opponent has or has not accomplished. Our opponent will play hard and will play honest, but we will fight our hardest to win and grow because we have pushed through plateaus and have learned from our past failures.

2. Failure- 

At last week’s practice, Ian called me out on having written the words, “Failure is not an option” on my hand. While this is a cute saying to think about when doing homework or masturbating, this phrase is simply not true. Failure is always an option. In fact, it is an option that, more often than not, dominates and corrodes our mentality late in a match. When we are down in a game, when the other team is in better shape or seems to want it more than we do, failure fights against our mental toughness. Failure creeps into our physical and mental faculties until it convinces us that it is OK to rest and stop pushing, that it is OK to accept defeat. In these situations, failure is no longer merely an option but rather it is the only option. As we struggle and get down on ourselves and our teammates, we begin to accept failure as inevitable. We begin to make excuses aimed at explaining why we are losing because it’s comfortable to accept failure as the only option. It’s easy to sulk after a lost point and blame the circumstances of the game as the core contributors to our defeat.

How I see it and what I think we all must understand is that failure is always a choice. We either choose to succeed or we choose to fail, it is that fucking simple. From being down in a hard-fought game to questioning whether or not you want to give it your all at practice on a cold, wintry night, you will always have a simple (but not easy) choice. You can either choose to be comfortable, or you can choose to fight until complete exhaustion. We will all fail on this team. You will play points where you let yourself and your teammates down. This is OK. As a collective unit of brothers we can never see failure as the only option and we especially cannot see it as defeat. It is opportunity. We must continually pound away at the gym, at practice, and at tournaments so that we can constantly refine our skill at success. Even if we have fought hard and convinced ourselves that we have finally found the elusive path to success, there will be times when we will still fall down. Again, this is OK. We must learn from this and grow from it. Following every practice and tournament we need to evaluate how to move forward and progress. Why did Kenyan beat us last weekend and how do we fix it? Why does our energy falter late in the game and what can we do to counter this? 

I’ll grant that our belief muscle is small and weak. An atrophied muscle cannot move large objects. But if we push this muscle 110% at every practice and at every tournament; if we dream about victory late at night when we toss and turn in beds littered with black, rubber field pellets; if we regularly imagine seducing this fully-formed belief muscle back to our bedroom after a long night on the Keg dance floor; it will steadily grow. It will gain on other teams who do not constantly push themselves to believe. Eventually, it will even surpass the strength and finesse of Holterman's glutes. If we choose success and everything that it entails, if we push our belief muscle as hard as we possibly can, then we will move forward and obtain progress. If we instead choose to fail from the start, then we will never know what strength is possible. 

We must accept that failure is always an option. But we must choose the path of success and exhaustion because it is the only path that will take us where we need to go. Failure can either stop us or fuel us. 

In the end, emotional intensity is a double-edged sword. I understand that at times I can let my emotions get the best of me and this is not OK. Too much emotion can let failure take over the mind and, consequently, corrode my discipline and humility. I know this and I will work on it. My motivation to pursue higher levels of intensity, discipline, and humility is defined through the parameters of failure and plateau. They may seem too simple or corny to be taken seriously, but to me they define the world of ultimate that I inhabit each and every day. I fuel myself with these ideas and I constantly create more for myself to be hungry for. I feast off of these values each and every day and look towards others to help me in this endeavor. I remind myself of what is at stake and I fear not being the best player I can possibly be. I fear someday being afraid of failure. I hope that you will understand how these two concepts come to define my efforts to work at practice and at the gym. 

It is not about the end goal, it is about the process, NUT. We must invest ourselves completely in this process if we are ever going to achieve what we desire. 

Let’s pound some Cunth tonight and see what exhaustion really feels like. Its time to get hungry. 

-Johnny "crushing it since '92" Frisbee

A Snapshot

I feel pretty good.  I've been moving well today, running reset cuts hard, getting open and hitting my spots.  My throws feel on the money, no turnovers yet today that I can recall.  I'm playing much better defense too, my legs still can bring the heat despite this being late in the 6th game this weekend.  Better than yesterday, that's for sure.  It feels good to be out here.

My team is doing well.  We're connecting on shots, encouraging each other, following the plan, keeping energy high.  Belief is strong in us, today.

The weather in West Chester, OH is flawless.  Sunny but not too hot, a slight cross-wind.

I don't know the score, but I know it's close because I overheard some of my teammates talking about it a few minutes ago on the sidelines.  This might be a big point.  Game point?  I'm not sure.  I push that out of my mind, it doesn't change how I'll approach this point.

I look over at Nick, on the line to my left.  He's fiddling with his jersey.  He looks back, we touch knuckles and nod knowingly.  It feels good.

Kennedy talks about the plan for a few seconds.  It's familiar.  Matt says something about being an "Alpha" and counts us down to clap in unison.  We clap.

I take a moment to breathe, refocus, and release the butterflies in my chest.  This only takes a few seconds.  I've done this before almost every point I've played today.  It feels familiar, too.

The pull goes up, it's a good one.  Brickyard's been pulling well all day.  I catch the pull, feel the disc in my hands, hit Kennedy.  Time to work.

-----

After putting it in the big box for the horses most of the game, our Oline worked it 70 yards to win on universe.  We scored on a 6 yard open side pass from Santi to Vock.  Brickyard backed us all day, terrified of being beaten in one throw.  Without our foundational ability to work it down the field, we would have been watching the game to go from the sidelines.

[NUT] Fwd: Northwestern Shout-out

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: beau

Date: October 31, 2013, 12:54:58 PM CDT

Subject: Re: Northwestern Shout-out

To: C

CC: [NUT]

Hello Northwestern Nuts,

This is beau from revolver. It has come to my attention that your IHD needs a little boost in the confidence department. You can have both, in fact they complement each other nicely. However if you have a bunch of IHD and no confidence you will probably go down like ship in rough seas. You are all in this boat together, it's not always going to be smooth sailing: the waves are going to rise, the winds going to howl, but that is when you have to get all hands on deck, baton down the hatches, grit your teeth, and harness that storm for the good of your team. Don't shy away from it and hide below deck, embrace it. Sure you will capsize a bunch at first, but if you keep righting the boat, working together, grinning at the adversity, eventually you will see that storms are just winds that make you can use to go fast. Confidence is a sail, let it catch too much wind and you'll flip but too little and you will have a hard time going anywhere. Find the right size sail Nuts and use it.

Cheers, beau

Beau, Mark, Mac - Finals '09

Ceilings

I think one of the biggest things holding people back from improving is the lack of recognition that improvement can be made.  I think I would consider this falling under the "belief muscle" theory.  [Chuck: "Belief is a muscle that must be exercised."]  I think it's pretty hard for people to measure improvement in themselves, as gains tend to be incremental and appear marginal (until they aren't).  This concept is basically the enemy of the "growth mindset", and I think it crops up a lot with all levels of players.  

I'm going to call this a "ceiling".  Basically a limit you set for yourself based on your expectation of growth and estimation of your own ability.  It could be related to a specific throw ("My flick just isn't good"), athleticism in general ("I can't jump/I'm not good at 3v3"), or knowledge based ("I don't understand our endzone offense").  It could even be logistics based ("I don't know how to order jerseys, I've never done that before").

I think people set ceilings for themselves all the time.  I think it is comfortable, easy, even natural to set ceilings.  It feels right to set the bar for yourself based on what you think you know you can do and you think you know you can't do.

The thing is, I think ceilings are some of the worst traps a player can set for themselves.  Once you decide you can't improve at something, it's easy to dismiss it.  Then you don't practice or improve at it and essentially self-fulfill your limit.

I think overcoming ceilings requires both mental and physical work.  Mentally I think that it's important to hold the belief that consistent hard work can pay off, and bring this approach to practices, the gym, and the field.  Physically I think it's important to actually put in the work (duh).  First you must believe improvement is possible, then you must go out and improve, to demonstrate that belief.  Then you're back on your path and working past the ceiling.

For individual improvement, I don't think there are any real limits that are worth discussing.  No ceilings that exist that can actually be reached.  I prefer to think about it as a bunch of paths.  As in, how far along that path are you and how many steps can you take down that path today?  Tomorrow?  This season?

I think that ceilings can be set by a team as well.  I think the way this happens is that a shared belief is created about the ability of a team to perform at a certain level.  I feel this is a big mental trap.  I also think there are a number of effective ways to overcome this team ceiling.  Again, I think it's both mental and physical.  First, how do you address belief?  Maybe your team has a way to dismiss outcome and focus on process. (I think team ceilings are mostly outcome oriented)  Maybe your team has a mental tool like focusing on "fighting for each point".  Secondly, how do you put in the physical work?  Building critical mass of throwing repetition, strength and conditioning.  Creating a physical foundation that the team can trust in and rely on when the pressure is on.

Jack (Rogue Falcon) liked to talk about plateaus during his NUT captaincy, both with strength training and improvement in general.  Ceilings are no different.  I think it takes work to recognize them in yourself and put in the mental and physical effort points to get back on the path.

Thoughts from Frisco

I went down to Frisco to spectate and root for Nemesis, Machine, and the UPA.

-The grass fields at the field site were immaculate.  The fields in Rockford will be far worse, and that's really unfortunate.

- No one likes playing on turf.  It's hot and the surface is way harder, leading to quite a few broken bones.

- Texas in early October is great.  It's sunny and warm.  Calling it now: Rockford will be in the 50s and very windy next year.

- Revolver is operating on another level.  This feels obvious now, but the sharpness of their cuts and throws across the roster made them a lot better than the sum of their parts.  This was apparent in both pool play and bracket play games I watched.  Is anyone playing better than Cassidy right now?  That guy was unbelievably dominant this year.

- Warm ups matter.

- Mental game is a huge factor in elimination games, but I think experience isn't the only weapon teams have against it.  I think an easy way to assess nerves level is to count how many errors are made on routine plays.  Riot was massively more experienced than Brute Squad in finals games, but very clearly was way more nervous.

- The UPA was probably good enough to make semis.  Rather than this being a detriment to the level of the mixed division, this should be a compliment to the level of the players (especially women) on that team.

- Coaching matters a ton.  Or, having a person who can dedicate their energy to watching your team play and offer strategy matters.  The player/captain system puts too much pressure on leadership.  I think it's impossible to both play, line call, and see the game clearly enough to react/adjust well at a high level.

- The format is horrible.  Players are beginning to feel that Thursday doesn't matter, and it's really hurting the tournament as a whole.  It hurts the players because it puts them in an awkward position and forces them to go through the motions.  I think the format must be fixed for next year.  At a tournament with a national championship on the line, success and failure should be cut and dry.  There should be no room for guesswork.

- Machine made semis in storybook fashion, winning over defending champ Bravo and long-time rival Ring of Fire.  This was their outcome goal for this year, really the last several years.  It feels good to have them perform in big moments and show that success is possible, however a team defines it.  I think making semis by going through Ring is a career defining win (so far) for a lot of those guys.

- Lien won a title with Brute Squad in dominant fashion.  This puts her in some pretty good company.  The list of Northwestern Ultimate alumni who have won club titles is now: Ness (Fury), Kath (Scandal), Lien (Brute).  Unsurprisingly, these are all Gung-Ho alumni.

- The big man theory: having a dominant big man who can bail out your offense seemed like a consistent presence across semis level teams.  I mean dominant in the sense that if no one is open and your offense has no options, they can just put it up and have it work out.  On the Machine dline this was George, Oline it was Goose.  (aside, AJ could be this if he wanted to be)  Revolver has Beau, Sockeye has Rehder, Riot has Jaclyn, Brute has Kami/Lien.  I think it's interesting that with all the offensive strategy on display, the very best teams will go to their athletes once or twice a game in times of offensive need.  I think this happens because strong defense forces it, but if it works out it tends to be backbreaking.  I also think that 90% of offensive points aren't about that at all.

- Why are Chicago teams so much worse at throwing than everyone else?  This continues to mystify me.

- I hate the revolver jerseys.  Black print on navy?  What were they thinking?!

- I used to think that teams could choose one of two options: try to win or try to develop.  Now I think that framing the season like that is a mistake.  I think the answer is always try to develop, it's just a matter of how and what to develop with that years version of a team.  For example: a team will try to develop a better plan for defensive offense.  Trying to win feels like a given, so why even discuss it?

- I like the idea of killmode blacks from Ironside.  I didn't love the design though.  Aside: Animal is dirty.  Was Tyler Chan the best rookie at nationals?

- Nemesis finished 16th, but notched a good win vs Quebec Iris.  A lot of youth and good energy there, which should pay dividends down the road if directed well.

- You miss stuff if you just watch the livestreams.  Being there in person is very different and worth it if it can be managed.  Would highly recommend.

- BMW is retiring and he will be missed.  I think he was one of the best leaders and voices in Chicago, not to mention his obvious skills as a player.  I am glad he was able to make it to semis prior to his retirement.

- How many more years can Beau keep his spot at the top of the big man food chain?  I suspect his retirement will correlate with the beginning of a slow decline for revolver.