Brief update: went 3-2 in pool play, making us 3rd in the pool. Lost the cross-over game vs Tufts, won the next game against Stonehill, and then lost the game-to-go in a rematch against Brandeis.
Which means that this was likely our last tournament of the year for sMITe. It's obvious that there has been an explosion in college women's ultimate in the past 5 years, with 12 teams in this section alone. When I was RC in 2004, I had trouble even getting 12 teams at Regionals! And so teams like MIT, Wellesley and BU who used to be able to almost guarantee a spot at Regionals now find themselves with a shortened season in a much larger field of competitors. All of this is great for women's ultimate though, and I'm really excited to have so many new players developing in this region.
Thoughts on the past year:
We knew coming in that it would be a very different season from last year. It would be a building year that would lay the groundwork for strong seasons in the following years. We graduated 6 of our most experienced players, then lost a 2nd year player to an ACL injury at fall sectionals, and a couple other 2nd year players to time/work constraints. Ah, MIT.
On the other hand, we now have a fantastic group of 1st year players. I remember being amazed at all the new players that showed up during the first weeks of the year, and who then kept coming back over the next 8 months. And while it was rough having so few returning players to help teach the new players, by the time Sectionals rolled around, I had trouble keeping in mind that these women had only started playing ultimate in September. This past weekend was a frustrating time for me, not because of how sMITe was doing, but because I kept needing to kick myself to remember that they were just first-year players. I am extremely proud of how sMITe played this past weekend, and that we managed to place 6th in a competitive section. I think we could've done better had Sunday been less windy (ie, harder on newer players), but this is the Northeast and you have to expect less-than-ideal conditions.
One of the highlights this weekend was watching Lydia defend Dory (Brandeis) and get a couple D's on dumps back to Dory. It's a shame that she's graduating this year and we've only had her for one year, but we're still trying to talk her into going for a PhD program :) Emily is going to be a great deep in the next years - her reading skills have improved a lot as has her timing. Kelly is like the Energizer bunny, but faster - she can run forever in the cup, and then still go deep and beat her man. Agnes' defense has become SO much better even in the past 2 weeks - she started with sMITe a little late in the season, but she's picked up a lot despite that. Mangpo (aka mango) had numerous run-through D's this weekend and manages to catch everything thrown at her. Becky was injured for a while this spring, but because of that, she started handling during practice, and her disc skills have become so much stronger for that. Heather was such a great pickup this year - she's played a little before, and is a natural deep with these graceful one-handed grabs, but her throws are so solid that we've making her handle a bit too. Sluts is aggressive and rarely drops the disc, and even started bidding for discs this weekend despite an injured back! I think she was inspired by Clare, despite her absence this weekend :( , who is the dirtiest player on the team solely because she lays out for anything and everything. AND, like Smeri, somehow manages to come down with the disc between 2 much taller defenders.
The returners, too, have all developed so much in the past year. Trisha has become a solid reset handler who regularly breaks the mark in zone and manages not to lose composure in the trap. Amy let loose with some beautiful hucks this weekend, and every single one was the correct decision. Karen amazed me by how much energy she still had in our 8th game of the weekend, after playing all but a handful of points. I don't know how she could still accelerate to get as many run-through D's as she did, or how she manages to be as aggressive at getting the disc when it means she's going to be knocked over again, but she does. Veena was a delight to have back - she's been regularly coming to practices this year and it shows - her timing and cuts are impeccable and she has a power backhand that she's still learning when to unleash. Meri is hucking! And if she isn't hucking, she's getting the D and then getting the score. Anne and Ethan are our second year players. Ethan came back from the summer with such improved throws and catching that we made her a handler, while Anne is a natural in the horizontal offense with really spot-on timing.
Next year is going to be awesome. We're returning all but 2 or 3 of our players (hopefully) and I can't wait to see how much everyone develops over the summer. Play summer league! (and let me know if you need a team).
Go sMITe.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
More on defense
I feel I need to clarify my post on switching defense.
What I am advocating is a shift towards more responsibility on defense, not less. Each person not only has to cover her person, but also be able to pay enough attention to the disc and the other people on the field to be able to help each other effectively. I want to make explicit that if you happen to be the last back, and don't pick up on someone streaking deep, then you are responsible. If you are getting beat, and you don't communicate with your teammates to help you out, then you haven't done your job. If the person you are defending at the time is not a threat, and you don't pick up on someone who is, or you don't take that time to talk to the mark about the cuts developing, you haven't done your job. We are a team, and have responsibilities that go beyond "I need to shutdown my man" such that we as a team can play effective defense.
And that is also why I am not planning on running clam, per se. I feel that is a decent starting point in order to build the basis for a more fluid defense, but that it is limited by its structure and makes it too easy for any one person to say that she was doing her job as 0/1/2/3/4/5/6 and therefore did not need to look at the bigger picture. I want every person on the field to be able to fall into a help defense without needing to worry about what structured role she's supposed to be playing, and to adjust and evaluate such that the team as a whole can neutralize the biggest threats.
What this does, too, is take away the offensive advantage of knowing when/where they're going to cut or throw to. When a switch occurs, it takes the offense time to figure out what happened and if/where there is an open person. Throwers are used to seeing 1v1 matchups, and having that change mid-stride means that they hesitate, or the stall keeps getting higher as they try to find their next best option. This defense is meant to befuddle and stifle the offense, and there's nothing better for defense than a confused and panicking offense.
What I am advocating is a shift towards more responsibility on defense, not less. Each person not only has to cover her person, but also be able to pay enough attention to the disc and the other people on the field to be able to help each other effectively. I want to make explicit that if you happen to be the last back, and don't pick up on someone streaking deep, then you are responsible. If you are getting beat, and you don't communicate with your teammates to help you out, then you haven't done your job. If the person you are defending at the time is not a threat, and you don't pick up on someone who is, or you don't take that time to talk to the mark about the cuts developing, you haven't done your job. We are a team, and have responsibilities that go beyond "I need to shutdown my man" such that we as a team can play effective defense.
And that is also why I am not planning on running clam, per se. I feel that is a decent starting point in order to build the basis for a more fluid defense, but that it is limited by its structure and makes it too easy for any one person to say that she was doing her job as 0/1/2/3/4/5/6 and therefore did not need to look at the bigger picture. I want every person on the field to be able to fall into a help defense without needing to worry about what structured role she's supposed to be playing, and to adjust and evaluate such that the team as a whole can neutralize the biggest threats.
What this does, too, is take away the offensive advantage of knowing when/where they're going to cut or throw to. When a switch occurs, it takes the offense time to figure out what happened and if/where there is an open person. Throwers are used to seeing 1v1 matchups, and having that change mid-stride means that they hesitate, or the stall keeps getting higher as they try to find their next best option. This defense is meant to befuddle and stifle the offense, and there's nothing better for defense than a confused and panicking offense.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Dumping
sMITe has many young players, and therefore when we try to play possession oriented offense, we rely heavily on the dump. It's a fairly simple concept - give a short pass back to a handler, but there are many nuances and differences in how you can run the dump.
A classic dump is to stand about 10 feet away from the thrower, opposite the mark, and make a few jukes to either direction to lose your defender. The dump is usually given as a soft backhand. The benefit of this is that the dump throw is fairly easy - all the thrower has to do is recognize when the dump is open and throw a short pass in that direction. However, you often don't get enough separation to get a break swing off, so you just lose a few yards without the mitigating effect of gaining break side progress.
Another dump that many teams use is to stand on the break side of the thrower, about 10 yards away, with two areas of attack: up the line, or back towards the break side of the field. This dump results in either a power position for the handler when she gets the disc with momentum going up the line, or improved field position with the possibility of flowing down the break side. This requires a more reliable thrower, however, because the around dump is generally angled slightly away, and the thrower needs to be able to make that under pressure of the mark.
sMITe has started moving a bit more towards the first type of dumping, partly because of the increased ease of dumping for newer throwers, but also because with horizontal offense, not changing the position of the disc from the middle of the field is actually a benefit!
Points of note:
If the dump defender is face guarding, then the thrower should initiate the dump and put it to the easier side for the dump to receive the disc.
If the dump defender is looking only at the disc, then the dump makes the move away from the defender.
If you have the disc, turn completely towards your dump and stay turned to your dump until stall 8 (then turn upfield and huck it)
A classic dump is to stand about 10 feet away from the thrower, opposite the mark, and make a few jukes to either direction to lose your defender. The dump is usually given as a soft backhand. The benefit of this is that the dump throw is fairly easy - all the thrower has to do is recognize when the dump is open and throw a short pass in that direction. However, you often don't get enough separation to get a break swing off, so you just lose a few yards without the mitigating effect of gaining break side progress.
Another dump that many teams use is to stand on the break side of the thrower, about 10 yards away, with two areas of attack: up the line, or back towards the break side of the field. This dump results in either a power position for the handler when she gets the disc with momentum going up the line, or improved field position with the possibility of flowing down the break side. This requires a more reliable thrower, however, because the around dump is generally angled slightly away, and the thrower needs to be able to make that under pressure of the mark.
sMITe has started moving a bit more towards the first type of dumping, partly because of the increased ease of dumping for newer throwers, but also because with horizontal offense, not changing the position of the disc from the middle of the field is actually a benefit!
Points of note:
If the dump defender is face guarding, then the thrower should initiate the dump and put it to the easier side for the dump to receive the disc.
If the dump defender is looking only at the disc, then the dump makes the move away from the defender.
If you have the disc, turn completely towards your dump and stay turned to your dump until stall 8 (then turn upfield and huck it)
hatch tryouts!
Open tryouts will be held on:
Sunday May 31, 9:30 am - 1 pm at Donnelly field
Wednesday June 3, 6:30 pm - 9 pm at Daly field
Saturday June 6, 9:30 am - 1 pm at Pope John Paul field
Wednesday June 10, 6:30 pm - 9 pm at Daly field
Closed tryouts will be held on:
Saturday June 13, Wednesday June 17, Sunday June 21, and Wednesday June 24, ending at the Boston Invitation on June 27-28.
Please contact the captains (Bernie, Mabo, Shira) if you are interested in trying out for the team - team_leadership at googlegroups dot com.
Website: http://sites.google.com/site/hatchultimate/
Sunday May 31, 9:30 am - 1 pm at Donnelly field
Wednesday June 3, 6:30 pm - 9 pm at Daly field
Saturday June 6, 9:30 am - 1 pm at Pope John Paul field
Wednesday June 10, 6:30 pm - 9 pm at Daly field
Closed tryouts will be held on:
Saturday June 13, Wednesday June 17, Sunday June 21, and Wednesday June 24, ending at the Boston Invitation on June 27-28.
Please contact the captains (Bernie, Mabo, Shira) if you are interested in trying out for the team - team_leadership at googlegroups dot com.
Website: http://sites.google.com/site/hatchultimate/
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
The problem with man defense
Traditional man defense is 1-on-1. You've got your person to defend, and there's no real expectation that you will help or be helped out. And that is its flaw.
1-on-1 defense inherently gives the advantage to the offense - they know when and where to cut. The defenders can only dictate as best as possible, and then react. Sure, if your team is full of uber-athletes who can beat someone to the disc even if they began 5 yards behind, then man defense was made for you. But most teams aren't built like that.
I believe in a better way.
I believe that better, more efficient defense is one that relies on communication between teammates and an understanding of the relative threat level of each cut, and not solely on athleticism. I envision a team that can switch without hesitation, where defenders talk to the mark to take away open cuts, where as a unit they eliminate the best options until the opponent is left with a risky, low percentage throw.
1-on-1 defense inherently gives the advantage to the offense - they know when and where to cut. The defenders can only dictate as best as possible, and then react. Sure, if your team is full of uber-athletes who can beat someone to the disc even if they began 5 yards behind, then man defense was made for you. But most teams aren't built like that.
I believe in a better way.
I believe that better, more efficient defense is one that relies on communication between teammates and an understanding of the relative threat level of each cut, and not solely on athleticism. I envision a team that can switch without hesitation, where defenders talk to the mark to take away open cuts, where as a unit they eliminate the best options until the opponent is left with a risky, low percentage throw.
Clam is a defense that tries to structure this type of switching. It has a bad reputation - most people think of it as a junk defense that may create a few turns, but is fundamentally unsound. I think it hasn't been given a fair shake - think of how many practices you spend working on man defense. And compare that to the, maybe 1? practice that you had on clam. No wonder teams can't run it well!
Furthermore, clam/switching defense is harder than regular man defense to learn. It requires true teamwork, and therefore develops more slowly as the team gels. In the beginning, teams attempting this will likely be scored on a lot because the communication and field sense just isn't ready yet. In order to play it well, takes a commitment that most teams have thus far been unwilling to make.
But with Hatch, I have a certain freedom. We've got no reputation to uphold - we can lose a few games as we work on our defense and no one will be upset. They're also mostly young players who are more flexible in their ways and hopefully more open to trying something non-traditional.
I think it will likely take a season to gain a grounding in this defense, and at least another season after to hone it. But I believe that the rewards of this defense are worthy of the investment for both individuals and teams, and that the current imbalance between offense and defense will be lessened.
Furthermore, clam/switching defense is harder than regular man defense to learn. It requires true teamwork, and therefore develops more slowly as the team gels. In the beginning, teams attempting this will likely be scored on a lot because the communication and field sense just isn't ready yet. In order to play it well, takes a commitment that most teams have thus far been unwilling to make.
But with Hatch, I have a certain freedom. We've got no reputation to uphold - we can lose a few games as we work on our defense and no one will be upset. They're also mostly young players who are more flexible in their ways and hopefully more open to trying something non-traditional.
I think it will likely take a season to gain a grounding in this defense, and at least another season after to hone it. But I believe that the rewards of this defense are worthy of the investment for both individuals and teams, and that the current imbalance between offense and defense will be lessened.
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