Wednesday was review day. With so many people at practices, it's been difficult getting enough playing time for everyone, and I wanted to make sure we were all on the same page going into the tournament. I'd sent out a summary prior to practice, which I hoped would help decrease confusion on the field, and also catch up those who had missed some practices. Furthermore, I started putting people on O/D lines so that we could start building some chemistry between players.
We first worked on horizontal defense again - it'd been a while and I also wanted to try formalizing it a bit more. We tried straight-up to trap on the mark, and bracketing under/away, and I think the biggest difficulty was figuring out where we should be in the spectrum between strict man and zone. Wednesday was a little more zone-ish than I would prefer, with people guarding spaces rather than taking a person, and then switching. The mark I think was also too much for us at this point - to have to think about switching, and then also have to deal with a non-constant force... well let's just say we let a lot go. For this weekend I'll probably do one or the other, but not likely both together unless we're getting really comfortable at it.
Clam was the other defense we worked on since about 5 people weren't there for Sunday's practice. I was impressed by how much faster we were able to review it. I am also bemused by how many people had never even heard of it - not just not been taught clam, but just did not know about it as a defense. Well, the revolution is a-brewing. I think we'll start seeing it more in the college teams around here, b/c it's a great D at the college level.
****
For the Invite this weekend, we'll have 26 players. I'll be calling O/D lines, though the lines are definitely not yet set, and I'm sure I'll be moving some people around. We'll be working on all the things we've been practicing thus far, and probably some tweaks as well.
Schedule: http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=36&id=6536 Seeded 12th overall.
1st round vs Salty, 2nd round bye, 3rd round vs Virago, 4th round vs MissCONNduct. Then crossovers.
Weather may be foul, but if you're around, you should come out and check out the ultimate anyway!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Tryouts Day 7
Today was rough. Wet enough that the disc was slick, windy enough that throws and catches were difficult. And then we played clam.
I've written before about my plan for this team: I want to mold these individuals into a cohesive unit, wherein the whole is much more than its parts. We've been working a lot on team defense recently, what with zone for the past week and horizontal defense before that. Today we came back around to team defense vs a vertical stack, but not as a willy-nilly switching defense on the fly - we'll play clam as a stepping stone towards being able to react as a team, but for now we need the structure that clam imparts in order to get us there.
We'd done a little bit of switching defense against a vertical stack a couple weeks ago, and it was pretty bad. But with the work that we've been doing since then, everyone has gotten a whole lot more comfortable and competent at switching effectively.
We had some trouble early on in the middle, and I think the hardest thing for people playing there was to remember to trust the mark. Protect the I/O lane, and don't follow people to the around side - pass those off to the break side defender and trust that the mark will not let an easy break off.
We also need to recover more quickly from a break. We should be thinking of it like any other break pass - push to the break side on defense to seal it and stop the flow on that side. Give up throws to the open side if needed - the clam is glorious when the disc gets trapped on the line, so let it get there.
People really picked up on how to play clam much more easily than I'd expected. That's not to say it's perfect - we'll certainly give up some easy scores next weekend playing this. But we're learning, and at the end of the journey I'm confident that we'll have become quite a formidable opponent.
****
We made our second round of cuts after today's practice. We had about 40 people still on our tryout list, and we'd like to get to 22-25 for the final team size. It was a difficult discussion - I could see potential and desire in every one of our tryouts, and they're improving so much that I want to hold onto all of them! But at the end of the day, we had to be realistic about who has the strongest chance of making the team given the talent that's present, and we had to let some great people go.
I've written before about my plan for this team: I want to mold these individuals into a cohesive unit, wherein the whole is much more than its parts. We've been working a lot on team defense recently, what with zone for the past week and horizontal defense before that. Today we came back around to team defense vs a vertical stack, but not as a willy-nilly switching defense on the fly - we'll play clam as a stepping stone towards being able to react as a team, but for now we need the structure that clam imparts in order to get us there.
We'd done a little bit of switching defense against a vertical stack a couple weeks ago, and it was pretty bad. But with the work that we've been doing since then, everyone has gotten a whole lot more comfortable and competent at switching effectively.
We had some trouble early on in the middle, and I think the hardest thing for people playing there was to remember to trust the mark. Protect the I/O lane, and don't follow people to the around side - pass those off to the break side defender and trust that the mark will not let an easy break off.
We also need to recover more quickly from a break. We should be thinking of it like any other break pass - push to the break side on defense to seal it and stop the flow on that side. Give up throws to the open side if needed - the clam is glorious when the disc gets trapped on the line, so let it get there.
People really picked up on how to play clam much more easily than I'd expected. That's not to say it's perfect - we'll certainly give up some easy scores next weekend playing this. But we're learning, and at the end of the journey I'm confident that we'll have become quite a formidable opponent.
****
We made our second round of cuts after today's practice. We had about 40 people still on our tryout list, and we'd like to get to 22-25 for the final team size. It was a difficult discussion - I could see potential and desire in every one of our tryouts, and they're improving so much that I want to hold onto all of them! But at the end of the day, we had to be realistic about who has the strongest chance of making the team given the talent that's present, and we had to let some great people go.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Tryouts Days 5 and 6
Saturday's practice was zone defense. We went over a basic 3-man cup zone, both force middle and trap, against a 3-handler set and a 2-handler set.
Responsibilities:
On offense, we have to adapt to the type of zone that is being played. For instance, with a tight cup, it makes more sense to try to swing the disc wide across the field in order to have an open look up field before the cup manages to catch up. For looser cups / 1-3-3s, we do better when the handlers crash the cup and break through the middle.
For trap situations, well, we'd ideally not get into that position to begin with. Handlers want to stay off the sideline and should keep targeting the break side to avoid the trap. If the disc does go to the sideline, we need to look to the middle quickly to move the disc before the trap sets up, and have people set up as options in the holes of the cup.
Most players have a background that they could use to allow them to play within this zone D, which was probably a welcome break from all the communication and switching work that we've been doing recently. However, I did want them to use the skills we've been working on and apply it to zone as well - you should always be thinking about who the threats are, and working together with your teammates to contain the offense. There is a lot of talk that needs to happen between the different positions, and I feel that was the part that was lacking most on the field.
Responsibilities:
- Deep should be talking and switching with the short deep and the wings (and vice versa).
- Short deep talks to the middle of the cup and the wings.
- Wings talk to the deep deep, short deep, and cup
- Sideline should be talking to everyone on their side of the field, especially the deep and the mark.
On offense, we have to adapt to the type of zone that is being played. For instance, with a tight cup, it makes more sense to try to swing the disc wide across the field in order to have an open look up field before the cup manages to catch up. For looser cups / 1-3-3s, we do better when the handlers crash the cup and break through the middle.
For trap situations, well, we'd ideally not get into that position to begin with. Handlers want to stay off the sideline and should keep targeting the break side to avoid the trap. If the disc does go to the sideline, we need to look to the middle quickly to move the disc before the trap sets up, and have people set up as options in the holes of the cup.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Tryouts Days 3 and 4
It was horizontal week at Hatch tryouts - worked first on the offense, then next practice on defense.
Last year we had taught the horizontal by running a pattern of cuts, but I felt it was too constricting and that people were getting hung up on when/where/who cuts, as opposed to seeing the spaces and flow. This year, I tried going the opposite route first - to explain the general principles of ho, and see if the players through repetition would be able to start getting a feel for how to cut.
It almost worked. We did start having a lot of nice cuts and continues, but people were not maintaining a disciplined stack distribution, nor were we getting both in and away looks for each throw. Part of this is that some of the tryouts have never played in a horizontal before - and it certainly requires quite a bit of field sense - and also that people have just not played together enough to get a feel for each others' preferences.
We switched halfway through to teaching a set of rules for cutting in the ho, which enforced the idea of always cutting when in the spaces, and also to give options for each thrower. This was better because it allowed newer players to have a framework and be able to cut with more confidence, and I think it wasn't so defined as last year so there was more freedom for those who are comfortable cutting in flow.
For Wednesday, we worked on defending the horizontal. This is trickier than in vertical, because the Ho is designed to isolate 1-on-1 matchups and to allow any cutter to cut both in and away. It works best in the middle of the field, where there is opportunity to throw to both the force and break sides, and without a huge sideline taking away the space.
Therefore, defensively we want to do the opposite - maintain a strong mark to shut down the breaks, and push the disc to the sidelines, giving up some yardage if need be. We also want to play more help D and do switches instead of relying on defenders to shut down their cutter by themselves.
It was difficult at first for people to widen their view to include more than just one cutter, but we got there. We had some really nice switches happen during the scrimmage, and it actually looked a lot more like a zone than a man defense, which is exactly where I'd like us to be - bridging the gap between strict 1-on-1 and zone.
This was a hard week for tryouts. We introduced a lot of new concepts, and also made people change the way they play. But I am really impressed by how willing everyone was to try what I was teaching and how much they were able to improve in two short practices.
We also made our first cuts after these practices, and it was difficult. There's so much potential; I can just see how good these women are going to be in a couple years (or less). I look at them and I want to keep them all!
Last year we had taught the horizontal by running a pattern of cuts, but I felt it was too constricting and that people were getting hung up on when/where/who cuts, as opposed to seeing the spaces and flow. This year, I tried going the opposite route first - to explain the general principles of ho, and see if the players through repetition would be able to start getting a feel for how to cut.
It almost worked. We did start having a lot of nice cuts and continues, but people were not maintaining a disciplined stack distribution, nor were we getting both in and away looks for each throw. Part of this is that some of the tryouts have never played in a horizontal before - and it certainly requires quite a bit of field sense - and also that people have just not played together enough to get a feel for each others' preferences.
We switched halfway through to teaching a set of rules for cutting in the ho, which enforced the idea of always cutting when in the spaces, and also to give options for each thrower. This was better because it allowed newer players to have a framework and be able to cut with more confidence, and I think it wasn't so defined as last year so there was more freedom for those who are comfortable cutting in flow.
For Wednesday, we worked on defending the horizontal. This is trickier than in vertical, because the Ho is designed to isolate 1-on-1 matchups and to allow any cutter to cut both in and away. It works best in the middle of the field, where there is opportunity to throw to both the force and break sides, and without a huge sideline taking away the space.
Therefore, defensively we want to do the opposite - maintain a strong mark to shut down the breaks, and push the disc to the sidelines, giving up some yardage if need be. We also want to play more help D and do switches instead of relying on defenders to shut down their cutter by themselves.
It was difficult at first for people to widen their view to include more than just one cutter, but we got there. We had some really nice switches happen during the scrimmage, and it actually looked a lot more like a zone than a man defense, which is exactly where I'd like us to be - bridging the gap between strict 1-on-1 and zone.
This was a hard week for tryouts. We introduced a lot of new concepts, and also made people change the way they play. But I am really impressed by how willing everyone was to try what I was teaching and how much they were able to improve in two short practices.
We also made our first cuts after these practices, and it was difficult. There's so much potential; I can just see how good these women are going to be in a couple years (or less). I look at them and I want to keep them all!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Tryouts Day 2
Whew. I feel like a whirlwind has passed through. Our second open tryout session was, er, well attended with 29 tryouts present (40 players total). Which was great, except that we only had about 2 hours of practice time and I found it difficult to pay enough attention to everyone. Personally, I think I ran a better practice on Sunday, but maybe it's just that I felt more stretched during the second tryout.
What we did: Vertical offense - cutting, continuations, dumping.
The basis of good cutting relies on positioning so that you have multiple options, getting the defense to commit, and, finally, recognizing that.
Good positioning is dependent on where the disc is - you want to give yourself as many viable cuts from one spot as possible. Which means, if you start too deep, you're committed to only cutting in and a good defender will recognize that and shut you down. If you position well, you make it much more difficult on the defender and you can overcome an athletic difference.
Furthermore, you should note your defender's position as well - if she's backing you, see how deep you can start before she starts narrowing the buffer and fronting you. You can also change your angle of attack by changing your starting position, and oftentimes the defense doesn't adjust correctly and you now have a much easier cut.
Many players weren't getting separation because they weren't cutting aggressively enough to have the defender commit. Too often people are thinking "I need to fake" and therefore they move slower and are not convincing enough to fool the defender. If you've set up properly with 2 cutting options, and you cut hard one direction, the defender has to respect that or she'll be burned. This was especially apparent when we worked on dumping - both up the line and back towards the center are fine options, but the dumps needed to truly threaten going up the line, otherwise they'd be covered for the around and unable to get off the swing.
The last piece seemed to be the most difficult though - knowing when you have made your defender commit to your cut. My goal when cutting is to either get my defender to turn her hips fully in one direction or to get her back onto her heels. Either way, I need to pay enough attention to my defender to be able to see how she's reacting. I personally tend to watch her in my peripheral vision, so that I can still be looking at the disc or at my teammates if I'm cutting in flow. What I'm noting is the speed and quality of her movement - if she sits back on her heels, then there's an abrupt, jerky movement backward. If she's turned her hips, then she starts accelerating in the direction I'm headed, and that's when I know to change directions.
What we did: Vertical offense - cutting, continuations, dumping.
The basis of good cutting relies on positioning so that you have multiple options, getting the defense to commit, and, finally, recognizing that.
Good positioning is dependent on where the disc is - you want to give yourself as many viable cuts from one spot as possible. Which means, if you start too deep, you're committed to only cutting in and a good defender will recognize that and shut you down. If you position well, you make it much more difficult on the defender and you can overcome an athletic difference.
Furthermore, you should note your defender's position as well - if she's backing you, see how deep you can start before she starts narrowing the buffer and fronting you. You can also change your angle of attack by changing your starting position, and oftentimes the defense doesn't adjust correctly and you now have a much easier cut.
Many players weren't getting separation because they weren't cutting aggressively enough to have the defender commit. Too often people are thinking "I need to fake" and therefore they move slower and are not convincing enough to fool the defender. If you've set up properly with 2 cutting options, and you cut hard one direction, the defender has to respect that or she'll be burned. This was especially apparent when we worked on dumping - both up the line and back towards the center are fine options, but the dumps needed to truly threaten going up the line, otherwise they'd be covered for the around and unable to get off the swing.
The last piece seemed to be the most difficult though - knowing when you have made your defender commit to your cut. My goal when cutting is to either get my defender to turn her hips fully in one direction or to get her back onto her heels. Either way, I need to pay enough attention to my defender to be able to see how she's reacting. I personally tend to watch her in my peripheral vision, so that I can still be looking at the disc or at my teammates if I'm cutting in flow. What I'm noting is the speed and quality of her movement - if she sits back on her heels, then there's an abrupt, jerky movement backward. If she's turned her hips, then she starts accelerating in the direction I'm headed, and that's when I know to change directions.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Tryouts Day 1
Hatch had our first tryout yesterday with about 25 tryouts in attendance. I think I have about 80% of their names... we'll see if I can retain that to the next practice.
I wanted to start the year by focusing on my top priority for this season: the skills needed to play team defense. Yes, I know it's somewhat unusual to be teaching, say, switching in your first practice, but this is what will lay the foundation for more complicated skills later.
I chose to start with marking because holding a strong mark is essential to any defense. Most players can recite the key points (athletic stance on toes, bend the knees, stay balanced) but I've found that it's one thing to know it and another to do it. The most common error I noted was that players would lunge and step out with fakes, thus causing them to have a widened base of support that is too stable and does not allow them to be as agile.
We then turned to communication. This is the area that frustrated me most last year - I have expectations on what club players should be doing on the sideline, and I felt that I was just repeatedly telling them to walk the sidelines and talk to their teammates on the field. Then halfway through the season, I realized that most of the players just weren't comfortable talking, because they'd never been taught how to do so! Can't use that excuse again this year though; I'm making sure that everyone knows what they should be doing, and I'm (hopefully) helping them learn how to do that. (see below for exciting fun new drill!)
Lastly, we worked on switching between 2 defenders. I took the simplest scenario, with just 2 cutters, and had them practice being authoritative and clear in their switches. They did well in the drill, but as is to be expected, were much less successful in the scrimmage when there is so much more to pay attention to. It's a starting point, though, and we will be working on more complicated scenarios in future practices.
I was really pleased with yesterday's practice. I felt that I had a good plan, and was able to explain my thought process and the major concepts clearly. I am particularly tickled by my new marking/communication drill (perhaps because everyone feels so discombobulated while doing it) and I was definitely able to see some improvements in players even over the course of the practice. I hope the tryouts felt that they have learned something and got an idea of how great this team is. And I think the returners did as well. Yay Hatch.
Next tryout: Wednesday 6:30 pm at Daly field in Brighton!
*************************
Blind marking/communication drill
This drill is has 2 purposes: to teach players how to talk to the mark, and to teach the mark to listen and react to what her teammates are saying.
The drill has a thrower, a marker, a cutter, and a sideline talker. The marker sets up with a force, and then closes her eyes. The cutter cuts for 30 seconds to wherever she wants to go - break side, force side, in, away - and the sideline talker tells the mark what to protect. The key here is to communicate early to the mark so that she has time to react.
People were at first a little iffy on the idea, but the mark was surprisingly effective, even blind.
Have fun!
I wanted to start the year by focusing on my top priority for this season: the skills needed to play team defense. Yes, I know it's somewhat unusual to be teaching, say, switching in your first practice, but this is what will lay the foundation for more complicated skills later.
I chose to start with marking because holding a strong mark is essential to any defense. Most players can recite the key points (athletic stance on toes, bend the knees, stay balanced) but I've found that it's one thing to know it and another to do it. The most common error I noted was that players would lunge and step out with fakes, thus causing them to have a widened base of support that is too stable and does not allow them to be as agile.
We then turned to communication. This is the area that frustrated me most last year - I have expectations on what club players should be doing on the sideline, and I felt that I was just repeatedly telling them to walk the sidelines and talk to their teammates on the field. Then halfway through the season, I realized that most of the players just weren't comfortable talking, because they'd never been taught how to do so! Can't use that excuse again this year though; I'm making sure that everyone knows what they should be doing, and I'm (hopefully) helping them learn how to do that. (see below for exciting fun new drill!)
Lastly, we worked on switching between 2 defenders. I took the simplest scenario, with just 2 cutters, and had them practice being authoritative and clear in their switches. They did well in the drill, but as is to be expected, were much less successful in the scrimmage when there is so much more to pay attention to. It's a starting point, though, and we will be working on more complicated scenarios in future practices.
I was really pleased with yesterday's practice. I felt that I had a good plan, and was able to explain my thought process and the major concepts clearly. I am particularly tickled by my new marking/communication drill (perhaps because everyone feels so discombobulated while doing it) and I was definitely able to see some improvements in players even over the course of the practice. I hope the tryouts felt that they have learned something and got an idea of how great this team is. And I think the returners did as well. Yay Hatch.
Next tryout: Wednesday 6:30 pm at Daly field in Brighton!
*************************
Blind marking/communication drill
This drill is has 2 purposes: to teach players how to talk to the mark, and to teach the mark to listen and react to what her teammates are saying.
The drill has a thrower, a marker, a cutter, and a sideline talker. The marker sets up with a force, and then closes her eyes. The cutter cuts for 30 seconds to wherever she wants to go - break side, force side, in, away - and the sideline talker tells the mark what to protect. The key here is to communicate early to the mark so that she has time to react.
People were at first a little iffy on the idea, but the mark was surprisingly effective, even blind.
Have fun!
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