Ended up going to CUT with only 27 guys because of last minute drops. Regardless, Forge struggled throughout the tournament to gain any momentum and win games. We ended up going 0-4 on Saturday and lost our only game - against Pike - on Sunday. Needless to say, it was rough.
Going to a tournament, and a tryout tournament at that, with so many players can be very difficult mentally on the players. I would say that most guys, myself included, didn't hurt a lot on Saturday night and that's because of the way the lines were run. And this is in no way a knock on the way the people calling lines, but imagine trying to gain momentum and stay in the tournament mental mode if you only play 1 or 2 points in a row and then sit for 5 or 6 points. It's very hard to stay focused and play with any rhythm or chemistry. But that happens at tryout tournaments.
Which leads me to how I approached and looked at CUT (but any tryout tournament, really). For me, trying out for a team and playing a tryout tournament is broken into two categories:
1. Preparation
2. Execution
That might sound cliche and broad, but it's pretty simple. Heading into this weekend, I prepared and told myself that I wasn't going to get a lot of playing time. In the end, I probably got about as much playing time as anybody else trying out and not "already on the team" but heading into the weekend, I didn't expect that. So without know how much I was going to play, I knew that this tournament was going to take desire, dedication and perfection. I knew that every point I was on (O, and especially on D) was going to need as much desire to get that disc. That meant sprinting when cutting and clearing, laying out when I needed to on D, making sure my throws 100% and to not go beyond my limits. That's how looked at this weekend. I mentally prepared myself for limited playing time, but knew that I needed to be perfect when on the field.
And as the tournament started out, I was right about limited playing time. I played three points in our first game against Ironside (13-6 loss), and despite not touching the disc once in the game (played all D points) I never let my guy get beat in. I didn't get any D's, but my guy was looked off on any incuts. It was solid play on my part, but I (and the rest of the team) wanted the win. As the day went on, I saw more and more playing time (upwards of 9, 10 or 11 points per game). Whether that is a result of my previous play or not, I don't know (but I can hope it is). As somebody trying out, it's important to keep track of your play so you know where you can improve and what your strengths are. In the end (and after a lot more playing time, especially in later rounds of the tournament) I threw away one disc, completed two hucks, turned in a layout D and improved my cutting and and fakes. Overall, I felt I played consistent. I didn't play spectacular or have layout catches for scores, but I didn't turn the disc over and I gave it my all every time I was on the field. I executed my plan to the best of my ability and had a good tournament.
What happens next with Forge, though, is up to the captains making the team. The next round of cuts will probably be over the course of the next week or so. I'll update when I know more.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Getting Ready for CUT
My first tournament with a good club team. Gonna feel good playing this weekend.
Forge is take 33 (34?) guys to the Cazenovia Ultimate Tournament in New York.
I feel like I'm ready for it. I had some good tryouts and practice this past Sunday wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. Playing Ultimate while sick is not a fun thing to do. Really slows down reaction time, even if you try to fight it. I guess I know how Malkin felt last year in the Stanley Cup Finals when he had the flu for a month.
Anyways, my cutting, throws and defense have all gotten better since I started playing with these guys. It's amazing what playing against good players does to you. If you want to get better at Ultimate, you have to play against (with) better players. Simple as that.
After this tournament, players will be cut so the final roster is produced. A lot of guys playing in this tournament, so I have to make sure I make the most of the points I do get to play. I can't afford any errors this weekend. 100% throws. Layout D's. Patience.
I'll update Forge scores this weekend on Twitter, so follow me if you want.
Forge is take 33 (34?) guys to the Cazenovia Ultimate Tournament in New York.
I feel like I'm ready for it. I had some good tryouts and practice this past Sunday wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. Playing Ultimate while sick is not a fun thing to do. Really slows down reaction time, even if you try to fight it. I guess I know how Malkin felt last year in the Stanley Cup Finals when he had the flu for a month.
Anyways, my cutting, throws and defense have all gotten better since I started playing with these guys. It's amazing what playing against good players does to you. If you want to get better at Ultimate, you have to play against (with) better players. Simple as that.
After this tournament, players will be cut so the final roster is produced. A lot of guys playing in this tournament, so I have to make sure I make the most of the points I do get to play. I can't afford any errors this weekend. 100% throws. Layout D's. Patience.
I'll update Forge scores this weekend on Twitter, so follow me if you want.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
TRUC Week 1 Recap
Due to the crazy Pittsburgh weather in the spring, we had to move the South camp to Saturday morning (10 a.m.) and bump the games back to 12 p.m. It wasn't that bad, but it may have affected the way the South guys played in the games. Regardless, the South camp was pretty much identical to the North camp with a couple slight exceptions to the 30-30 warmup and 5-man drill.
We have roughly 60 guys from both camps, one of our highest numbers for anything Impulse related. It's good to see so many youths coming out to get better at Ultimate. This is going to do so much for Impulse, PHUL and Pittsburgh Ultimate. It's great.
As for the games this past weekend, North was pretty much in control. Not only are they the larger group, but they are the more skilled group. The difference between the two camps is pretty noticeable, too. Like I said, the North camp (North Hills, Hampton, Pine-Richland) are skilled. They play the game the way they want (and because they can). They're typically more athletic and sometimes see the camp as holding them back. On the other side, the South camp (Lebo, Allderdice, USC) are more strategic. They listen to what the coaches say and adapt much quicker than the North guys. They're here to improve their game because they may not be the most skilled players.
Of course, there are player exceptions in both camps, but that's how I see.
North won both games, 15-4 and 15-9. In the game I was coaching, the South guys were down 8-3 at half, but mounted a comeback after getting back to basics.
Afterward, the coaches had an early talk about potential guys we'd like to see on Impulse. A lot of guys who maybe don't think they have a shot are on the list. One reason: potential. As long as those guys want to keep getting better, they will. And hopefully they'll be on Impulse.
We have roughly 60 guys from both camps, one of our highest numbers for anything Impulse related. It's good to see so many youths coming out to get better at Ultimate. This is going to do so much for Impulse, PHUL and Pittsburgh Ultimate. It's great.
As for the games this past weekend, North was pretty much in control. Not only are they the larger group, but they are the more skilled group. The difference between the two camps is pretty noticeable, too. Like I said, the North camp (North Hills, Hampton, Pine-Richland) are skilled. They play the game the way they want (and because they can). They're typically more athletic and sometimes see the camp as holding them back. On the other side, the South camp (Lebo, Allderdice, USC) are more strategic. They listen to what the coaches say and adapt much quicker than the North guys. They're here to improve their game because they may not be the most skilled players.
Of course, there are player exceptions in both camps, but that's how I see.
North won both games, 15-4 and 15-9. In the game I was coaching, the South guys were down 8-3 at half, but mounted a comeback after getting back to basics.
Afterward, the coaches had an early talk about potential guys we'd like to see on Impulse. A lot of guys who maybe don't think they have a shot are on the list. One reason: potential. As long as those guys want to keep getting better, they will. And hopefully they'll be on Impulse.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
TRUC Camp Week 1
Had my first serious coaching situation tonight. It was the first day of the first week of TRUC. Basically, TRUC is aimed at bringing the Impulse program to all of Pittsburgh high school students, who may not be able to play for or tryout for the team. It's also the warmup/tryouts for those high school players who do plan on trying out for the team. It's a 4-week program with two divisions (North on Wednesday and South on Thursday) who practice once during the week and play games against each other on the weekend.
Like I said, the overlying goal of TRUC is to bring the success of the Impulse team to all players in PHUL who want to improve their game. We currently have 60 guys signed up, and are still hoping for another 10 by this weekend. We set a goal of having at least 60 guys join the camp, so we've gotten that far.
Anyways, our first practice was tonight (the North location) and we had roughly 30 guys show up. The focus of this week is to throw to space, swing the disc, cutting aggressively and making a play on defense.
Now, that may seem simple and all, but for a high school player whose never played competitive Ultimate outside of his team in PHUL, learning these things is fundamental to become a better player.
The use of various WUFF Camp drills helped us this week and will continue to be a staple of this part. For throwing to space and swinging the disc, there is no better drill than Mike G's 3-man weave. Run effectively, a team is unstoppable. I wish I could describe the drill (or have a picture) but maybe you should just spend a week in Wilmington with Mike G himself. Basically, it's a quick handler motion (HAMO) drill with three lines that involves one handler getting a disc upline from the middle handler, he fakes a huck, pivots commits to his reset (the guy who just threw to him and went upline and has now come back from his cut and away from the handler with the disc). Whenver the second handler gets that reset pass, he immediately turns and throws into the space available for the third handler who was also running upline, but has now retreated and has made a cut away from the second handler, who has the disk. It's one of the best drills out there and if run correctly during a game, opens up so much space.
As a coach, the best way explain aggressive cutting is to continue to hammer it into the players minds. Whether that's pulling them aside or telling them publicly when they made a good cut, it's important to make sure the cutter is always sprinting from his initial cut to his clearing.
Slowing down when making an incut will be a D every time in competitive Ultimate. A rounded cut is easy to defend every time in competitive Ultimate. If a cutter is "dangerous" and is just half-assing his cuts, he'll be D'ed every time in competitive Ultimate. It's a simple case of wanting the disc more than your defender and doing that by being explosive out of your fakes.
I just found one of Jim Parinella's blog posts about cutting that I feel is something everybody should look over:
He goes into more detail about each of these steps in his blog post, but doing these five things will make you a much better cutter. This is something that I've always tried to follow when cutting. And while being fast gives me an advantage, you can't run around like crazy out there. If you're going to be fast, you have to be smart.
Much of this week focuses on the basic fundamentals of stack offense, but defense wins games. Our mindset heading into this first week was to get the guys to play aggressive and intense on defense - essentially making a play. This week, it was all about working hard and trying to get that into the minds of the players. As the camp goes on, more defensive strategy will be taught.
South camp is tomorrow night. It'll be much of the same as tonight's, but if something else is noticeable, I'll post about it. North vs. South games on Saturday.
Like I said, the overlying goal of TRUC is to bring the success of the Impulse team to all players in PHUL who want to improve their game. We currently have 60 guys signed up, and are still hoping for another 10 by this weekend. We set a goal of having at least 60 guys join the camp, so we've gotten that far.
Anyways, our first practice was tonight (the North location) and we had roughly 30 guys show up. The focus of this week is to throw to space, swing the disc, cutting aggressively and making a play on defense.
Now, that may seem simple and all, but for a high school player whose never played competitive Ultimate outside of his team in PHUL, learning these things is fundamental to become a better player.
The use of various WUFF Camp drills helped us this week and will continue to be a staple of this part. For throwing to space and swinging the disc, there is no better drill than Mike G's 3-man weave. Run effectively, a team is unstoppable. I wish I could describe the drill (or have a picture) but maybe you should just spend a week in Wilmington with Mike G himself. Basically, it's a quick handler motion (HAMO) drill with three lines that involves one handler getting a disc upline from the middle handler, he fakes a huck, pivots commits to his reset (the guy who just threw to him and went upline and has now come back from his cut and away from the handler with the disc). Whenver the second handler gets that reset pass, he immediately turns and throws into the space available for the third handler who was also running upline, but has now retreated and has made a cut away from the second handler, who has the disk. It's one of the best drills out there and if run correctly during a game, opens up so much space.
As a coach, the best way explain aggressive cutting is to continue to hammer it into the players minds. Whether that's pulling them aside or telling them publicly when they made a good cut, it's important to make sure the cutter is always sprinting from his initial cut to his clearing.
Slowing down when making an incut will be a D every time in competitive Ultimate. A rounded cut is easy to defend every time in competitive Ultimate. If a cutter is "dangerous" and is just half-assing his cuts, he'll be D'ed every time in competitive Ultimate. It's a simple case of wanting the disc more than your defender and doing that by being explosive out of your fakes.
I just found one of Jim Parinella's blog posts about cutting that I feel is something everybody should look over:
1. Cut sharp.
2. Cut hard.
3. Cut decisively
4. Think, but only before or after the cut.
5. Know when to just run.
He goes into more detail about each of these steps in his blog post, but doing these five things will make you a much better cutter. This is something that I've always tried to follow when cutting. And while being fast gives me an advantage, you can't run around like crazy out there. If you're going to be fast, you have to be smart.
Much of this week focuses on the basic fundamentals of stack offense, but defense wins games. Our mindset heading into this first week was to get the guys to play aggressive and intense on defense - essentially making a play. This week, it was all about working hard and trying to get that into the minds of the players. As the camp goes on, more defensive strategy will be taught.
South camp is tomorrow night. It'll be much of the same as tonight's, but if something else is noticeable, I'll post about it. North vs. South games on Saturday.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Forge Update
Got word yesterday that I made the first round of cuts for Forge. Not sure of the exact roster, but my guess says it's somewhere around 28-30 guys still on the team and that the next round of cuts will put the roster to 20-22. Still a lot of work to be done, but it feels good have made such a good team.
Up next is C.U.T. in New York from June 6-7. Should be a great test of where I actually stand on this team. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a good tryout. I felt good out there and felt like I was competing with the best. Hopefully my defensive presence is something that continues to shine on this team. That's definitely one my strengths.
Other than the Forge announcement, not much is happening. I start "coaching" TRUC next week. Already 40 guys signed up and hoping to get another 15 or so over the week. Can't wait for it.
On the injury front, the groin is still an issue, especially during Saturday of the second weekend of tryouts. I think the only way to combat this issue is to make sure I ice it the night before practices/tournaments. That seemed to work last time. Anybody have any other ideas? It sucks.
That's all for now. Heading to Columbus in a couple hours to watch Pitt at College Nationals. Should be a great time.
Up next is C.U.T. in New York from June 6-7. Should be a great test of where I actually stand on this team. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a good tryout. I felt good out there and felt like I was competing with the best. Hopefully my defensive presence is something that continues to shine on this team. That's definitely one my strengths.
Other than the Forge announcement, not much is happening. I start "coaching" TRUC next week. Already 40 guys signed up and hoping to get another 15 or so over the week. Can't wait for it.
On the injury front, the groin is still an issue, especially during Saturday of the second weekend of tryouts. I think the only way to combat this issue is to make sure I ice it the night before practices/tournaments. That seemed to work last time. Anybody have any other ideas? It sucks.
That's all for now. Heading to Columbus in a couple hours to watch Pitt at College Nationals. Should be a great time.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Not Ultimate, but WOO!
So, this is one of the few times I'll post a non-Ultimate entry.
But, damn, I love Pittsburgh.
Go Pens!
But as for Ultimate, Pittsburgh Impulse 2009 and more Forge updates to come later this week. I've literally been running a hard mile everyday and doing a good abs workouts (8 minute abs), so I'm hoping my core is getting better. We'll know come Forge tryouts.
But for now...Go Pens!
But, damn, I love Pittsburgh.
Go Pens!
But as for Ultimate, Pittsburgh Impulse 2009 and more Forge updates to come later this week. I've literally been running a hard mile everyday and doing a good abs workouts (8 minute abs), so I'm hoping my core is getting better. We'll know come Forge tryouts.
But for now...Go Pens!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Forge take two and working hard
Day two of Forge tryouts took place last Sunday. It was a pretty good day, with an intrasquad scrimmage at noon and then a scrimmage against Pitt at 2.
During the Pitt scrimmage, I was talking with Wes about my ultimate career right now and said something pretty cool to me:
"If you play for Forge, you can be more than just a role-player on Pitt-A next year, you can be a player."
I think that's an important piece of advice, and I'm going to follow that (not just Forge, but working hard) this summer. I'm ready for the A-team. It's been 4 years coming.
Anyways, the night before, I iced off-and-on my groin injury and it apparently worked. I played to two intense scrimmages and walked away sore on Sunday, but no injury.
Right now, we're in the midst of a two-week break before another tryout weekend the 16th and 17th. I believe it will be run very similar to this past tryout.
In the meantime, I'm working on sprint workouts, going to the gym when I can and throwing as much as possible. It's the summer, I can do this.
Not much else to talk about personally on the Forge end.
During the Pitt scrimmage, I was talking with Wes about my ultimate career right now and said something pretty cool to me:
"If you play for Forge, you can be more than just a role-player on Pitt-A next year, you can be a player."
I think that's an important piece of advice, and I'm going to follow that (not just Forge, but working hard) this summer. I'm ready for the A-team. It's been 4 years coming.
Anyways, the night before, I iced off-and-on my groin injury and it apparently worked. I played to two intense scrimmages and walked away sore on Sunday, but no injury.
Right now, we're in the midst of a two-week break before another tryout weekend the 16th and 17th. I believe it will be run very similar to this past tryout.
In the meantime, I'm working on sprint workouts, going to the gym when I can and throwing as much as possible. It's the summer, I can do this.
Not much else to talk about personally on the Forge end.
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