Good drills: get lots of reps, offer a chance to reflect on whether you did the right thing or not, require decision-making, fatigue you, mimic some aspect of ultimate.
Bad drills: have lots of down time, have poorly-designed incentives, have an easy way to get around the purpose of the drill, simulate something artificial."
I think that the drills/games I wrote out for defense satisfy some of Jim's excellent "good drill criteria". I also think that many of the defense drills/games cover the movement skills needed by receivers on offense. This leaves only the skills of throwing and catching to be dealt with in this post.
I will echo Jim's words once more when I say that I hate so-called "flow drills". These drills involve players in two or three lines moving in set patterns with no defenders. I'm still not really sure what the point is. Flow has everything to do with anticipation and reacting to what the defense is giving you. "Flow Drills" seem to cancel out both of these. I hate them. That's all I'll say.
Drills
Useful throwing and catching games/drills are all based around playing catch. Any drill or game that gets too far from playing catch is likely a waste of time. One of the problems with many throwing/catching drills is that they incorporate too many other skills to be useful. The easiest example of this is the "endzone drill". I'm not sure what the point of the "endzone drill" is, but it cannot be throwing or catching or cutting or anything resembling what actually occurs in the game. This drill has tons of downtime, too few reps, and reinforces useless movement patterns.
Anyway, back to playing catch. It's wonderfully simple. The thrower can work a single type of throw a given number of reps, throwing different throws to a specific spot (between the numbers, right hand, left hand, etc), throwing with different trajectories (high release, air bounce, outside-in curves, inside-out curves, etc), and different speeds (hangers, bullets, feathers, etc). The receiver can work on specific catches (1 hand righty, 1 hand lefty, 2 hand crab, 2 hand pancake, etc), on different aggression (snapping his hand out to meet the disc, letting the disc fly until the last possible moment, etc), and on different hand position (hands extended out in front, hands extended out to the side, etc).
The amazing thing about playing catch is the sheer number of quality reps you can get in a short time IF YOU TREAT IT AS A DRILL. Unfortunately, most people laze their way through it and get very little out of it. Also, it really shouldn't be played by more than 3 people. More than that and you should split into pairs with as few triplets as possible. Remember, it's all about reps.
Games
The games for improving throwing and catching are just versions of in-game situations in isolation and real games with limitations.
In-game situations in isolation
1. One on One. This game has 3 players: a thrower, a defender, and a receiver. The thrower is placed on the sideline and pretends to be forced sideline. The receiver attempts to beat the defender either on the under or deep. The defender tries to stop the receiver from getting the disc. Simple rule: the receiver can only make 1 fake. This forces the receiver to be decisive and reactive to what the defense is giving. Note: a head fake before the receiver starts moving does not count as his fake.
2. Quick throws. This game has 2 players. The players stand 5 yards apart. Their goal is to complete as many passes as they can in 90 seconds. This game is played as a competition with the pair either trying to beat their previous best or beat the best of the other pair(s) on the team. This game works on touch throws, grip transfer from catching to throwing, and concentration.
Real games with limitations
1. 3 on 3 to 3. This game has 6 players: 3 on each team. It is played half field and make it take it. There is a hard cap at 3. This game forces players to be involved at all times on offense, to anticipate and make continuation cuts, to handle the disc.
2. Stall 4 game to 3. This variation is simply normal Ultimate with the stall count reduced to 4. It is played full field and make it take it. There is a hard cap at 3. This game forces players to move the disc at all costs and to make efficient cuts.
**note: the reason these games are played with a hard cap at 3 and make it take it is to reduce the down time that plagues most scrimmages.**
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