I have written before about the plague of unforced errors that infects almost all Ultimate offenses at the non-elite level. To recap, I posited that 55% of all offensive possessions end with an unforced error turnover. I'd like to explore this phenomenon a little more deeply to try to figure out the root causes for all of these unforced errors.
The first thing that needs to be dealt with when looking for the root causes of the unforced error problem is the fallacy of equality. The fallacy of equality states that because Ultimate is different from other sports (because it is based around spirit and respect for opponents) and any player can have good spirit and respect his opponents, all players are pretty much equally skilled. Subscribers to this fallacy tend to see Ultimate as a way of life, an attitude, and a social outlet first, and as a sport second. Again, I want to say that there is nothing wrong with believing in this fallacy. It is a very positive (yet undeniably flawed) way to view the world. It is just not a view that I am interested in.
At the elite college and club level, nobody subscribes to this fallacy. The coaches, captains, and players on these elite teams are not afraid to say: "you suck at ______, I don't want you doing it anymore. Stick to what you're good at". And not only are they not afraid to say it, but they also coordinate their on-field play so as to avoid relying on a player's sucky skills. This kind of honest assessment is very freeing for most players (yes, you'll get some people who can't handle criticism of any kind, but you're probably better off without them). When a team leader makes an honest assessment of your game, it allows you to concentrate on doing what you do best. It also focuses you on what skills you need to improve.
By assessing players in this way, elite teams create a division of labor within themselves. Handlers handle because that is what they are best at and what most helps the team, not because they "really want to". Primary receivers are the offenses number one look because that is what they are best at and what most helps the team, not because they "deserve a chance". But, honestly, those aren't the players who truly benefit from the division of labor. Those players would probably play well anyway. The players who truly benefit from the division of labor are players whose games have severe flaws and severe strengths. The division of labor allows these players to show off all of their strengths while hiding their weaknesses.
At the levels below elite, however, the fallacy of equality can be found with regularity. Time and again, players at these levels find themselves in positions on the field and situations in games in which they are highly unlikely to succeed. And while some of these bad positions/situations can be chalked up to the chaos that is part of any free-flowing sport, most can be attributed to poor strategy and poor understanding of Ultimate. For example, player A cuts well and plays hard defense, but is a mediocre thrower at best. Player A's team is on offense being forced forehand. Player A makes a great cut from the stack to the force side along the sideline beating his defender by two steps. He catches the disc and turns downfield to survey his options. His marker traps him hard against the sideline. Player A makes a few flailing pivots and then throws the disc away on stall 9. Player A feels horrible about causing a turnover and apologizes to his teammates, but he really shouldn't. The turnover wasn't really his fault. It was the inevitable result of the poor offensive strategy of his team.
Because nobody ever told Player A that his limited throwing ability meant that he was not allowed to make certain cuts, he made a cut that should really only be made by a talented thrower. Player A is not at fault because nobody ever told him that it was not his job to make that cut. Nobody ever told him that the sidelines were poison to his skill set. Nobody told him that his home was the middle and breakside thirds of the field. And, most certainly, nobody told him that given his particular mix of talents, his job within the offense was to make breakside cuts, move the disc laterally as soon as he caught it, and catch goals.
On many non-elite teams, nobody tells anybody anything (or if they do, nobody really listens). And so, many non-elite teams are a hodgepodge of accidents. They turn the disc accidentally. They score accidentally. They make a D accidentally. They give up a big score accidentally. The one truth of the fallacy of equality is that if you choose to follow it, all of your players will likely end up feeling equally bad.
hmm good observation, I feel like player A often times,
ReplyDeletewe should institute some guidelines in situations where a cutter (weaker thrower) gets the disc on a sideline:
- dump immediately, thrower continue disc to breakside, cutter cut to breakside with flow
- have a strong thrower make an upline cut to receive disc before mark
-cut for an inside out throw by the sideline trapped cutter, this is important to developing well rounded cutters that can also throw, often times we cut harder for a handler than for a cutter with a disc, because we think the handler will see our cut and get it to us, by not cutting as hard for the cutter, we make it even harder for them to complete a pass when trapped on the sideline. we should put them in situations to make difficult throws (at least in practice), so they have the confidence to do it in a game.