A moderately interesting return to posting.

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting. 
-Siddhartha Gautama Buddha

Gentle Reader(s):

It has been quite a long time since I have had any thoughts worth recording.  Given that the last time I recorded any thoughts on this blog was November of 2009, I figure that it's time to get back in the habit of writing out my thoughts on a specific subject.

The main difference you will notice about this blog now is that I'm not as sure as I used to be about anything.  Of course, if you speak generally enough and aren't looking to have semantic arguments, you can be sure of a few things.  But, these things aren't really worthy of anyone's attention.  This is why these new posts will be a collection of opinions and ideas only.  I make no claim of superior wisdom in these matters.

My concentration at this point will be focused, once again, on cultivating a GENUINE understanding of the fundamentals of the sport.  This genuine understanding is something that players can use to improve in their personal problem areas (IE defense, hucking, cutting, etc.).  I fear that, with Ultimate being such a young sport designed almost as a more reasonable response to traditional sports, the fundamentals taught in other sports are assumed to be unnecessary.  The vast majority of people pick up the game piecemeal from watching others play and by playing themselves.  Their thinking on the game never really goes beyond what they picked up in the very beginning because they never really received any instruction on how to play it well.

I don't mean to say that the skills of the vast majority of players don't improve.  They do.  It's just that the conceptual framework within which they place those skills doesn't seem to improve much.  This is because, they did NOT receive any traditional instruction on how to play the game well.  Their understanding of the game remains fixed in time.  It's like finally getting some wonderful furniture, but placing it inside your dilapidated house.

This house has bad spirit.

And so, without further ado, I present to you my first viable thought regarding Ultimate in the last 10 months: the disc is faster than the man.

Actually, even that "insight" is a blatant ripoff of one of my grade-school basketball coaches, who used to remind us that "the ball is faster than the man" when we were practicing playing offense against a zone defense.  Although I made my courageous attempts to prove him wrong and dribble through the zone, even I had to admit that passing the ball (and passing it quickly) was a much more effective way to offensively operate against a zone.  In basketball (as in many sports) it's easy for defenders to make you look foolish, if you insist that you moving is the most efficient way an offense can possibly move.  It gets much harder for defenders, however, when you realize that the ball moving quickly and purposefully is far superior to your movement as far as efficiency goes.

The fastest players cannot, even in top gear, move faster than a disc can be thrown.

I can visualize you thinking to yourself right now, "but, why does this perfectly obvious point matter?  I mean, doesn't everybody know this?  This whole line of 'reasoning' is a waste of my time."
I understand your boredom and your loathing for a supposed insight that is just common sense.  Please allow me to have just one more moment of your attention.

Q: If we know that the disc is faster than the man, then why are all of us still playing like we're not sure?  (Most throwers in competition hold the disc as though it were their job to give everyone on the field time to calm down before they throw it).

A: It must be because in order to have anything positive happen on offense, the thrower needs the disc to be caught by his receiver.  And sadly, we've learned (through our own observation and experience) that moving quickly on offense leads to poor throws and shocked receivers.  In short, we've learned that only painfully deliberate offense can be trusted to win and not to cause us to make embarrassing turnovers.

I suggest that, if you practice and get in rhythm with your teammates, an offense that moves the disc quickly is a much more difficult offense to defend than a deliberate, plodding offense and will have much more success.  And, most importantly, an offense that moves the disc quickly does not automatically result in more embarrassing turnovers.  This offense does NOT require wildly gifted throwers and receivers, but it does require people willing to play and practice for more than an hour a week as a team.
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Nobody wants to use this as a thrower.  But, nobody wants to turn the disc either.

As potential receivers of the disc, shouldn't we coordinate our offensive efforts so that we are (and we appear to be) 100% open just as the disc is being caught by new thrower?  The thrower doesn't need to see us working hard to get open.  The thrower just needs to see us actually be open.

Therefore, 2 basic ideas spring forth from the thought "the disc is faster than the man".

1. Trust that, with practice, you and your teammates can move the disc quickly WITHOUT making more embarrassing turnovers.
2. Look to appear open (because you are open) just as the new thrower is catching the disc.