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Tips for Skills Development Introduction The Skills Development portion of the Academy of Ultimate is divided into several categories: skills; techniques; plays (playbook); tips; and strategies. Tips refine elements (techniques) and sub-elements (skills) of a play. Strategies provide broad-view direction to the use of plays in Ultimate. Topics This page focuses on various tips that pertain to the skills and techniques used in Ultimate. The Academy's Techniques section is organized according to the following categories: General Tips Offence Defence Related Links Our Teachers and Coaches page may also be valuable to you. The Health & Fitness section of the Academy provides advice that will be beneficial to any athlete. The techniques that you learn here can be improved with the drills and practice programs found on the Training pages. Latest Announcements Check our blog and forum for the latest information and announcements regarding this site. Thank you for visiting!

Top 10 Things to Know About Ultimate

1. Spirit of the Game (SOTG): Ultimate stresses sportsmanship and fair play. Competitive play is encouraged, but NEVER at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play.
2. Self-officiated: Players are responsible for their own foul and line calls. Players also resolve their own disputes. You call fouls/violations/strips, etc., on your opponent (AND yourself, if you know you’ve committed a foul).
3. Non-contact sport: No physical contact is allowed between players. If you’re pushing or shoving in defence OR offence, you ARE fouling your opponent.
4. Fouls: When a player initiates contact with another player a foul occurs. If the “fouler” disagrees with the call (“contest”), the play is redone. If she/he agrees that a foul occurred, possession is retained as if the foul did not happen.
5. Movement of the disc: The disc may be advanced in any direction by completing a pass to a team mate. Players may not run with the disc. The person with the disc (the “thrower”) has 10 seconds to throw the disc. The defender counts the stall count out loud: “Stalling one, stalling two…”
6. Disc space: Defensive players must leave a disc’s diameter between themselves and the throwers they are marking.
7. Change of possession: When a pass is not completed (e.g., out of bounds, dropped, blocked, intercepted), the defence immediately takes possession of the disc and becomes the offence.
8. Legitimate position: First person in a space has “legitimate position.” Extended arms and legs are NOT part of a player’s legitimate position. You cannot block an opponent’s path (or vision) with your arms or legs.
9. Picks and screens are prohibited—You cannot “lose” your defender by running between other players. BTW, most picks are inadvertent.
10. “Going for the disc” is NEVER an excuse for clocking/running over/into another player—it is a FOUL.

Credit: UPA

The 6 Principles of Offence

1. Move the disc as simply and easily as possible into the end zone while ensuring possession.
2. Execute fundamental skills with hard cuts, low-risk throws, and consistently smart catches.
3. Develop Field Sense with balance between patience and urgency to make the best of potential situations (ie: waiting for the best pass versus the need to move the disc as quickly as possible).
4. Understand the importance of taking and creating space in the lanes.
5. Respect the need as a Team to develop the good habits of:
   1. Communication (both speaking and listening).
   2. Effectively using the full 70 seconds on the line before receiving the pull (ie: listen to the captain)
   3. Learning your team mates' preferences (throwing tendency, speed, favourite cuts, etc.), especially between handlers on the dump.
6. Take what the defensc gives you, be willing to adapt, and be creative.

Commandments of Ultimate

One of the Commandments of Ultimate is to “take what they give you.”

Do any of our readers know the other commandments?

Creativity

It takes a lot of guts to fly in the face of tradition-to try things out on the field that may make you look silly. But creativity may yield an occasional surprising techniques. Elvis provides this article on creativity: http://www.chasingplastic.com/archives/issue-pages/v2-i1/creativity.htm.

Decision-making

Quality play is all about decision-making and awareness. Errors will always happen, but if you learn the difference between bad decisions (which are avoidable) and simple mistakes in execution (which will always happen), you will be able to significantly improve your game.

Awareness is the most critical skill in moving from intermediate to advanced playing ability. Glance around to be aware not only of the disc and your mark but also to be conscious of the position and movement of everyone on the field.

Points System

1. Wolves vs Sheep. NFL leadership player expectations
2. To have players realize their positive or negative contribution to the team, get them to rate themselves each game using the following formula:

Individual Game Scoring System:

• Count +1 for every turnover you force.
• Count + 1/3 for every goal you catch.
• Count + 1/3 for every goal you throw.
• Count + 1/2 for every sideline call you make which helps someone force a turnover.
• Subtract 1 point for every turnover you have (throw-aways or drops). When doubtful whether it was the receiver or the thrower, decide together as a group. Unresolved disagreements mean a fault to the thrower.
  

Positive scores are excellent. A null score is good, provided you did more than sit on the sidelines.

If everyone scores -1 or worse, the team loses by 5 points.

Players with positive scores are the ones who make the difference in winning games. Credit: http://ihuck.com/tiki-index.php?page=PlayerAccountability

Breaking the Mark

Marks, in the immortal words of Euripides, were made to be broken. Anyone who wants to become instantly indispensable to the team only needs to cultivate a crippling break mark throw. Derek Gottlieb offers some advice: http://www.chasingplastic.com/archives/issue-pages/v1i2/breaking-the-mark.htm

See the Coaches and Teachers page for additional advice, including some articles for team captains.

Flow

It is not necessary for the stack to continue all the way down the field. Remember that a single skilled receiver in the end zone is highly effective. Although this may seem counter-intuitive, fewer receivers are needed as the disc is moved closer to the end zone being attacked. As the disc progresses up the field, each player who finds her/himself behind the disc is now out of the remainder of the play. Other than filling the very important role of lining up behind the offensive player with the disc as a Dump, the players who have passed the disc forward do not move to return to the stack.

The significant impact of this is:

1. A team does not need 6 receivers in or near the end zone to score.
2. The increasingly smaller field is populated by fewer and fewer offensive-defensive pairs. Hence, there is much more space into which to cut for the remaining receivers, and the poach factor reduces. Also, without extra defenders in or near the end zone, your end zone play is much less risky to run.
3. The Mids and Longs are more involved in each play, and need good receiving and good decision-making skills. If not, a Handler may need to play a middle position.
4. Since no one moves to return to the stack, the passing lanes remain open for cuts.
5. Players who are behind the disc may either simply stop (although play smart in case of a turnover) or move towards a sideline to make the defense believe they are still a threat, keeping the defence near them.
6. While this is a very effective strategy, some may view it as a boring way to play.

Maintaining Possession

Remember: delusions of grandeur are contagious and can annihilate your team faster than a laxative in the water cooler. If your best throw happens to be the upwind break force push pass, so be it. Ryan Nichols of Vancouver’s Furious George asks us to resist the opportunity to launch the disc full field for a score:
http://www.chasingplastic.com/archives/issue-pages/v1i1/possession.htm

Team Flow

An article about team flow where individual flow and team dynamics mesh:
http://www.chasingplastic.com/archives/issue-pages/v1i1/flow.htm

Transition

Near the End Zone

Assume your team is on defense and that a turnover occurs near your end zone (say within 20-25 metres). The typical reaction is either: a) someone rushes to pick up the disc for a break-away opportunity while the rest of the 13 other players are streaming past, heading for the end zone; or b) everyone moves to stack up in the end zone, leaving the main handler to walk up to the disc and initiate a vertical stack play.

These scenarios often result in turnovers because of rushed throws, poor throwing angles, poaching, too many players in a reduced area which leaves less space into which to cut, and/or lost opportunities.

An alternative to these two scenarios is to have one or perhaps two receivers move to the end zone. This is usually the person furthest up field. The next nearest player becomes the thrower, and the 3rd nearest player moves to become the Dump. All other players stand still, allowing the first two players to run your end zone play.

If this happens quickly, the other players' defenders typically remain near their checks. This leaves the passing lanes open, and pits the lone receiver one-on-one versus her/his defender. The effect of this strategy should be to handily increase the chances of scoring.

Defending a Check

Constantly improve your “D.” Watch the receiver’s hips. They will not go where the hips don’t go. Anticipate cuts. Stay tight to take away the most dangerous cut.

The Mark

A pivotal D-block can make you a star and will get your team’s adrenaline flowing. Most high-level Ultimate games are won or lost by the team that wins the battle of the mark. James Studarus of the Santa Barbara Condors offers advice on improving your marking skills: http://www.chasingplastic.com/archives/issue-pages/v1i1/on-the-mark.htm

Marking

One tip is to watch the thrower’s eyes. Some markers watch the eyes and chest of their check. Shoulder-glance occosionally to see if a receiver is wide open. Keeping your hands back will give you more reaction time. Keep your hands low. Do not be afraid to use your feet (if permitted by the league or tournament).

Finally, fouls are often called due to contact between the marker and the pivoting thrower at high stall counts. This has the disadvantage of resetting the count. Markers should develop the habit of maintaining sufficient distance from the thrower at high stall counts, thereby pressuring the thrower to make a risky play that cannot be fouled.

Know the thrower. Can s/he throw long? What’s her/his favourite throw? Adjust accordingly.

Seem Taller

Can women (or any shorter player) seem taller? Yes: by good positioning. By legally blocking out your player, you will effectively be playing taller than you really are. Women that play smart and read the disc well are often able to fight for a better position to catch the disc. When marking a tall handler, one player suggests taking a step back. This will make it harder for them to step out or reach around you to throw.

Transition (Mixed) Plays

One way to force more throws is to use a zone or a poaching clam defense for the first few throws, then transition into a man defense. Using this strategy on the pull will often foil the offensive play. Another defensive strategy is to mix up the types of defenses during the play. Predictable defenses will allow the offense to exploit your weaknesses. By mixing up your defensive strategy during the play, the offense will have to adjust and will often slow down, thereby making your defense more effective. Finally, fouls are often called due to contact between the marker and the pivoting thrower at high counts. This resets or lowers the stall count. Teams should adopt the strategy of maintaining more distance from the thrower at high stall counts, forcing the thrower to make a pressure play which cannot be fouled. Read more about this at http://www.chasingplastic.com/archives/issue-pages/v2i2/a-simple-strategy.htm.

Another type of transition involves progressive marking. Some teams force hard Force-Middle (FM) to start and transition to progressively more "straight up" marks as the disc progresses towards the end zone. FM is not as effective, of course, against spread offensive strategies.

Vertical Stack

Defending against a vertical cut is difficult as both the deep strike and the in-cut are possible. A simple strategy when your cutter is faster than you is to shift behind your mark so that s/he will not be able to take the deep strike, and hope that you will get a play at the disc on the inside. If you’re faster than your cutter you can do the reverse, with the expectation that the cutter will be caught in a race for the huck.

Also, if the person with the disc does not have an effective deep throw (such as a cutter who has received a pass), it is only necessary to cover the in-cut until a handler has the disc again. This should curb the offensive team’s up-field flow.

When defending a disc on one side of the field, you can poach off of the cutter on the opposite side of the field to interfere with the open space. This can work if you do it sparingly; if you are predictable, your cutters will react as they would with any poach—by getting to open space where they can call for the disc and burn you.