It is the night before the first day of camp and as per usual I am having trouble sleeping. Some things change and some things stay the same for 18 years.
Been focusing on throwing form lately. I am back in pretty good shape and feeling more confident with my throws but I keep half-assing backhands and my forehand form is not consistant. Same old same old really just things to keep in mind. I keep using backhand variants that are lazy and sloppy such as the almost-push pass or the high release. Throws that are good in a pinch but should not ever be your default.
It comes down to a focus issue. I need to focus on form every single throw until it becomes second nature to throw backhands with full body motion.
Forehands just need a little refinement and they will be better than ever.
Above all, I need to improve my in game decision making if I ever want to approach the level of throwing I want to be at. Shortgame turnovers are completely unacceptable.
Have a good one.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Problems with easy solutions
Rough game against Orange this past Thursday. After two confident points to lead off, we got rolled in the first half for an 8 - 3 deficit, again. In the second half we started taking more chances and playing more confident offense, and switched our D to man, and so it was that we ended up only losing by two.
I'm feeling much more confident with my throws, and took more chances, leading to five or so assists, but also quite a few turns from badly executed hucks, several of them on the last point of the game. Need to WORK ON DECISION MAKING. So much better than it used to be but that is still not anywhere near good enough. I threw five hucks that were in the good - very good range including two full field forehands for goals. If I had not thrown the bad ones, it would have been a very good game for me and heck we might have won.
Shoulda coulda woulda.
Anyway, camp has started again and with it come decisions to make.
For instance, shave the mutton chops to combat the heat or keep them to combat lameness?
Play in rec league finals or play at Hingham?
UGH. That would be even be a question if I was not a captain.
Interesting to note is that frisbee is clearly the players sport of choice at camp this year. It was getting there last year but orientation has been ridiculous so far. Throwing circles between every meeting. Despite all the soccer players, the world cup, rugby, basketball...frisbee is in everyone's hands and on everyone's mind.
Awesome.
I'm feeling much more confident with my throws, and took more chances, leading to five or so assists, but also quite a few turns from badly executed hucks, several of them on the last point of the game. Need to WORK ON DECISION MAKING. So much better than it used to be but that is still not anywhere near good enough. I threw five hucks that were in the good - very good range including two full field forehands for goals. If I had not thrown the bad ones, it would have been a very good game for me and heck we might have won.
Shoulda coulda woulda.
Anyway, camp has started again and with it come decisions to make.
For instance, shave the mutton chops to combat the heat or keep them to combat lameness?
Play in rec league finals or play at Hingham?
UGH. That would be even be a question if I was not a captain.
Interesting to note is that frisbee is clearly the players sport of choice at camp this year. It was getting there last year but orientation has been ridiculous so far. Throwing circles between every meeting. Despite all the soccer players, the world cup, rugby, basketball...frisbee is in everyone's hands and on everyone's mind.
Awesome.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Me and my big mouth and swollen nose
After a close first half we sat on a 8 - 6 lead. Lots of trading on O. We were up a break until I threw it away, then we went up a break again to take half. Yay defense.
Second half we continued to cruise, but hit our high water mark at 12. They scored 4 straight to take it capped at 14 - 12, after we basically gave them the disc three points in a row. Rough game.
High point: Catching a blade huck for a goal despite being elbowed hard in the nose by my defender while jumping.
Low point: we lost.
Why? Despite generally good defense and savvy defensive adjustments (if marking correctly to prevent breaks is all that savvy, I really need to stop getting broken on backhands) we continued to throw into poaches. It was rough having 9 people on such a hot day against such a strong team but honestly that was not the reason. We had the game in the bag and decided to let it out.
I got some sound cutting advice from a guy on my team, he called me out on making looong deep cuts and then looong cuts back in if I do not get open, leading to telegraphs, clogging and wasted energy. I will work on setting up my cuts at more appropriate times (when the huckers have the disc for instance) and saving energy and making shorter and/or smarter cuts at full momentum every time.
Two throwing turns and a dropped huck. Three goals caught. Two poach D's. Many more D opportunities missed. One assist that was a pretty terrible throw, totally goofy breakmark airbounce thing. It worked but eh. Rob showed up to chill and watch. Awesome. He gives good hugs.
Onward into the future.
Second half we continued to cruise, but hit our high water mark at 12. They scored 4 straight to take it capped at 14 - 12, after we basically gave them the disc three points in a row. Rough game.
High point: Catching a blade huck for a goal despite being elbowed hard in the nose by my defender while jumping.
Low point: we lost.
Why? Despite generally good defense and savvy defensive adjustments (if marking correctly to prevent breaks is all that savvy, I really need to stop getting broken on backhands) we continued to throw into poaches. It was rough having 9 people on such a hot day against such a strong team but honestly that was not the reason. We had the game in the bag and decided to let it out.
I got some sound cutting advice from a guy on my team, he called me out on making looong deep cuts and then looong cuts back in if I do not get open, leading to telegraphs, clogging and wasted energy. I will work on setting up my cuts at more appropriate times (when the huckers have the disc for instance) and saving energy and making shorter and/or smarter cuts at full momentum every time.
Two throwing turns and a dropped huck. Three goals caught. Two poach D's. Many more D opportunities missed. One assist that was a pretty terrible throw, totally goofy breakmark airbounce thing. It worked but eh. Rob showed up to chill and watch. Awesome. He gives good hugs.
Onward into the future.
My body is a cage
Part 1
Today Brendan and I returned to our old stomping grounds, the high school track and football field for a sprinting workout. Four sets of three reps, distance increasing with each set. 30 seconds of rest between sets. I only managed to beat Brendan once, he said maybe twice but I pushed myself to run hard straight through every sprint. Room for improvement but I am feeling mentally tougher than ever.
Having slept for three hours the night before, the combination of a workout in the afternoon and a game this evening is a reasonable approximation of a tournament post all-nighter/party/all night party. Not that I am training for that particular scenario, but the bottom line is when the chips are down you have to be able to push your hardest no matter how fatigued you are, no matter what reason why.
We're playing black today, the only undefeated team in the league. Believe me we'll be taking shots. A+ Game time baby.
Whoo.
Part 2
I need to make some serious changes in my life, effective immediately. Work starts in three days and if I am not on top of my game it will get messy.
Key points:
-Drink water and eat healthy: I am not drinking enough water and my meal schedule is dicey. Also no more crap no matter how tempting it is to buy mentos and iced tea at the deli.
-Chill with partying: although I am drinking less it is still too much. Simple math. Cut it out.
-Organize life: room needs to get clean or at least organized. Need to get laundry under control, for now and also to make it easy to transition back to school.
-Drawing: I am getting a lot of sketches done, need to organize my supplies and previous work. Also, make a bitchin' contest entry for the savage jersey contest.
And last but not least...
-THROWING. I am not going to get enough touches at draft league as a cutter to keep in form. That leaves once a week handling at rec league, also not enough. Can't coast. Camp will make it hard, I will have to find my fire all summer to A practice throwing every day and B work out despite the fatigue that comes with walking up the hill a million times a day let alone my actual job. I need to get my throwing chops and full body throwing form back, but not only that I NEED to improve so that I come back to school BETTER than I was in the spring, unlike last year where I lost ground over the summer.
Achieving these goals will make for a great summer.
Thanks for listening.
Today Brendan and I returned to our old stomping grounds, the high school track and football field for a sprinting workout. Four sets of three reps, distance increasing with each set. 30 seconds of rest between sets. I only managed to beat Brendan once, he said maybe twice but I pushed myself to run hard straight through every sprint. Room for improvement but I am feeling mentally tougher than ever.
Having slept for three hours the night before, the combination of a workout in the afternoon and a game this evening is a reasonable approximation of a tournament post all-nighter/party/all night party. Not that I am training for that particular scenario, but the bottom line is when the chips are down you have to be able to push your hardest no matter how fatigued you are, no matter what reason why.
We're playing black today, the only undefeated team in the league. Believe me we'll be taking shots. A+ Game time baby.
Whoo.
Part 2
I need to make some serious changes in my life, effective immediately. Work starts in three days and if I am not on top of my game it will get messy.
Key points:
-Drink water and eat healthy: I am not drinking enough water and my meal schedule is dicey. Also no more crap no matter how tempting it is to buy mentos and iced tea at the deli.
-Chill with partying: although I am drinking less it is still too much. Simple math. Cut it out.
-Organize life: room needs to get clean or at least organized. Need to get laundry under control, for now and also to make it easy to transition back to school.
-Drawing: I am getting a lot of sketches done, need to organize my supplies and previous work. Also, make a bitchin' contest entry for the savage jersey contest.
And last but not least...
-THROWING. I am not going to get enough touches at draft league as a cutter to keep in form. That leaves once a week handling at rec league, also not enough. Can't coast. Camp will make it hard, I will have to find my fire all summer to A practice throwing every day and B work out despite the fatigue that comes with walking up the hill a million times a day let alone my actual job. I need to get my throwing chops and full body throwing form back, but not only that I NEED to improve so that I come back to school BETTER than I was in the spring, unlike last year where I lost ground over the summer.
Achieving these goals will make for a great summer.
Thanks for listening.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
The sleep of reason brings forth monsters
Hey all you hepcats out there in listening land. In an attempt at making this blag even more concise, this post will be spartan to the extreme, every detail juicy and relevant.
Thursday, Forest Fire vs Red
Red suprised us with zone and we were slow to adjust. We played with no fire in the first half and did not take enough chances. Red took half 8 - 3. Second half we came out with reknewed fire, some new strategies and a zone d of our own. We rolled to tie it at 10s. They rattled off two to make it 12 - 10, soft cap goes off, game to 13. We scored once more. They worked the disc patiently, throwing upwards of 50 passes before turning it over.
We gave it right back. They took the game, after another grueling possesion.
What went wrong: we were unprepared for the wind and were slow to adjust strategically. They played to their strengths (throws, strategic acumen, Stiggles) and we played to our weaknesses (inexperience, not throws).
In summary: I need to not be so slow to adjust our strategies. Waiting until it is too late is not a winning plan.
Monday B Team vs Moodey Blues
Close game, nearly all of our men were there. We had a hard time getting flow going. After leading for most of the game, they scored to to make it 14 - 14, then 15 - 14. After a grueling point where I managed to turn the disc twice, we scored to tie it at 15s. They held on o despite turns by both teams to take the final point after cap. 16 - 15 loss.
Two frustratingly close games. That's the meat of it, here is the fat.
On thursday, I handled for the first time in a month. My downtime and rust showed pretty clearly, throws were not confident and I turned it quite a few times, one time basically dropping the disc on an attempted forehand. Also I did not adjust our strategy until it was too late, as already mentioned. However, we did learn that our zone d is killer. Wind still kills my strategies and I need to find ways to compensate for it and by extension teach a team to do so.
Against Blue I played alright, three solid points and a bunch of points where I was a nonfactor. I was called as a mid cutter in the ho stack a few times and that is not a position I feel confident playing yet. Felt like I was clogging a lot. Also I felt like a pillar of jello. Getting in shape is imperative, as is cutting down on drinking. I'm not even drinking that much but my tolerance is at its lowest since freshmen year and it is clearly having a negative impact on my preformance. Also I missed two Ds and nearly let myself mentally check out to the point that I was scared of gaurding one of their cutters. Fuck that. Confidence. Yaheardofit?
So anyway, whatever I just wrote at least it is out of my head now. Bottom line, aside from getting in shape I need to practice throwing a lot to shake off the rust. Get low, confidence, tight grip, easy. I had two throwing turns against blue and a ton against red and even my completions do not have the confidence and zest I pride myself on.
Pulls were good today though. Word.
My blog probably needs an editor. Whatever. Hey I'm nocturnal. Should probably fix that too.
<3
Ben
Thursday, Forest Fire vs Red
Red suprised us with zone and we were slow to adjust. We played with no fire in the first half and did not take enough chances. Red took half 8 - 3. Second half we came out with reknewed fire, some new strategies and a zone d of our own. We rolled to tie it at 10s. They rattled off two to make it 12 - 10, soft cap goes off, game to 13. We scored once more. They worked the disc patiently, throwing upwards of 50 passes before turning it over.
We gave it right back. They took the game, after another grueling possesion.
What went wrong: we were unprepared for the wind and were slow to adjust strategically. They played to their strengths (throws, strategic acumen, Stiggles) and we played to our weaknesses (inexperience, not throws).
In summary: I need to not be so slow to adjust our strategies. Waiting until it is too late is not a winning plan.
Monday B Team vs Moodey Blues
Close game, nearly all of our men were there. We had a hard time getting flow going. After leading for most of the game, they scored to to make it 14 - 14, then 15 - 14. After a grueling point where I managed to turn the disc twice, we scored to tie it at 15s. They held on o despite turns by both teams to take the final point after cap. 16 - 15 loss.
Two frustratingly close games. That's the meat of it, here is the fat.
On thursday, I handled for the first time in a month. My downtime and rust showed pretty clearly, throws were not confident and I turned it quite a few times, one time basically dropping the disc on an attempted forehand. Also I did not adjust our strategy until it was too late, as already mentioned. However, we did learn that our zone d is killer. Wind still kills my strategies and I need to find ways to compensate for it and by extension teach a team to do so.
Against Blue I played alright, three solid points and a bunch of points where I was a nonfactor. I was called as a mid cutter in the ho stack a few times and that is not a position I feel confident playing yet. Felt like I was clogging a lot. Also I felt like a pillar of jello. Getting in shape is imperative, as is cutting down on drinking. I'm not even drinking that much but my tolerance is at its lowest since freshmen year and it is clearly having a negative impact on my preformance. Also I missed two Ds and nearly let myself mentally check out to the point that I was scared of gaurding one of their cutters. Fuck that. Confidence. Yaheardofit?
So anyway, whatever I just wrote at least it is out of my head now. Bottom line, aside from getting in shape I need to practice throwing a lot to shake off the rust. Get low, confidence, tight grip, easy. I had two throwing turns against blue and a ton against red and even my completions do not have the confidence and zest I pride myself on.
Pulls were good today though. Word.
My blog probably needs an editor. Whatever. Hey I'm nocturnal. Should probably fix that too.
<3
Ben
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Frankenstien can play again
So. Happy.
Two draft league games under the belt so far and it feels great.
Monday
B-Team vs Orange
Ken Dobyns was not there, sadly. Showed up late, missed the first half by the time I was warmed up. We were down 8 - 5. Came out in the second half ready to bring it on d, and between that and not turning the disc we pretty much rolled, winning 15 - 12. Sweet. Turned the disc once, on a bad forehand huck. The intended reciever had a good 20 yard lead but I threw it too high and it bladed out of reach. Tom would have caught it.
My throws in general were a little dicey, basically just need to shake off a month's worth of rust and get my body mechanics in sync again. On that note, pulled it three times, the first an OB laser, the second two in bounds lasers that went pretty far but had no height. Lower body son, ya heard of it? Get low get low get low and all that. Also, confidence in short throws. Caught two goals, sweet. A girl on my team realized that throwing hammers to tall people is hilarious and mostly works. Diggin' it.
Wednesday
B-Team vs Chocolate
Chocolate only had two women so they had to play 6 on 7 the entire game. We ran a couple of different poachy zones, mostly I got to be last back and do very little on defense except run back and forth to discourage hucking. We beat them pretty handily, they were a person down sure but a win is a win. Caught two goals and threw three assists (plus three goals in post-game pickup lololol). Pulled it three times. One was big but OB, the second was a deep laser and the third was pretty nice, long, in bounds and with a lot of hangtime. Still got it, just have to focus every pull. Duh.
One turnover, another bad flick huck to a wide open reciever, threw it way too high and the defender had time to catch up and take better position. Tom would have caught it. Did not get low. Bad form. Next week my bad hucks will be for goals! Two D's, although one was thrown right to me and the other one was a deep shot that I got after it went over the intended reciever. Should have D'd it first, Tom would have caught that too.
In general, my cuts were a little sloppy and some clogging went down, although less so on wednesday. Throws need a lot of polishing, need to throw every day especially after games. Fitness likewise.
B-Team is hella sweet. The team is fun with a lot of heart. Not a lot of firepower, more emphasis on working the disc up the field honestly and intelligently. My role seems to be the bailout big guy, going deep when needed to create field space, or rather, every chance I get. It will be a harder role to play against a team with a real deep threat, so I'd better kick my ass in gear and get in shape asap.
Cool yo.
Two draft league games under the belt so far and it feels great.
Monday
B-Team vs Orange
Ken Dobyns was not there, sadly. Showed up late, missed the first half by the time I was warmed up. We were down 8 - 5. Came out in the second half ready to bring it on d, and between that and not turning the disc we pretty much rolled, winning 15 - 12. Sweet. Turned the disc once, on a bad forehand huck. The intended reciever had a good 20 yard lead but I threw it too high and it bladed out of reach. Tom would have caught it.
My throws in general were a little dicey, basically just need to shake off a month's worth of rust and get my body mechanics in sync again. On that note, pulled it three times, the first an OB laser, the second two in bounds lasers that went pretty far but had no height. Lower body son, ya heard of it? Get low get low get low and all that. Also, confidence in short throws. Caught two goals, sweet. A girl on my team realized that throwing hammers to tall people is hilarious and mostly works. Diggin' it.
Wednesday
B-Team vs Chocolate
Chocolate only had two women so they had to play 6 on 7 the entire game. We ran a couple of different poachy zones, mostly I got to be last back and do very little on defense except run back and forth to discourage hucking. We beat them pretty handily, they were a person down sure but a win is a win. Caught two goals and threw three assists (plus three goals in post-game pickup lololol). Pulled it three times. One was big but OB, the second was a deep laser and the third was pretty nice, long, in bounds and with a lot of hangtime. Still got it, just have to focus every pull. Duh.
One turnover, another bad flick huck to a wide open reciever, threw it way too high and the defender had time to catch up and take better position. Tom would have caught it. Did not get low. Bad form. Next week my bad hucks will be for goals! Two D's, although one was thrown right to me and the other one was a deep shot that I got after it went over the intended reciever. Should have D'd it first, Tom would have caught that too.
In general, my cuts were a little sloppy and some clogging went down, although less so on wednesday. Throws need a lot of polishing, need to throw every day especially after games. Fitness likewise.
B-Team is hella sweet. The team is fun with a lot of heart. Not a lot of firepower, more emphasis on working the disc up the field honestly and intelligently. My role seems to be the bailout big guy, going deep when needed to create field space, or rather, every chance I get. It will be a harder role to play against a team with a real deep threat, so I'd better kick my ass in gear and get in shape asap.
Cool yo.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Frankenstien does not know what day it is
Anyway, Forest laid brick today. Hopefully next week I will be able to join them on the field of battle but they have shown that they certainly don't need my talents to get the job done. Dropped em 8 - 1 in the first half. Second half they came out swinging with a zone look that gave us pause for a little. Combined with a few bad drops they got as close as 10 - 6, but eventually our offense clicked and our D just rolled for the rest of the game, final score 15 - 8. Our offense ran a lot better than last week, although we need to work on clogging as well as some more specific issues like rushing on the goal line, looking off women and overenthusiastic hucking.
Oh and zone. We almost had a real problem when they threw it at us, definatley need to learn to beat it as well as run it. Paul will be invaluable there, he can explain it way better than I can.
Defense looked great, great intensity.
Feeling more confident as a rec captain.
Gonna run this town tonight.
Oh and zone. We almost had a real problem when they threw it at us, definatley need to learn to beat it as well as run it. Paul will be invaluable there, he can explain it way better than I can.
Defense looked great, great intensity.
Feeling more confident as a rec captain.
Gonna run this town tonight.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Frankenstien late night edition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1D7_7953DU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhN0OZA3aIs&feature=player_embedded
Grip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhN0OZA3aIs&feature=player_embedded
Grip.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Frankenstien Part ii Day 14
Threw quite a bit yesterday with Zach. Forehands are looking tight, grip work has definately payed off. I'm learning to isolate upper body mechanics for backhands which should pay off for midrange throws and may even lead to more control over huge hucks.
Brodie's hammer is ridiculous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip8kKSOXjDY
Brodie's hammer is ridiculous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip8kKSOXjDY
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Frankenstien Part II Day 10
Saw my surgeon today, she declined to give me a specific timeframe for my return to the field but did say that I can start throwing again, although without any lower body mechanics.
Thus, things to focus on: aim, wrist snap and shoulder laser hucks. Cool.
Second rec game today. Our offense did not click due to sketchy cutting and a lot of clogging. Not as bad as last week, in a lot of ways. We certainly possesed the disc more than the other team. However we had trouble executing, our endzone game was week and with a few awesome exceptions we had no deep game. Also, we were playing a much better squad than last week.
Just sayin' though, we'll get em next time.
I am finding it hard being an active captain when I can't contribute by playing. Think I did better toward the end of the game. Need to focus more and learn everyone's names. That'll help.
That's all.
I'm almost 21. Okay.
Thus, things to focus on: aim, wrist snap and shoulder laser hucks. Cool.
Second rec game today. Our offense did not click due to sketchy cutting and a lot of clogging. Not as bad as last week, in a lot of ways. We certainly possesed the disc more than the other team. However we had trouble executing, our endzone game was week and with a few awesome exceptions we had no deep game. Also, we were playing a much better squad than last week.
Just sayin' though, we'll get em next time.
I am finding it hard being an active captain when I can't contribute by playing. Think I did better toward the end of the game. Need to focus more and learn everyone's names. That'll help.
That's all.
I'm almost 21. Okay.
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