Pickup, Game Footage

Pickup in Buccleuch again today. I think I am learning more from pickup these days--partially due to the people at pickup, but also because I seem to be more receptive.

I've been watching a ton of game footage recently. The College '07 Finals, Rhino reels, Ultivillage recordings, and lots of video from Rutgers games. There really is a different pace to club Ultimate, and elite club especially, but after seeing so much action it becomes a little easier to pick out pearls. I've been debating with Ariel the viability of curving throws in offensive systems, their pros and cons and our speculation concerning their frequent appearance in the Buzz-Sockeye games. It isn't easy to learn from the film of elite teams, just because it's an entirely different game at the top and the way they play is pretty different from the way we do, but I've nonetheless tried to absorb some sense of "good Ultimate." The more I watch, the more I hope to be able to pick out good positioning, the way individuals exploit advantages in momentum or space, the habits of strong offenses, etc.

Right now, though, I have found it particularly educational to analyze, with help from others, my own performance: trying to determine where I played good defense, which throwing choices were questionable, whether a turnover was primarily due to my poor execution or my teammate's, when I contributed positively to the offense and where I can improve my game.