Breeze Chalk Talk

2 hours to talk about strategy and warmup progressions for Saturday's game

IR Trainingslager Karlsruhe, part 2

Woke up, had breakfast, piled into Botto's car (he picked me and two of the other guys up from the WG where we slept the night) and made our way to the hall. We ran some drills inside then moved it out to the cold for more work drilling the system. I kept busy watching and coaching, trying not to freeze. It looked a lot better today, though, after we added a couple key pieces to the offense and drilled some more. Long weekend, though...even without playing I got sore, especially my throat from all the yelling. Can't wait for the next one.

IR Trainingslager Karlsruhe

All of Inside Rakete met this weekend for a conditioning and strategy training camp in Karlruhe. Botto picked me up from the Hofheim Bahnhof just after 7am, and the two of us (both injured) showed up nice and early on a cold Saturday morning, at the same site where I went to the Christmas Cup indoor tournament with Feldrenner back in Fall 2009. While the team warmed up and did some conditioning drills, the coach and I went over some strategy stuff and drills to teach it. After drawing some of the main points on an easel of paper, we put on a thousand layers and went outside to try it out. Both the scrimmages and drills were a little ugly, but I think the weather played a big role in that. The finer points of the new tactics were also somewhat unfamiliar, we hadn't gone through quite everything, and there were a lot of questions. But overall it was on track--most were starting to get the idea, even if they weren't yet comfortable in the offense, and best of all you could tell how many of our players have solid fundamentals.

I spent much of the day trying to get to know the names of my teammates while making suggestions and explaining the offense one-on-one to other D players. As frustrating as it was that I couldn't play, I really enjoyed it. I also liked when we gathered around in a circle, before going over strategy in the hall, and each shared what our personal goals were, as well as what we thought the team's goal should be. I like the team's energy, and I'm excited for the season.

After a leisurely dinner at an upscale pizza restaurant, I crashed on an extra mattress in the WG of a teammate's club teammate. Not having to sleep on the floor? Score!

I'm starting to remember

just how hard it is to run a practice without having your own play suffer. Tougher than I want it to be. I didn't play well, but then again the overall quality of play was somewhat low---it was the first chilly night we've had, with misting rain and wet turf to compound the cold. We taught some concepts before practice on the whiteboard, mostly ho-stack cutting. Saw some good potential, was hoping that the first A-team practice would be better but it's a good reminder of how much work there is to do this year. We have a long way to go.

Oh, and before practice...

Noon: 0.8mi in 5:40

1pm: 0.8mi in 6:45

5pm: 4.2mi in 32:50 (7:49 pace)

If

the team is smaller, and the rotation is smaller, then my role is necessarily different from last year--on the surface. As an "O player" I could start with the disc, and do whatever it was that I could do to get that disc in the endzone. But all too often, we gave that disc to the other team, and had to get it back. All too often, we didn't. So really, my "role" last year was a sham--a superficial category applied to my name on the roster, which I welcomed as an opportunity to remain more often within my comfort zone, and used both productively--we're the "O line" and we should not give up the disc--and non-productively. All too often, I worked hard to not look silly--the pansy approach to Ultimate. Don't look bad, you might not get as much playing time. You're not the D superstar, so your job is to contain your man as best you can if we've given the disc up. Make the play if you can, and try not to resent your teammates when they can't, when they've made the error in judgment or execution that made it so you have to play defense, so you're forced outside of your comfort zone. Why couldn't they just throw and catch? They're the veterans/ballers/tallers, don't they know that I'm new here?

Well now I know (for now). If I have the disc, I move it to a more advantageous position. If my teammate has the disc, I create an opportunity to move it to a more advantageous position. If an opponent has the disc, I take it away, or don't let my man get it. At the very least, I make him get it in a less advantageous position, make him uncomfortable.

Being better conditioned is basic to all of these things. I can't rely on my teammates to push me. Walk, not talk.

Here we go.

Dayum, Son

Skipped the sprint workout this morning so I could write a paper. Obviously, I had to make it up this evening. So here is what DB and I busted out before the playbook meeting.

4x(25yd sprint, chop step, 25yd sprint back)
at 50%, 60%, 75%, 95% with 0:45 rest
2:00 rest
4x(25yd sprint, chop step, 25yd sprint back)
at 95%, 75%, 60%, 50% with 0:45 rest
2:00 rest
4x(0:20 marking shuffle, 0:20 wall sit, 0:20 throwing pivots)
2:00 rest
8x(25yd sprint, 5 clap pushups, 25yd sprint, 5 clap pushups)
at 90% with 0:45 rest

At playbook we went over some basics of handler O, cutter D. For the A-team, this weekend will be about gelling as a team, shaking off the rust, seeing some of the new guys in action, and finding that groove again. For me, this weekend will be about executing on offense, being efficient with my choices, and getting the most out of any time I spend playing defense--playing within the larger team defense but trying to take my man out of his comfort zone as much as possible. In order to prepare for these challenges, I intend to get a lot more throwing in before the weekend. Practice Thursday night is planned as a mini-tournament, so that should get me up to speed--especially with Indoor League Semifinals following.

Gearing up...