Marking

Marking will become the cornerstone of our defense. Read this. Read this again. Understand it. Understand it again?

I've pieced this together from PJ's old blog. Thanks to PJ and Kirk for their wisdom.

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Remember the key elements to a great mark are: 1) move your feet vs. lunging; 2) keep arms fully extended; 3) be dynamic- start close and aggressive, back off as the stall count increases. We can also be yelling "stall 8" when we get there so our team-mates know a) they only have 2 seconds of crazy D left; b) there is likely to be a wild throw made.

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FOUL!!

There is an increasing trend towards very aggressive, physical (read: fouls galore) marking these days. A less experienced player can become very flustered by this, and he will usually throw as a result of the pressure. Even worse, a lot of times these players don't know to call "foul". Against a more experienced thrower, however, fouling marks are sweets treats, indeed. Why? Because it gives you a free throw. a foul upon releasing the throw is either completed (in which case you "play on") or it is incomplete and the disc comes back to the thrower-- ie, it's a free throw). Here are a few scenarios to consider...

1. you receive a pass and your marker decides to bodycheck you as he initiates stall couting .in this case, i'll generally NOT call the foul. why? because calling a foul here stops the play and can ruin any flow that the cutters may have (this is often the reason that some players bump into their marks- because it kills the offensive flow). there is also no benefit to calling "foul" in terms of lowering the stall count, as it is only at 1 or 2 by this point. if you fall from the contact, or the contact ruins your chances of throwing for the next 2 or 3 seconds, then call the foul so you can reset. otherwise, ignore the contact and continue looking for the best throw.

2. your marker is grinding you like an axe (ie, there is either consistent or repeated points of contact between you and your marker).when your mark is doing this, you should try and take the free throw by throwing through the contact and call "foul" upon releasing the disc (if complete, say "play on"-- if not, it comes back to you). *caveat* if you call the foul before you initiate the throw, then don't throw it. if you do throw after calling foul, then (if completed) it comes back to you -or- (if incomplete) it is a turn-over.

3. your marker chops your hand when you are releasing the disc (ie, before the disc has left your hand).this is easy. call a foul everytime you feel contact on the release.calling "foul" is something that doesn't come naturally. oftentimes the thrower may not realize he has been fouled until after the play has finished (ie, when pumped up, contact often goes unnoticed). as such, it is important to incorporate fouls (over-aggressive marks) into some of your drills so players can practice making the foul call.

kirk.

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3 Types of Marks:

1. Basic Mark - Active hands a feet. Stay tight for the first 4-5 stalls and then back off to avoid drawing a 'foul' call at high stalls. This mark is great for overwhelming inexperienced handlers. This is mostly appropriate when the disc is FAR from your endzone.

2. Endzone Mark - When the disc nears the endzone it is especially important that the mark not get broken. If you don't understand what it means to be broken, speak up now. This is important because defenders are especially amped up in the endzone and need to be confident that they don't have to worry about the break side. If a defender thinks that the mark will be broken, then he will over commit to the break side and give up easy open side cuts. This will kill us.

So, in order to not get broken, your mark should be big and active, but NOT TIGHT to the handler. Don't lunge for a hand block if it means that you will lose balance and get broken as the handler pivots and goes the other way. DON'T GET BROKEN.

3. Straight-Up Mark - This is very usefull against a hucking handler. The mark should be huge, with arms stretched wide. Many handlers can only huck from a certain position (ie low release, high release) so do what you can to take this away. Don't try to foot or hand block. Let him dump or swing it to other handlers. This is what we want.

Taylor

Sept 15 - Practice Review

Announcements:

• get your UPA and CUPA #s on the BBS
• Post your flight info on the BBS once you've purchased
• Sort out rides for UPAs this weekend
• If you're going to Nats, go to your registrar and ask for a letter that says you're a registered, full-time student. Give it to Tingle.

Absent: Steve, Thomson McKnight, Giorgio Traini, Merrick Anderson, Rob Svaluto, Tim Fowler, Oliver Cheng, Ruben, Grady, Gerald Quon, David Yu, Thavendra

Excused: Hamed (Driving test), Mike Yeomans (it's yeomans), Shimon Pokorny (early class),

Attendance Notes: Numbers were unnacceptably low this morning. Just because you've made the team does not mean that you get to walk onto the field at Nationals and play. You have to earn every point you play by coming to practice and working hard. Just 12 practices left before Nats.

Review:

-Warm-up
-Lotto
-Magnum drill: This drill simulates what goes on in the Ho stack. The 3 handlers have a few options

1. Cutters 3 and 4 do out-in and clear cuts respectively, starting at stall minus 1. The job of cutters 1 and 2 at this point is to keep the stack spread and look to time their cuts off of what happens. The handler with the disc gives an upfield look for 2-3 stalls and then commits to his resets.
2. If the far side handler is being poached, he calls "shoulder" to make the middle handler aware. Middle handler cuts up the line and does not come back, opening up the field for the far side handler to get the dump. Once the disc is in the middle, he should look to swing it further across the field to cutter 1.
3. The most basic play is to run berkely cuts and swing the disc. These have to be hard up the line and back or fake back field and bust hard up the line.

-Scrimmage: Black wins game to 3. Things were looking good in terms of keeping the stack spread. We need consistent attendance so that each play can learn his roll on the team

-The President

Didn't Get Cut Party - Tonight

Boys and Girls,

Lowell and Steve are hosting Tula's 4th annual Didn't Get Cut party tonight at 456 Grace St. (Christie and Bloor). BYOB. We will be heading to the Dance Cave at around 11 or 11:30. All are welcome!

Call 647 831 3788 if you have any questions.

Taylor

Tula Men's Rosters

Congratulations to all for a great Tryout week. Here are the Rosters for the 3 tournaments:

UPAs/Easterns

Mike Yeomans
Giorgio Traini
David Tingle
Nathaniel Brown
Tom Walsh
Norman Farb
Merrick Anderson
Rob Svaluto
Adam Rodgers
Jeff Sham
Adam Bak
Tim Fowler
Oliver Cheng
Shimon Pokorny
Chris Piattelli
Tom Fee
Eric Liu
Ruben
Alex Tat
Bryce
Grady
Joachim
Chris Orr
Gerald Quon
David Yu
Wes
Hamed
Thavendra

Nationals

Steve Tam
Taylor Martin
Mike Yeomans
Thomson McKnight
Adrian Yearwood
Giorgio Traini
David Tingle
Lowell Heppner
Nathaniel Brown
Tom Walsh
Norman Farb
Rob Svaluto
Adam Rodgers
Jeff Sham
Adam Bak
Tim Fowler
Oliver Cheng
Shimon Pokorny
Chris Piattelli
Eric Liu
Ruben
Bryce
Tom Fee
Merrick Anderson
Joachim
Alex Tat

-The President

Sept 12 - Tryout 5 Review

Week 1 done. There are 3 weeks of practice until Nationals.

To Do
- Post your UPA number to the BBS NOW
- Post your CUPA number to the BBS NOW

Review:
-Warm-up
-Lotto: Everyone finished late today. We need to change this. Kirk pointed out that this drill is about MARKING. Team defense starts with a strong mark. We will work on this next week.
-TFS: Triple cut again. Completion was low. We all should be throwing every day to improve. When you throw, make sure that you step out and pivot with good form.
-Scrimmage: Scrimmage was looking good. We're starting to spread the field and learn what proper spacing is.

Homework:
-Get in a cardio workout this weekend. Try doing intervals (30 sec Hard, 1 min Recover, 1 min H, 1 min R, 1.5 min H, 1 min R, 2 min H, 1 min R, 2.5 min H, 1 min R, 2 min H, 1 min R, 1.5 min H, 1 min R, 1 min H, 1 min R, 30 sec H) on the track or windsprints (6x40 yrds, 4 times)

*** ladies - first practice ***

Had about 18 at our first practice. Pretty good turnout - keep it up!

We worked on:

1. WARM-UP WITH 45s
2. THE MARK
   
3. MAN DEFENCE

Warm-up: we will need two brave volunteers to help us lead warm-up every day. If you are interested in this task please let us know.

45s:
- want to throw to the space in front of our receiver, not directly to them
- also, make sure that the cut is a sharp checkmark instead of a rounded banana cut

THE MARK:
- position yourself parallel to the endzone line, and line up your hip to the handler's navel
- give at least a disc space between you and the handler; if you are smaller, you can take another step back so you take up more space
- be light on your feet and ready to move quickly to stop the I/O and around throws
- centre of gravity should be low, and make sure to bend at your knees, not bending over at your waist
- give the open side throws: no biting!
Drill: 3-man

MAN DEFENCE
- triangulate: make sure at any point that you can identify where the handler is and where your opponent is
- shuffling is key - make sure you keep on your toes
- preserve the space - as the player you're guarding moves forward, move backwards with them (and keep your hand out to intimidate)
- anticipate where the cut will go so that you are not chasing
- don't bite on break-side cuts, but try not to let them get too far away from you
- don't get turned!
Drill: Cutting in pairs

FITNESS
- 1 minute of pain: set up cones 20 yds apart, and sprint back and forth between them for one minute. If it doesn't hurt you are not going fast enough.
- ladders: run in two lines twice around the field. The back pair must race each other to the front of the line.
- abs

DWYER SAYS: There are three ways to ensure that you get playing time on the team this year:
1) Be in shape (weights are key!)
2) Don't get beat on defence
3) Throw like you would in a game (no stationary throwing during warm-up!).

Our next practice will be Friday. Be ready to play by 7:25AM. That means that you should be cleated and have warmed up both your body and your throws (get into 3-man so that you are throwing with a mark on). Please bring a light, a dark, cleats, and water.

Also, come to Didn't Get Cut on Saturday!
K&J

Sept 11 - Tryout 4 Review

Again, a good practice. Nice to see people running hard and laying it on the line. This is what we will need to do to win.

Announcement

• Tula's annual Didn't Get Cut Party will be held SATURDAY at Steve and Lowell's place. SATURDAY, not Friday.
• Team breakfast after practice tomorrow!

Review

• Lotto: Two teams didn't finish in the 8 minutes. At this point we should have very little talk during the drill, running quickly to reset each time.
• Throw for Score: Again we tried the triple cut. Run hard out, plant and make a SHARP cut in, making it a legit option for your handler. Plant again and bust ass out for the bomb. The first 3 steps of any cut are where you will lose your defender. Put your head down and give'r for a few, then look up for a read on the disc.
• Scrimmage: Black wins 3-2. Big plays on both sides. Many Ds were had because the thrower did not commit to his dump. After looking up field for 2-4 stalls, square yourself with your dump and make eye contact. The reset handler should anticipate an early dump and start their cut appropriately. Patience on offense is a virtue. Dark was able to dump and swing many times, allowing handlers to hit a well timed cut.
• Sprints: If you felt out of breathe doing this, you need to get into better shape. Aside from being a much more skilled, smart (and good looking) team than our opponents, we should be able to run them into the ground.

-The President