Now that I've had time to clear my mind, take many naps, and rehydrate, I am ready to think about our team this weekend. It was an amazing experience and a great way to end my regular season of the senior year. We only lost one game this weekend - and it was only by one point. One point. One stinking point.
UBC:
Flywheel has not played UBC since my freshman year so going into this game was a mystery. We didn't know really anything about them, who their handlers or cutters were, what type of game they ran, etc etc. But we came out strong and we came out to win - and that is what we did. It was a hard fought game on both sides but in the end, our defense is what won us that game. We had a great D from one of our rookies, Lizzie, in the beginning of the game to set the stage. UBC was an extremely spirited team so it was a lot of fun to play against them. They are definitely a good team - no need to count them out of the NW region
Wisconsin:
In my entire Flywheel career, I have only beaten Wisconsin once - and that was in the fall of my freshman year. Not to mention that our past two losses to them have come on Universe point. I don't know what it is, but Michigan has always had a mental block against this team. Coming off of our win against the #1 seed in the pool, Flywheel was fired up to play Bella Donna again. This game was a combination of us beating them and them beating themselves. They had many uncharacteristic throw-a-ways and they were extremely frustrated. Combine that with us finally playing defense against this team and the final score was 15-5. Finally, Michigan had made an improvement.
Carleton:
We were the third seed in our pool and Carleton was the fourth seed - but we were both battling to take the pool. The first half was close. They got one break and we got one break to stay on serve at half. However, at halftime we decided to start the game over. We were getting beat up the line by their handlers and playing to their style. After half we came out strong and got a break to further our lead and then we never looked back. Carleton always amazes me at how good of a team they are but extremely spirited and NICE. They play classic ultimate: dump and swing, handlers moving the disc, and cutters looking for it. They don't try anything too fancy but they excel at what they do.
End of the day on Saturday:
We won our pool. It was an extremely amazing feeling. For once, we got to shower and eat dinner before other teams because we had a last round bye. I like that feeling and would love to continue getting byes
Iowa State:
We saw Iowa State at Easterns and we went down 7-1 against them. When we found out that we would be playing them in pre-quarters, we got extremely fired up. We wanted to show them that it was a fluke and we don't normally play that terribly. And that is what happened. We fought and fought until the final score was 14-9 and we were moving on to quarters. They are definitely a strong team and have some very good players. But it was time to focus on Flywheel getting through to the next round.
Iowa:
Again, last time we played them (at Easterns) we went down 5-1 against them. Yikes. We knew what we had to do in order to beat them. But, we let this one slip away. They took half 8-6. We came out strong in the second half with extremely intense defense, but time was the issue. We tied it up at 8s when the hard cap went on. They were on O. It took them forever to score, but they did - ending our hopes of going to semis.
Stanford:
We were not going to let our loss to Iowa ruin the rest of our day. We still had two more games to play and we wanted to get 5th place . First on our list was Stanford. I had to go get my foot taped during the first part of that game and when I came back, Stanford had taken a time out. The reason? We started off on defense, forced a D, and then scored without any turnovers. This happened three times in a row. (Maybe I should leave the game more often...?!) Flywheel showed that we were not going to let one loss hurt us and ended the game 10-5
Washington:
All of the returners were extremely excited to play this game - Washington beat us last year 15-13 in a hard fought game at Natties. We wanted our revenge. The game was up and down. We went on a three point run. They went on a three point run. We traded points until we broke them to take half 8-6. The second half was going to be extremely critical so we needed to excel. And that is what we did. The final score was 13-10 and Flywheel had placed 5th at Centex!
*Side note about this game: I was incredibly incredibly pleased with Element. Not only are they a talented group of ladies but their spirit was unexpected. I will be honest and say that I did not enjoy playing them the past two years - but this year was very different. All of them were extremely nice and made good calls. They played and fought hard the entire game. It was so much fun to play them and I would love to play them again. This was one of the biggest surprises of the weekend for me.
Thoughts about the weekend:
What a great great weekend! Finally, Flywheel was stepping up to be the team that we knew we could be. We still have a LOT of work to do, but it was nice to see the reward for all of the work we've put in so far. Many players stepped it up this weekend and showed that we have an incredibly deep roster. Our offense clicked and our defense looked great. We shredded zones this weekend. Additionally, this was the first time that I finally felt back (well except for the part of playing only 1 point during the Stanford game due to my foot hurting...). I felt quick and sharp, especially on defense and loved that feeling. We only have a month until Regionals which is not that many practice days. Flywheel will be at it looking to improve yet again from this tournament to keep up with the other teams.
Let's do it
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Initial Centex Thoughts
Well, I feel that my last post sums up the weekend perfectly. Yes, the #1 seed in the tournament ended up winning everything (UCSB) but other than that all I can say is WOW!
I am not going to do my recap of our games just yet, but I wanted to put some stats out there that just blew my mind.
-Tufts came out of nowhere to take third place. Unbelievable showing from them.
-Oregon, who apparently was missing many people, ended up getting 8th - something that has not been seen in a while
-UNC and UCLA were knocked out the championship bracket on Saturday by Tufts and UPenn respectively
-In pools C and D the third seed went undefeated to easily take the pool (Washington and Michigan)
-UNCW beat UCSB 15-11 on the first day but then UCSB went on to beat them in the finals 15-7
-USC, after tying for 5th at Natties last year, went on to win the D3 championship
-We only lost one game this weekend and it was by only one point to take 5th (and outscored our opponents 89-58 on the way there)
The full recap will come later when I have recovered from physically tough weekend and the great Austin bar scene
I am not going to do my recap of our games just yet, but I wanted to put some stats out there that just blew my mind.
-Tufts came out of nowhere to take third place. Unbelievable showing from them.
-Oregon, who apparently was missing many people, ended up getting 8th - something that has not been seen in a while
-UNC and UCLA were knocked out the championship bracket on Saturday by Tufts and UPenn respectively
-In pools C and D the third seed went undefeated to easily take the pool (Washington and Michigan)
-UNCW beat UCSB 15-11 on the first day but then UCSB went on to beat them in the finals 15-7
-USC, after tying for 5th at Natties last year, went on to win the D3 championship
-We only lost one game this weekend and it was by only one point to take 5th (and outscored our opponents 89-58 on the way there)
The full recap will come later when I have recovered from physically tough weekend and the great Austin bar scene
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Thoughts on Centex
I'm currently in class and Centex is this weekend so that obviously means I'm thinking more about Ultimate than what my professor is saying. This is the last big tournament before the Series begins so the results will really take into account seedings and bid distribution. So far this year, I have not seen one team that is completely dominant. While Iowa won Easterns, UCSB won Stanford Invite, Oregon won Pres Day, and Stanford won the Santa Barbara Invite, I cannot say that one of those teams is clearly better than the others. And then you have the next level of teams: UNC, UBC, Cal, Wisconsin, and UCLA who have all done decently well in the tournaments but have yet to win the whole tourney. Then throw us, Washington, UNCW, Caleton, and Texas into the mix and everything is up in the air. It seems to me that which ever team is playing well on a specific day, that is the team that is going to win. That statement might seem self explanatory, but as compared to years past, teams can no longer get away with playing 'okay'. This year I feel like there is a pretty even playing field. While I divided teams up into three tiers earlier in my post, it does not necessarily mean there are three tiers out there.
Because of this, I feel this weekend will be incredibly exciting. ANY one of the teams can step up and win this. It doesn't have to be one of the four teams that have won a tournament this year - it can be any of the others as well. Teams this weekend are not just fighting for first place at the tournament - they are fighting for bid allocation as well.
At the same time, there is a slight bit of sadness surrounding this weekend. This will be my last big tournament (during the regular season) of my college career. I'm definitely using that (and other factors) to motivate me personally this weekend. Let's get it Flywheel!
Because of this, I feel this weekend will be incredibly exciting. ANY one of the teams can step up and win this. It doesn't have to be one of the four teams that have won a tournament this year - it can be any of the others as well. Teams this weekend are not just fighting for first place at the tournament - they are fighting for bid allocation as well.
At the same time, there is a slight bit of sadness surrounding this weekend. This will be my last big tournament (during the regular season) of my college career. I'm definitely using that (and other factors) to motivate me personally this weekend. Let's get it Flywheel!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Different workouts
As the season progresses, I think it is important to vary your workouts from what you did in the beginning of the year. Doing only one type of workout and focusing on one or two types of skill is not beneficial to your team.
*I went to States for cross country in high school, was an all-state runner in track, placed second in my age division for a half marathon, and have played 4 years of Ultimate. These accomplishments have lead me to believe that I know a thing or two about training for speed. You, of course, can take this however you want
Types of workouts:
1. Long runs: These are good for getting back into the swing of things, aka in Nov or Dec. You can get some endurance back and feel your muscles working. I don't really like these as the season progresses because of the usual slow nature of these runs. If you are going to use long runs as a workout, you must be pushing yourself the entire time and not trying to stay together as a team. Running three 9:00 miles will not do a whole lot for you if you can run three 7:00 miles. Now, you can use these to encourage the teammates who are in the back of the pack to catch up to the leaders, but if they aren't pushing themselves to do so, then... (I don't want to say it is a waste of a workout, so rather I will say there could have been a better choice of workout)
2. Weight lifting: These are good for setting the stage for your muscle growth, aka in Dec-Feb. Having stronger muscles will allow for further development in speed or power because you have the basis of strength. Additionally by weight lifting, you are helping to prevent future injuries
3. Cross Fit: I am a very strong proponent of these workout. We have been doing this the past two years and I love the way it has helped us. Not only is it giving us muscle definition (shout out to the Florida men's team) but it is giving us power for jumps or power for exploding in sprints. Good for Jan-March
4. Track workouts: I don't think you should do these until you have a basis for your muscles (see above^), aka March-May (depending on if you make Natties). Track workouts can cause shin splints, pulled quads, and pulled hamstrings if not done correctly so you neeeeeeeeeed the strength there first. As much as I like 400 or 800 repeats (going back to my track days. Oh nostalgia...) I think it is better to do shorter distances. I think it is good to do this after weight lifting has ended so you can work on quickness and not just power.
5. Agility workouts: Agility can help you on offense and defense meaning I think you should incorporate them starting in at least Feb and continuing until the end of the season. Agility workouts such as speed ladders, quick transition between sprints, karaoke, and shuffling, etc etc
To be an good Ultimate player, you need to have the package of quickness, power, speed, and strength. Varying your workouts, especially through the duration of the season, will help you achieve these abilities. Of course, this is all according to 'Doctor' Amp.
*I went to States for cross country in high school, was an all-state runner in track, placed second in my age division for a half marathon, and have played 4 years of Ultimate. These accomplishments have lead me to believe that I know a thing or two about training for speed. You, of course, can take this however you want
Types of workouts:
1. Long runs: These are good for getting back into the swing of things, aka in Nov or Dec. You can get some endurance back and feel your muscles working. I don't really like these as the season progresses because of the usual slow nature of these runs. If you are going to use long runs as a workout, you must be pushing yourself the entire time and not trying to stay together as a team. Running three 9:00 miles will not do a whole lot for you if you can run three 7:00 miles. Now, you can use these to encourage the teammates who are in the back of the pack to catch up to the leaders, but if they aren't pushing themselves to do so, then... (I don't want to say it is a waste of a workout, so rather I will say there could have been a better choice of workout)
2. Weight lifting: These are good for setting the stage for your muscle growth, aka in Dec-Feb. Having stronger muscles will allow for further development in speed or power because you have the basis of strength. Additionally by weight lifting, you are helping to prevent future injuries
3. Cross Fit: I am a very strong proponent of these workout. We have been doing this the past two years and I love the way it has helped us. Not only is it giving us muscle definition (shout out to the Florida men's team) but it is giving us power for jumps or power for exploding in sprints. Good for Jan-March
4. Track workouts: I don't think you should do these until you have a basis for your muscles (see above^), aka March-May (depending on if you make Natties). Track workouts can cause shin splints, pulled quads, and pulled hamstrings if not done correctly so you neeeeeeeeeed the strength there first. As much as I like 400 or 800 repeats (going back to my track days. Oh nostalgia...) I think it is better to do shorter distances. I think it is good to do this after weight lifting has ended so you can work on quickness and not just power.
5. Agility workouts: Agility can help you on offense and defense meaning I think you should incorporate them starting in at least Feb and continuing until the end of the season. Agility workouts such as speed ladders, quick transition between sprints, karaoke, and shuffling, etc etc
To be an good Ultimate player, you need to have the package of quickness, power, speed, and strength. Varying your workouts, especially through the duration of the season, will help you achieve these abilities. Of course, this is all according to 'Doctor' Amp.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Easterns
Wow - what a weekend.
On the plus side, we learned a lot this weekend. We learned what we cannot have happen and what we need to improve on. Additionally, I felt our play improved in certain areas from Pres Day. I feel that as long as we can walk away knowing those things it was, in short, a successful weekend.
On the other side, we have a LOT to improve on.
Harvard and NC State:
Our first two games were against Quesar and Jaga. In general we came out a little weak, probably after the long drive from Michigan. But we were able to turn things out. Nothing was too noteworthy of the games. Harvard is a different team than their Nationals team last year - I'm guessing a lot of it having to do with Jenny (#2) graduating. NC State has some throwers and some cutters, but Flywheel was able to shut them down.
Iowa:
In my four years, we have never played Iowa so we were excited about playing this team. Additionally, they had just come off a win at Midwest Throwdown so they were surging. Looking back on this game, I really don't know what happened in the beginning. They came down in a zone, we made poor decisions, they transitioned to offense really quickly, and before we knew it we were down 5-0. We were making simple mistakes so we knew if we fixed those up we would be able to hang with this team. After a time out and a half, we changed our mentality and came out strong. Unfortunately, we had dug ourselves into too big of a hole in the beginning. Plus side: we won the second half with a score of 8-6. On the other hand, we lost the game 13-10. Iowa has some quick cutters that transition to offense in a split second. I feel like this was one of the biggest factors into us losing the game.
UPenn:
Our lovely grad student Pimp went to UPenn for undergrad so she/we were excited to play her old team. Final score was 13-7. Smart match-ups and constant attacking won us this game. Southern BBQ plus paper plate awards followed leading to a fun and relaxing evening.
Sunday:
I might compare our Sunday to this. Our skill, our mental game, and our final scores all go along with this ride
Wisconsin:
Our game against Wisconsin was, in the end, a heart breaker. All of us were fired up to play them and it showed. We started on O and traded points until it was 2-2. Our defense clicked, we had switches, we had smart matchups, and our O delivered bringing the score 5-3. However, Bella battled back making it 5-5 and then eventually taking half 7-6. After what seemed to be the longest point, Flywheel tied it up at 7s but soft cap went on. Then it was at 8s - bringing it to universe point. Bella started on O and never turned it. We had them at stall 8 or 9 three times that point and their score was a high lofty pass to the sideline in the endzone for a really nice grab. We were knocked out. For some reason, this loss hurt tremendously. I've been knocked out the championship bracket at Nationals the past two years and this loss ranks up there with those. Luckily I have a boyfriend who plays ultimate and understands this all to call during moments like these. After some personal regrouping I was ready to discuss what happened with the leaders of our team. We decided on a few things, mainly that we do deserve to win games against good teams and we need to improve our defense, and got ready for our next game.
Texas:
This game was great. Amy K is a friend to a few of us so we were looking forward to playing them. They came out strong and scored the first point, but we knew we could do better. We broke their zone and played confidently the entire time. Texas is a team that has players very comparable to us which made the matchups fun. At one point, Amy threw a long disc that was going out of the endzone. I slowed down because it was going OB. However, one of the girls caught it OB, threw it back in, and my girl caught it for the Greatest. I was speechless. For one, I've never been in a game when a Greatest has been scored. Two, it was my girl who scored that. There was nothing I could do except applaud their effort and be happy for them. It was wicked cool. Final score was 11-6. Cool cool
Iowa State:
Oh my. Yikes on all accord. Apparently we were tired and played that way. Pretty soon we found the score to be 7-1. We were playing terribly. We weren't communicating in the backfield, we were being lazy on D, we were forcing things on O, and we were moving at 1/4 speed. After some uncharacteristic Amp yelling and Julia drawing out basic cuts, Flywheel decided to we are going to win this game somehow. Bemu hucking to Pimp for the score. One point. Paula's around backhand to Kim for the score. One point. Amp striking in the endzone. One point. Pimp cleaning up a mistimed jump/catch. One point. Pimp doing that again. One point. Pretty soon, Flywheel was making this a game. And here comes the "highlight" from that game. We started on D, Bemu pulled it out of bounds and Iowa State was setting up their O. We then realized that we only had 6 players on the field! Since the pull had already gone off, we could not put another player out there. It was going to be 6 vs. 7. We threw a poachy type zone to throw them off. Turn. We worked it down the field but then we threw an uncharacteristic hammer. Turn. They worked it down the field but threw it out of the endzone. Turn. Finally, we worked it down and Pimp caught the score! Somehow, Flywheel had managed to score with one less person on the field. We couldn't score during the first half with seven players but could during the second half with six. Maybe next time we go down we should play with fewer players... Ehh - probs not. But still - it was amazing. It definitely fueled us but, unfortunately due to cap, the score ended with them winning 10-11. We were SO close to coming back but damn the time limits!
During out debriefing we focused on the same thing from Pres Day - what is important is improving, not necessarily winning. I would rather not win a tournament during the regular season, but keep improving each time, and then perform exceptionally well at Nationals. The good part is we know where we need to improve. And also on the plus side was that our zone O looked good! This was the first time that I was confident during the entire weekend we could break throw any team's zone. And thank goodness! I was starting to get annoyed with losing to zones.
We now have two weeks until Centex to go over a few things at practices. Here we come Flywheel!
On the plus side, we learned a lot this weekend. We learned what we cannot have happen and what we need to improve on. Additionally, I felt our play improved in certain areas from Pres Day. I feel that as long as we can walk away knowing those things it was, in short, a successful weekend.
On the other side, we have a LOT to improve on.
Harvard and NC State:
Our first two games were against Quesar and Jaga. In general we came out a little weak, probably after the long drive from Michigan. But we were able to turn things out. Nothing was too noteworthy of the games. Harvard is a different team than their Nationals team last year - I'm guessing a lot of it having to do with Jenny (#2) graduating. NC State has some throwers and some cutters, but Flywheel was able to shut them down.
Iowa:
In my four years, we have never played Iowa so we were excited about playing this team. Additionally, they had just come off a win at Midwest Throwdown so they were surging. Looking back on this game, I really don't know what happened in the beginning. They came down in a zone, we made poor decisions, they transitioned to offense really quickly, and before we knew it we were down 5-0. We were making simple mistakes so we knew if we fixed those up we would be able to hang with this team. After a time out and a half, we changed our mentality and came out strong. Unfortunately, we had dug ourselves into too big of a hole in the beginning. Plus side: we won the second half with a score of 8-6. On the other hand, we lost the game 13-10. Iowa has some quick cutters that transition to offense in a split second. I feel like this was one of the biggest factors into us losing the game.
UPenn:
Our lovely grad student Pimp went to UPenn for undergrad so she/we were excited to play her old team. Final score was 13-7. Smart match-ups and constant attacking won us this game. Southern BBQ plus paper plate awards followed leading to a fun and relaxing evening.
Sunday:
I might compare our Sunday to this. Our skill, our mental game, and our final scores all go along with this ride
Wisconsin:
Our game against Wisconsin was, in the end, a heart breaker. All of us were fired up to play them and it showed. We started on O and traded points until it was 2-2. Our defense clicked, we had switches, we had smart matchups, and our O delivered bringing the score 5-3. However, Bella battled back making it 5-5 and then eventually taking half 7-6. After what seemed to be the longest point, Flywheel tied it up at 7s but soft cap went on. Then it was at 8s - bringing it to universe point. Bella started on O and never turned it. We had them at stall 8 or 9 three times that point and their score was a high lofty pass to the sideline in the endzone for a really nice grab. We were knocked out. For some reason, this loss hurt tremendously. I've been knocked out the championship bracket at Nationals the past two years and this loss ranks up there with those. Luckily I have a boyfriend who plays ultimate and understands this all to call during moments like these. After some personal regrouping I was ready to discuss what happened with the leaders of our team. We decided on a few things, mainly that we do deserve to win games against good teams and we need to improve our defense, and got ready for our next game.
Texas:
This game was great. Amy K is a friend to a few of us so we were looking forward to playing them. They came out strong and scored the first point, but we knew we could do better. We broke their zone and played confidently the entire time. Texas is a team that has players very comparable to us which made the matchups fun. At one point, Amy threw a long disc that was going out of the endzone. I slowed down because it was going OB. However, one of the girls caught it OB, threw it back in, and my girl caught it for the Greatest. I was speechless. For one, I've never been in a game when a Greatest has been scored. Two, it was my girl who scored that. There was nothing I could do except applaud their effort and be happy for them. It was wicked cool. Final score was 11-6. Cool cool
Iowa State:
Oh my. Yikes on all accord. Apparently we were tired and played that way. Pretty soon we found the score to be 7-1. We were playing terribly. We weren't communicating in the backfield, we were being lazy on D, we were forcing things on O, and we were moving at 1/4 speed. After some uncharacteristic Amp yelling and Julia drawing out basic cuts, Flywheel decided to we are going to win this game somehow. Bemu hucking to Pimp for the score. One point. Paula's around backhand to Kim for the score. One point. Amp striking in the endzone. One point. Pimp cleaning up a mistimed jump/catch. One point. Pimp doing that again. One point. Pretty soon, Flywheel was making this a game. And here comes the "highlight" from that game. We started on D, Bemu pulled it out of bounds and Iowa State was setting up their O. We then realized that we only had 6 players on the field! Since the pull had already gone off, we could not put another player out there. It was going to be 6 vs. 7. We threw a poachy type zone to throw them off. Turn. We worked it down the field but then we threw an uncharacteristic hammer. Turn. They worked it down the field but threw it out of the endzone. Turn. Finally, we worked it down and Pimp caught the score! Somehow, Flywheel had managed to score with one less person on the field. We couldn't score during the first half with seven players but could during the second half with six. Maybe next time we go down we should play with fewer players... Ehh - probs not. But still - it was amazing. It definitely fueled us but, unfortunately due to cap, the score ended with them winning 10-11. We were SO close to coming back but damn the time limits!
During out debriefing we focused on the same thing from Pres Day - what is important is improving, not necessarily winning. I would rather not win a tournament during the regular season, but keep improving each time, and then perform exceptionally well at Nationals. The good part is we know where we need to improve. And also on the plus side was that our zone O looked good! This was the first time that I was confident during the entire weekend we could break throw any team's zone. And thank goodness! I was starting to get annoyed with losing to zones.
We now have two weeks until Centex to go over a few things at practices. Here we come Flywheel!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Game time. Fun time. Win time.
We started this mantra when we played Sonoma State at Pres Day. Unfortunately, it did not pan out the way we wanted to. But after a great Monday at PD and then some awesome scrimmages last weekend (Georgia, Georgia Tech, Emory, and Florida), Flywheel is ready to apply that saying again.
I am definitely interested in seeing how the tournament pans out. UNC is looking very strong after Pres Day but they still lost to UNCW at QCTU. Wisconsin had a decent showing at PD but lost to Iowa this past weekend. In my time at Flywheel, I've never played Iowa so I am looking forward to seeing a new team with familiar players. Harvard lost #2 Jenny from their roster who was their go-to player from last year and I am unfamiliar with NC State this year. Who knows how our pool will turn out except you can expect some good battles.
This is not that in depth of a post. I had a 10 minute break before class and I realized I haven't posted in a while. Maybe I'll post something later
Easterns - let's go
We started this mantra when we played Sonoma State at Pres Day. Unfortunately, it did not pan out the way we wanted to. But after a great Monday at PD and then some awesome scrimmages last weekend (Georgia, Georgia Tech, Emory, and Florida), Flywheel is ready to apply that saying again.
I am definitely interested in seeing how the tournament pans out. UNC is looking very strong after Pres Day but they still lost to UNCW at QCTU. Wisconsin had a decent showing at PD but lost to Iowa this past weekend. In my time at Flywheel, I've never played Iowa so I am looking forward to seeing a new team with familiar players. Harvard lost #2 Jenny from their roster who was their go-to player from last year and I am unfamiliar with NC State this year. Who knows how our pool will turn out except you can expect some good battles.
This is not that in depth of a post. I had a 10 minute break before class and I realized I haven't posted in a while. Maybe I'll post something later
Easterns - let's go
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