Pre-Valentines Love Fest: An Ode to the Other Things I Love

I will be honest. My body was in horrible condition by the end of Club Nationals. After not really taking enough time to recover from surgery last winter, transitioning from college to club without breaking stride, and playing ultimate 4-5 days per week all summer, I was in need of a serious break. In fact, Dave reminded me that I had taken my first break lasting more than a week or two since the age of 15 this year. For the record, I was 15 at the time of my first knee surgery, which was the most major of the three. Even then, I only took 3 months off, and was given the go-ahead to return to basketball 3 months post-surgery, which, for those of you who don't know, is a very quick recovery time.

Even though I am far from old, my body is no longer as resilient as it once was at the age of 15. So, after much encouragement and support, I took nearly two and a half full months off from physical activity. It killed me mentally. But honestly, now that I'm getting back in the swing of things, I feel incredible.

I jokingly called Dave this week after lifting to tell him the good news: I was back in the plate club (aka I have 45 lb plates on my squat rack). That is a huge accomplishment given where I was at the beginning of November. I went from not being able to walk up a single flight of stairs or even sit at a desk for more than an hour at a time because my knees were hurting so badly, to lifting a respectable (but not impressive) amount of weight.

I will also admit: I was going through the motions last fall. Yes, I still enjoyed playing ultimate, but it started to take the back burner to my academic, professional, and personal interests. My family, my boyfriend, my budding planning career, my passion for researching hazard mitigation, all of these things are more important than ultimate. I will be the first to admit it. Honestly, it still does. And guess what? It's okay. I'm okay with that.

It took an attitude shift in order for me to find my passion. Ultimate is NOT what drives me to get out of bed in the morning. It's not the only thing I have going. I shouldn't pretend that it is. Having other passions, like flood mitigation and planning and love for people, are okay (in fact, the pursuit of other passions, is well, encouraged). I feel like I'm living a full life and can share many passions with more people.

This outlook has actually re-invigorated my ability to teach the game and write about ultimate for Skyd.

In this realization, I was reminded just how much I love lifting, how much I love training, and how much I love ultimate....along with all those other things too.

Goal Setting

Here's an e-mail I sent to the Saucy Nancy 2011-2012 team. As rookies and veterans alike are working hard this fall to earn a spot on Saucy Nancy, they are starting to prioritize what they want to get out of the game, what they want to improve on. As I take a brief break from my obscene amount of paper writing in preparation for Club Nationals next week, I though I'd share it with all of you. Goal setting is important. Goal setting is what drove me as a player.

If you want Nationals 2K12, it starts TODAY. I can tell you something. I know for a fact that other teams are doing sprints, lifting, and practicing more days per week than we are. (I make it a point to know how hard my opponents are working so I can work harder. So I can want it more).

 

What is Saucy doing?

 

As people start thinking about skills they want to work on, I'm more than happy to help you out too. I may not be able to make many practices to help coach this semester, but it doesn't mean I don't care. I want this team to succeed. It starts by achieving individual goals.

 

I know a thing or two about setting individual goals. I have been playing ultimate for 4.5 years. My throws did NOT happen overnight. But rather, they were a result of specific goal setting techniques that Lou Abramowski helped me develop.

 

--You start with your end goal. "I want a good flick huck, even in the wind."

--You then, break it into mini-goals.

--Finally, break those mini-goals into tangible process goals that I can keep myself accountable to:

 

Goal: Be able to have a good flick huck, even in the wind.

Mini-goal 1) Get stronger

-Process goal 1: Work with my coaches to make a lifting program

-Process goal 2: Stick to my lifting program, complete it 3x per week.

-Process goal 3: Eat healthy

-Process goal 4: Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night

Mini-goal 2) More consistency

-Process goal 1: Throw 50 (or more) flick hucks per day

-Process goal 2: Throw 25 (or more) IO mid-range flick throws.

Mini-goal 3) More distance

-Process goal 1: Work on developing proper footwork to use momentum.

-Process goal 2: Throw 25 (or more) flick hucks per day with this footwork

-Process goal 2: Throw 25 (or more) flick hucks from a stand-still, as far as I can.

-Process goal 4: Do the grip/wrist exercise homework Mikey assigned at No Wisco.

 

With this goal scheme, I am only throwing 50 flick hucks per day (25 from standstill, 25 with footwork), and an additional 25 IO mid-range flicks (total of 75 throws), which takes me ~10-15 minutes when I'm business and concentrating 100%. I would leave an additional 25 backhands to keep me on my game there, for an even 100 throws per day.

 

You can do this for any aspect of the games. Improving defense. Improving short or mid-range throws. In order to develop a huck (25+ yards), you have to have consistent mid-range throws (15-20 yards). In order to develop mid-range throws, you have to have consistent short-range throws (5-10 yards). Consistency = hitting my receiver at least 90% of the time (Inside-out, outside-in, and flat).

 

It all happens somewhere. It starts within. It starts from motivating each other. It starts with wanting to get better at ultimate.

The Post Season: Week 1, Fundamentals

Today officially begins the post season. I'm giddy with excitement. Our region (unofficially) has THREE bids. First time since 2009. Hopefully I won't have to play in a backdoor game again (my current personal record is 0-4...but I'm 2-0 in regional championship games).

So Week 1 of my post-season brings my focus to fundamentals.

Me and Justine at Easterns. Playing catch like it's our job.

Saucy is working on efficiency and fundamentals. Some of the things that killed us at Centex were easy things like completing catches and throws. Simple fundamentals. At practice last week Mikey had us do a drill that took us almost 1 hour to complete. Athleticism and smarts about the game won't get you anywhere if you can't complete a basic uncontested throw to a wide open receiver 10 yards away.

Brodie Smith might be one of the best things for teaching skills right now. I kid you not, the guy is making real quality vids, breaking down throwing fundamentals. Check 'em out if you haven't yet. Whether you love him or hate him, you can't argue with the guy: he is the single most dominant person to have ever graced the college ultimate field. His stat line from finals is better than the stats of most teams in a championship game. If you're looking to improve your throws in crunch time, I urge you to go back to the basics and learn from the best our sport has to offer.
Bro Tips #1: Backhand Basics
Bro Tips #2: Forehand

I'm a real proponent these days of getting at least 100 touches on the disc every day. Totally do-able in less than 15 mins. (Wrote about that in Feb, CLICK HERE)

Peace.

Improving Disc Skills During Crunch Time

This started out as an e-mail to my teammates. It turned into a post directed towards people who are "in-season." Saucy officially makes the transition into the outdoor season next weekend, with Midwest Throwdown (St. Louis, MO).

2008: Jaime, Katelyn, Lauren and I, showing off our clean jerseys. Thanks mud!

The Midwest, like most of the country, likes to make us play in ridiculous conditions, like below freezing temperatures, 30-40 mph wind, sleet, hail, slush, snow, 2 inches of mud that swallow your cleats (my personal favorite, horizontal sleet rain is typical every year at Regionals for us). We all know that these conditions make throwing and catching more difficult, to say the least. So how can someone expect to gain significant improvement from now until Midwest Throwdown (12 days away?): more touches on the disc.

My challenge is to find 10-15 mins every day of the week to get at least 100 throws/catches in. Go outside if the weather permits (today is great for throwing outdoors!) You might be thinking, "Robyn, you're crazy. 100 throws in 10-15 minutes!?"

If you don't believe me, watch me warm up before practice or a game (ask Bekah or Timko). I guarantee that if I am cleated up at 8:00, I can get you at least 80 reps in before we start our first drill.

Before every practice, this is my target:
-10 backhands, 3-5 yards
-10 forehands, 3-5 yards
-10 backhands, 10 yards (4 straight, 2 inside-out, 2 outside-in)
-10 forehands, 10 yards (4 straight, 2 inside-out, 2 outside-in)
-15 backhands, 15 yards (5 straight, 5 inside-out, 5 outside-in)
-15 forehands, 15 yards (5 straight, 5 inside-out, 5 outside-in)
-15 backhands, 20-25 yards (5 straight, 5 inside-out, 5 outside-in)
-15 forehands, 20-25 yards (5 straight, 5 inside-out, 5 outside-in)

Sidenote:
Personally, I don't worry so much about working on low release throws or fakes during this "warmup" time where I'm trying to maximize disc touches. I don't do either of these skills (low throws or fakes) unless I have a mark on. So I focus on these skills during drills with a mark. If I have no mark on me, I have no reason to get really low. It slows down my throw and adds unnecessary movement. As for faking, I practice that when I'm watching TV or walking around campus (I prefer to make eye contact with strangers and fake throw at them. General rule of thumb, if they flinch, my fake was good. Which means, I have lots to work on with my forehand...). I am not sure how many coaches or more experienced folks would agree with this philosophy.


My advice: constantly be moving. Work on your footwork. Most importantly, work on your "transfer time." (Timko is probably more than sick of me preaching transfer time, haha)

As a former college fastpitch softball catcher, my coaches emphasized the need to decrease the amount of time I actually had the ball in my possession. Minimizing my transfer time (time that elapses from when I actually catch the ball and it gets in my teammates glove on a base to throw a runner stealing a base out) helped me play my role of keeping base runners in their place. I can control how long the ball was in my glove, how long it took me to set up my throw, how long I took to get the ball out of my hand, how fast the ball got to the base. Working on taking out every unnecessary movement was essential: it was the difference between throwing someone out and giving them a free base.

The same can be said of ultimate. The faster you get the disc out of your hands, the more options to throw you have. Things to minimize:
-How long it takes you to gain possession
-How long it takes you to find your grip
-How long it takes you to set up your throw (footwork, body positioning)
-How fast your release is

Something else to work on:
-How accurate your throw is*

Having a fast transfer time is great, but when it comes down to it, if the disc doesn't come close to your receiver, what good is a good transfer time?

Accuracy comes from practice, repetition, and touches on the disc. Case in point, get outside and throw!

First Practice: Expectations

**Fun fact: I said some version of the word "expect" a whopping 35 times in this post.

The importance of understanding what expectations exist cannot be stressed enough. Understanding what is expected of me from my teammates, what I expect from myself, and what I expect from my team is important. I feel like expectations have to be assessed before any sort of goal setting can take place. I would like to think that many of you have assessed expectations. However, I waited until my first practice back to really try to analyze the expectations.

Why wait until now? Well, I had knee surgery the day after Thanksgiving.(While all of you were chowing down on some delish food in a gluttonous fashion, I was fasting for my 6 am surgery on Friday. Boo) I mean, I wanted to see where I was when I came back before I even set tangible goals. Last night, Saucy Nancy had it's first "Official" practice of the 2011 College Season. I have to say, as my first practice back to the realm of ultimate since Club Nationals 2010, I had fairly low expectations. It isn't because I have low expectations for me or my team. I tend to think I am fairly realistic.

What are Expectations

Expectations are different than goals. Google says that  expectations are belief about the future. Something you anticipate with confidence. Goals on the other hand are an objective that a person plans or intends to achieve. Expectations are something that you expect will happen. Goals are something that you hope will happen.

Personal Expectations

Personal expectations are always a bit more difficult for me to assess. I seem to do this thing called overanalyzing, and I tend to be on the pessimistic side of things. Prior to practice, here's what I thought about. I call these Robyn's Pre-Season Reality-World

1) I have not played ultimate since the end of October.

2) I have not sprinted since the end of October.

3) I threw a few times over winter break, nothing substantial.

4) I am lifting more than I thought I would be at this point post-op.

5) I felt as though I could have "worked harder," but I'm not sure that was the case. I made the decision to ease into things more slowly than I typically do after an injury.

Needless to say, I didn't suck as much as I thought I would have. I mean, I am a bit sore today, but I would expect nothing less. It serves as some motivation, that is for sure. But my personal goals for this season can be reassessed. I'll put that off until after this weekend's scrimmage/tournament.

I feel that my team expects me to be a handler who gets the disc a lot. Not saying I'm going to control the game, but I know from convos with Mikey, what my coach expects me to do in game situations. I know that my teammates expect me to be active on O. They expect me to get open for dumps, or make the strike cut up the line to make a big throw. They expect me to be smart with the disc and not throw it away. My teammates expect me to get big in the air in our zone D. My teammates expect me to pull the disc consistently.

Team Expectations

When it comes to the big picture of a team; however, I feel as though I am better at assessing where we are at the moment. After watching my teammates doing some intense plyos and lifting before practice, I know that I have never been on an ultimate team quite like this.

I'm seeing rookies making progress. People I wouldn't expect to get up a few inches, are jumping that box with one foot. I'm seeing people adding weight to the bar on their deadlifts, and squat form improving tremendously. The off-the-field drive, desire, and time is being put in.

Personally, I have the basic expectation that when I show up on Tuesdays/Thursdays/Fridays/Sundays, people are working hard. I expect that every single one of my teammates will continue to lift, condition, and train intensely throughout the season, tracking their improvements, taking Mikey's recommendations to heart. I expect that my teammates respect and encourage each other. I expect practices to be challenging, and that all players experience personal growth this season.

I also expect my team to not turn the disc over on O a ton of times; that we capitalize on every opportunity and make smart decisions. I expect that we will out-D our opponents, beating them with our legs and depth.

If all of my personal and team expectations are met, I expect to be playing in Boulder with my 28 teammates.

Preparing for the Season Ahead: Lifting

**POST EDIT: Katie Johnson in Skyd Magazine. This girl is my inspriation

Saucy has been hitting the weights since November. We've been working in phases. We expected everyone to have been working hard all winter long. From the throngs of e-mails about lifting, working out, etc. I've seen flooding my inbox as I'm in Muskego, I'd say it's happening on a large scale.

Team accountability is helping me with my personal accountability. It's definitely helping me stay on par. I'm making some noticeable gains since surgery in November. It's hard to take it slow and realize that this is a long-term process, no matter how many surgeries I have had, or how much experience I have had with strength training.

This team has a unique approach. Everyone holds everyone accountable. Holy crap. It is not something that is dictated from the top down. Saucy has a very "bottom-up" approach. Yes, our head coach (Mike Lun) holds us accountable, but he has such success because every Saucy is committed to making team (and program) as strong as possible. Improving individual skills, fitness, strength, explosiveness, and power are the fundamentals we want to build our team on.

Twice a week, we have team lifting sessions in the Old Rec building. These sessions concentrate primarily on power/explosive lifts for lower body, like squats, dead lifts, RDLs, etc., mixed with plyos. Many girls do independent upper-body workouts outside of these sessions, more tailored to our individual goals and expectations. It was exciting to talk to Mike and have him say that he sees noticeable differences in the explosiveness of individual players. From what I understand, this is the first time Saucy has done a mandatory team lifting program. The team is already reaping the rewards.

When we return, we will add conditioning workouts to the mix. Much of the work will be done on the indoor track, but it sucks that I'm not ready to participate in them. I could get down about it, but I'll be hitting up the pool at least twice a week to be focusing on low-impact training for a few months during the cold Iowa winter.

So as I prepare to head back to Iowa City next weekend, I'm still lifting. I may still be able to sky Katie Johnson, but it wouldn't hurt if I had a vertical like hers....see picture to the left. That would be her showcasing her 28 inch vertical at college nationals last year. This is my motivation for training. I know I can get myself in better shape. But even more, I know that my team benefits from me and the rest of my individual teammates working hard. I'm excited to go back to Iowa City and keep going.

 If you're new to lifting/training for ultimate. Check out these links. I find them especially helpful.

• Skyd Magazine: Tyler Kinley on Weight Room Virgins
• Skyd Magaine: Building the Ultimate Athlete Expert Panel
• UltiTraining, Blog for Ultimate Frisbee Training
• Skyd Magazine: Athlete Benchmarks See how you match up to the best! (like Katie Johnson!)