Tips for the Froshies

1. Work on your throws everday. If you're at home, watching TV, doing your homework, kicking the dog, just work on your throws and catches. By that I mean you can just take the disc and pop it back and forth to yourself when you have nothing to do or a free hand. Also, practice catching all ways. Pancake the disc, two hands grab, one hand grab, and I stress practice catching with your right hand and your left hand.

2. Don't be intimidated. When you're on the field, it's good to be calm. Calm, but not relaxed. It's a paradox, I know. But when you're on the field, the best mentality is to be calm, but yet you're still aware of the field and where the disc/or your man is at all times. Don't be intimidated by your opponent, don't hesitate to make those cuts

3. Just like the previous statement, don't hesitate to make those cuts. It is always a possibility your defender may outrun you and either you won't be able to get the disc or you'll get D'ed, but when you stand at the top of the stack, deciding whether you should make that cut or not, it screws up the entire process. Because if you don't make that cut, someone more experienced is going to think, "Man, this guy is taking way too long. I'll just make the cut for him." and coincidentally, that's when you decide to make the cut and you two end up screwing each other over.

4. If you doubt your throws, dump it. You really shouldn't be doubting your throws in the first place, but if you're really unconfident about your upfield throws, simply dump it off to another handler. But I really recommend that you have confidence in your throws more.

5. Work your ass off. Show determination. Show that you want to play this game, and that you want to be good. If you joined Ultimate just for the opt-out, then get the hell off the team. If you joined Ultimate because it sounded fun, stick around and see if it's the sport that you might want to spend time to learn. And if it turns out that you find a liking to this sport, take it and work until you're one of the best.

Other Thoughts:
I heard someone (not mentioning any names) left practice yesterday. First off, I would like to admonish anyone who gave this kid a hard time; nobody deserves humiliation on the team, no matter what level of skill he or she is at. If they're working hard, give them your respect. If they fail or make a mistake, encourage them to learn from that mistake instead of laughing at them.

On the other side, I heard that "someone" complaining that he doesn't get enough respect on the team. You deserve more respect, but I think that if you really want the respect, don't act so cocky and obnoxious. Respect goes to not only someone with skill, but someone who is humble and has a good personality. If you're really good at something but you're an asshole, you're still not going to get that respect.

And by the way, if you're going to quit Ultimate, just know you'll never get that respect that you actually wanted and it'll show that you're too weak to actually work for it.

Peace~
Brian Li 09'