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What sorts of drills do you set up in the first days and weeks of practice?

In the first few days of practices, I only focus on one skill per practice. Throwing is always a good one—lots of partner throwing (particularly focusing on getting low), come-to drill, throw 'n go. Marking is usually covered in the first few practices and I typically teach this with partner marking—first marking with no hands to teach how to move the feet, then adding hands in the proper positioning. Monkey in the middle is a good next step up for throwing and marking. If it is possible to add downfield defense (if the team is advancing quickly enough), I would add the Santa Barbara drill: thrower trapped on the sideline and a one-on-one downfield cutter/downfield defender. Other useful early skills—throwing the dump, sideline talk, footwork.

What should be the progression of introducing a new college player to Ultimate (i.e., what skills do they learn when and how)?

I like teaching basic skills alongside basic fitness/athleticism. For example, teaching short throws, marking, defensive positioning, and remedial cutting alongside footwork, jumping, cutting form, sprints, and ab work.

When and how much of your winter/spring offense/defensive system do you introduce to them in the fall?

I wouldn't introduce much of the offense at the beginning unless players came in with a high level of knowledge. If we're going to run a vertical stack in the spring, I would teach that, but not teach many (or any) plays, for example. In terms of defense, I would focus on person defense and maybe teach one zone (with zone offense).

For those young veterans (say, second- and third- year players coming into their first returning fall but not yet in charge) what should they be focusing on? Where can they improve the most?

Some of them should continue to focus on skills—taking what they learned the previous year(s) and extending them. If Susie has good short/medium throws, work on making them longer, breaking the mark. Some of them should think about reassigning themselves a new role—some cutters may transition to handler, or vice versa depending on the new personnel of the team. They should all focus on being excited about being on the team, spreading that excitement to new players and supporting the new captains/leaders.