Catching & A Competitive Nature

by Josh McCarthy

Josh McCARTHY
Player: Duke
Coach: Harvard

What are the best ways to get new players involved on a college team?

Many new recruits unfamiliar with organized ultimate do not know what to expect when deciding whether to play college ultimate. Many of them, including perhaps those who are among the most athletically promising, will choose whether or not to play for your college ultimate team before even attending a fall tournament and certainly before participating in the intense college series; if you can get a new player to make it that far, typically, they are hooked.

However, in the fall, when teams oftentimes are not yet split into a more competitive A team and a less intense B team, new players (especially those more accustomed to playing highly organized field sports such as soccer or lacrosse) can become disinterested at poorly-run practices with 40 or more players. For this reason, it is very important for the coaches or, more likely, the captains of the squad to run efficient, organized and fun practices to attract as many new players as possible.

College students have an opportunity to participate in a wide variety of non-academic activities, and in order for them to remain interested in ultimate, the captains should plan ahead to ensure that practices start on time; drills are well-explained and do not run too long such that players lose focus; and ample time is devoted at the end of practice to scrimmaging. Further, the captains and veterans of the team should provide one-on-one instruction to new players where appropriate, and be cognizant not to monopolize playing time during scrimmage time.

What sorts of drills/practice formats have been successful in introducing the sport, as well making it fun?

I am a major proponent of running many individual drills with small groups of 2-4 players at a time. Though juniors ultimate is growing rapidly, most of the players that I coach still have not yet played organized ultimate and as a result, to be competitive during the college season, we need to dedicate a significant portion of practice time to teaching (or re-teaching) basic throwing and catching skills.

Running a single-line come-to drill or an endzone drill with one disc does not really get the job done at practice when everyone winds up throwing and catching the one disc perhaps 15 times total in a 10 minute span. Instead, for example, we will break up into groups of three, with one person in the middle and the other two 25 yards apart from each other. The person in the middle will run a come-to shuttle run back and forth ten times each while the stationary throwers on the outside, each with a disc, will throw 10-15 yard passes to the person cutting in the middle; each individual will rotate into the middle position two or three times total. While this drill is very simple, it enables us to maximize our limited practice time with each individual getting as many reps as possible while focused on a handful of basic, but essential, disc skills with little if any standing around.

More generally, an example of a practice format that has been successful for my team is beginning practice with a "Mini Tournament of Champions", where teams of 3 will compete against one another in successive games to +3 or -2 (where a turnover counts for -1) on a field 30 yards long (plus 6 yard endzones) x 20 yards wide. I have found that a 3-on-3 "tourney" is a great way for players to improve their disc skills in a meaningful, competitive setting. Ideally, 3 or 4 games (depending on the size of your team) are ongoing at all times, maximizing touches for everyone. Furthermore, I have tried to keep some consistency among the teams from practice to practice to add an additional competitive element (for example, a group of three seniors that I have coached for three years have comprised their own Mini team since they were freshmen; partly because of their developed camaraderie over the years, they take added pride in even these Mini games and set a great example for the remainder of the team).

Finally, a warmup game of schtick every now and then never hurt anyone, and seems to be a player favorite.

What off-field things can you do to make being on the team a priority for a new recruit on the fence about committing?

The captains, together with the team's designated "social chair", oftentimes organize off-field events designed to foster camaraderie and encourage team-building. However, as a coach, while I communicate with the captains regularly during the fall with respect to potential new recruits and the status of the team generally, I am not especially involved in off-field social activities. I leave this function primarily to the players, especially since the team's practice schedule in the fall (during the afternoon) does not afford me the opportunity to attend and get to know the players personally until I begin coaching regularly during the spring semester. Moreover, as a coach, it would not be appropriate to be involved in certain social activities that occur in the college setting. However, team bonding both on and off the field is crucial to the success of any college ultimate team.

Also, what qualities do you look for in a brand new ultimate player? What skills should they have, and what skills can be developed?

Of course, first and foremost, you want to attract as many athletes to your team as possible. There are different types of athletes that thrive playing ultimate, but specifically, I look for individuals who have innate catching ability; while someone can develop catching skills through practice and repeated repetitions, individuals who quickly learn (or sometimes simply naturally understand) how to catch a disc well oftentimes exhibit the type of all-around body control necessary to excel at playing ultimate.

I remember watching a pickup game on the freshman quad my first year in law school at Duke University and saw a freshman flat-out sky someone for a goal. I approached him right away to encourage him to come out and play for the Duke team. Though he flirted with the club volleyball team for a semester, by the spring, he was hooked on ultimate, and by his last year of college eligibility, he had turned into an all-region player.

Finally, in observing new players play ultimate, I also try to spot those individuals who play aggressively at practice and seem to have that competitive "instinct." It is one thing to coach a player that wants to win; it is another thing altogether when you find those individuals who hate to lose. Players tend to either have that instinct or they don't, and those that do will compete with an added fire and intensity necessary to succeed in any competitive environment. They are the ones that you want on your line when you are pulling at double game point.