Launch Sequence
by Jean Gaetan
Ten...nine...eight... Nothing will stop it. ...seven...six...five...the launch sequence has begun. ...four…three... The rest of the world can only stand back and ...two...one... watch you blast off!
In your mind, Ultimate has fulfilled its namesake. It IS the ultimate sport. But it’s still early. There is so much to learn.
Take Off!
Not everybody’s Ultimate career takes off with the same speed or trajectory, but there are core threads that run through a large majority of players: the day you’re introduced to the sport, the confused days spent "trying it out," and then that one day you when it hits you, and suddenly you wish you could be playing Ultimate (almost) every waking second. This is one of the most exciting stages of every Ultimate player’s career. You just want to get better; see the field from every angle, catch every disc, complete every pass and never sub-out.
Usually this is also a period of awesome personal skill growth. Even so, frustrations are plenty- one out of every eight discs thrown to will pop out of your hands like a cat that doesn’t want to be held, and most of your throws will have a built-in 3 – 7 foot margin of error. You know it’s true because you will hear yourself apologizing to your teammates all too frequently; "Sorry, man. My B." If this sounds like you, take heart...you will get better. One year from now you will be an entirely different player. You will hear comments from those that don’t see you play very often, like, "Whoa! When did YOU become a thrower?"
But making a few better than expected throws will not be the end of your story. After your initial stage of rapid improvement, you’ll hit a plateau. You may no longer drop five discs per game, but for an extended period of time (maybe even years), you will still drop one or two every time you play. Your accuracy as a thrower will slowly improve, but nobody’s going to be calling you a "handler" anytime soon. While stuck on this plateau, you may begin to think that you’re as good as you’ll ever be, that you have peaked. And each disc you drop or throw away will only serve to reinforce that belief.
Truth You Can Handle
The truth is that by working hard, playing every chance you get and doing just a few key exercises you can get faster, jump higher, react quicker, read the disc better, and make more D’s. And, most importantly, by following this single greatest piece of Ultimate advice– practice your throws ad nauseam –you too can become that invaluable handler that is able to put the disc anywhere on the field under virtually any conditions.
But just knowing that improvement is possible and doing the necessary work will not automatically elevate your game. You’ll need one other ingredient: confidence. Confidence is a huge intangible in Ultimate. Play without it and your opponent holds an enormous psycological edge. You know who the good players are. Find one of them covering you cutting deep and, without confidence, your chances of making the play are crap.
Unfortunately, confidence is not something that comes in a bottle and can be picked up at the corner CVS. Confidence comes in small chunks from small successes that start to clump together in your brain like dumplings in your gravy. Work hard and these small successes will come. You’ll start to catch discs you previously would have missed and complete throws that previously would have flung high or wide. You’ll even start to make D’s that previously would have been out of reach. Small successes will lead to larger ones and then start to cluster and stack together until you cannot help but see them clearly and feel them internally. You will earn that confidence. Over time, you will be convinced you CAN make those big plays no matter who is matched up against you.
Skying Is Not the Limit
One of the great things about Ultimate is all of the diverse opportunities it offers. While not every player is endowed with the kind of inherent physical gifts that will enable him or her to reach the highest levels of elite competition, you should never count yourself out. Your personal goals and playing preferences will lead you to find the right fit for yourself-- elite, recreational, open, women’s, coed, tournaments, leagues or pick-up...there’s something for everyone in Ultimate.
The important thing to remember is that regardless of what you may think of your game today, the simple truth is that you will be a better player tomorrow. What you thought was a slogan can now become your belief. Learn to fly...play Ultimate.
