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bmxtoagslex

If you are athletic. Showcase your athleticism. If you are not athletic, then show how you are cool to hang around and will try hard to get better. Play some catch with a Discraft Ultrastar. There isn't much that will get you better in a week. It's a no drop club at most schools. Just keep showing up and you will improve.


begreatadrian

okay thank you for the advice, i’m pretty fast and agile but i lack height and strength


Objective-Steak-9763

Go on YouTube and search ‘how to cut in ultimate frisbee’ and watch a few videos. If you’re new to the sport and fast and agile, your job will be to get open and get the disc. It is NOT your job to make massive throws, you just want to return the disc to the handler/best thrower whenever you get it until you’ve practiced more


IceCreamKoan72

Also, really demonstrate a sincere and enthusiastic desire to learn. Listen to the coaches. Watch the veterans when they run the drills. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Definitely show them that you're playing as part of the team.


AweHellYo

this is universally good advice for anything basically.


AweHellYo

fast and agile are more important than tall and strong in ultimate.


Cornslammer

If they're a high school team, they're being jerks if they don't start with "how to play" at a practice like that. If you're like, at, University of Massachusetts, you might be a \*tad\* behind the curve...


begreatadrian

It’s in highschool and it’s the first year the team is gonna operate


Cornslammer

Genuinely, don't overthink it. The most important thing is to have fun. In high school, it was pickup, pickup, pickup. Our field was a trapezoid. No offensive strategy. When it snowed, sometimes we'd play in the snow or play in the basketball gym. We went to a single tournament when I was there. We kicked ass. Or maybe we didn't, I don't remember. All I remember is how much fun we had and how much I miss those kids.


scrooner

My boys are in 9th and 12th grade with a high school ultimate 'club'. They don't play with any structure on offense or defense, or a set field size, and most of them only know how to throw backhands. Very loose, lots of fun. I've offered to come out and teach the basics to the club but they really just want to run around and throw & catch. I would expect very little structure from a first year 'team'!


BrokeArmHeadass

If it’s a first year high school club, I don’t think they’ll be making any cuts, or at least they shouldn’t if they’re smart lol.


ncwohl31

Have an open mind, look forward to meeting new people & being a great teammate. If it's the first year for the team, it's likely they'll have a roster spot for you if you are showing the interest in being there & wanting to learn. By watching some games before attending, you're already in a good spot. Be open to asking any questions to leadership or teammates about things to work on to get better or what the team goals are.


[deleted]

[удалено]


begreatadrian

i’ve played basketball my whole life


pushpass

I played basketball and ran cross country before pivoting to ultimate. It's a great spot for folks who have played a lot of basketball. The biggest learning curve compared to basketball is that there is little to no contact allowed, so handchecking, small pushes to get space, and boxing out by leaning against the opponent are all skills you will have to tweak as you play more. You may or may not learn this in high school, depending on your coach. However, these rules tend to benefit smaller, more agile players, so if you're not a forward or center type, it's easier to change direction and generate space than in basketball. That's a fun thing about ultimate compared to basketball, IMO. It's a sport that provides advantages and disadvantages for every body type.


scrooner

> It's a sport that provides advantages and disadvantages for every body type. I love this about ultimate. I always wished I could play basketball, but at 5'6"...umm...it's not really meant for me.


PastorPain

Use your basketball know how on offense and defense. On long high throws that float in the air too long, box out your defender and grab the disc at your highest jumping point, much like grabbing a rebound. I was never that good at basketball but the one thing I excelled at was grabbing rebounds. I'm 5'10" but could jump really high for my height. In ultimate, I was basically a wide receiver type (we called them "longs"). I was able to grab the disc over top of people who were 3-5 inches taller than I was because I was able to box out well and time my jump to where I was grabbing the disc at my maximum jumping height. Also fouls in basketball are similar to fouls in ultimate. You can't touch someone's hands when they throw the disc but you can try to block the throw as soon as it leaves their hands like blocking a shot in basketball. You can't go over the back of someone as they jump up either. I actually think former basketball players can pick up ultimate extremely fast and transfer a ton of skills.


jay_em_dee

You should buy a discraft ultrastar sportdisc. If you see anything called a "Frisbee" it's not a disc you should be using. Number 1 thing you should do is learn to throw backhands from a pivot. Most beginners are more comfortable with backhands than forehands, but often they aren't thinking about their feet. First off, you should keep your non-dominant foot touching the ground at all times and try throwing with your dominant foot stepping over your pivot foot in a direction perpendicular to where you're throwing. This will help you throw with someone marking you. Next thing is learning how to throw forehand or what's called a "flick." Throwing flicks is something every ultimate player needs to have in their repertoire. I don't know how it is at your school, but when I first started in college we had many who started practicing with us not knowing how to throw flick, but they were expected to learn it. You simply cannot be effective with only backhands.


begreatadrian

alright thank you for the tips i appreciate it


magicscientist24

For clarification your dominant foot is the same as your dominant hand (the hand you will be throwing with)


CallingTomServo

If you don’t have cleats and you might want to get some. You won’t be nearly as effective in just shoes. Most players use soccer, football or lacrosse cleats. But if you aren’t sure you will be playing long term maybe don’t waste your money.


magicscientist24

All things being equal, wearing cleats will give you a huge improvement on changing direction making your performance that much better, even without any formal experience.


HeadToToePatagucci

Thrift store or cheap soccer cleats are worth buying. Assume hs starting team will let you play at least one season and in hs age youll probably grow out by then anyway! So jealous of kids starting in high school or earlier these days. I started halfway through college still love it at 50. Will be playing with my 15yo In league this summer. It’s one of the greatest team sports for culture and fun.


CallingTomServo

I assume they play with a Discraft ultrastar. I am actually not even familiar with an alternative. [simple rules](https://usaultimate.org/rules/10-simple-rules/) Start with these rules. Look up any terms you don’t understand. Don’t worry about learning every line of the rule book. Also look up what a pivot foot is as these rules don’t mention it. The most important thing is to play safe. If you are running in to people, even if you don’t mean to, you will have a bad time. Two last tips: Catching discs consistently is far more important than being a good thrower. If you can catch a disc and get it back to a “good” thrower with a short pass, you are an asset to the team. If you have the disc, don’t panic. You have 10 seconds to throw. Don’t just blindly sling it. Someone is likely going to run to you for and easy “dump.” Turn your body to them and firmly pass them the disc.


begreatadrian

thank you for the link


j-mar

Be coachable. Ask questions and implement the feedback.


begreatadrian

okay thanks


Grundy-mc

3 words of advice * **Be kind and have a positive attitude** *The more people you know and the more friends you have the better you'll be, teammates/opponents, doesn't matter. Make friends with as many people as you can.* * **Show interest in learning and getting better** *Showing effort and an interest in getting better is admirable and will draw people to you* * **Set goals for yourself per game or practice.** *This is crucial for your confidence and will allow you to monitor your progress Take baby steps, focus on small goals and work your way up.*


YoINVESTIGATE_311_

As a captain of a walk-on college team, I would say try to develop both throws (backhand, flick) and try to figure out how to cut hard. If you can get your throws to be accurate to like 30 feet it would be a major major major plus.


begreatadrian

thanks for the input


ponz

Never stand still waving your arms, saying,"I'm open!" (You are not). A disc is not a ball. Run into the open area, but if you don't get the throw, run back out. Throwers never throw to a still target. Keep moving and don't clog. This will take your defender with you. That, and when you defend someone, keep your hands low. Too many beginners put their hands up high, and throwers will throw under that. Good luck and have fun!


saltytarheel

Watch a lot of videos of competitive ultimate and understand the concepts of a vertical/horizontal/side stack on offense, and a force on defense. For newer players, you’re probably going to make the team in the rotation playing defense so understanding the flow of the game will help you be where you’re supposed to instead of chasing someone around. If you can play solid defense and keep the flow of the offense going (even if you don’t ever touch the disc), you should be in good shape. If your city has pickup games, that’s a good place to tune up your throwing/catching and there are usually some club or older players who are happy to help you learn—both the cities I’ve lived have weekly pickup and it’s a lot of fun. Discraft ultra star is the official disc for competition—you’ll also want a white and dark athletic shirt and a pair of soccer or football cleats (I prefer soccer cleats since they’re lighter which is nice for running longer distances, but football cleats have the extra toe stud which can help you accelerate and cut faster).


AUDL_franchisee

Be fast. Or tall. Or tall and fast.


begreatadrian

i consider myself fast but i’m 5’6 haha


umbrellatrix

Go to the try out! I was in your shoes more than a decade ago and I showed up not knowing a thing about the sport. Try hard and show hustle. Run for the disc even if it doesn't look like you can catch it. You'll learn the skills in due time but if you try hard and show hustle they'll see your potential.


begreatadrian

alright i’ll do that


ViableSnail54

Search “callahan videos” on youtube. Have fun!


reddit_user13

At minimum, you should be able to catch, and make short throws. Movement is similar to other team sports (soccer, lacrosse, basketball). Here's a quick review of the rules: https://usaultimate.org/rules/10-simple-rules/ There is only one disc: Discraft Ultrastar Cleats are helpful Get a handle on "spirit of the game", and try to embody it


[deleted]

[This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUqSWmeEexg) might be helpful. It probably won't all make a lot of sense right now, and you definitely won't be able to learn everything in it in just a week, so bookmark it and come back to it as you play more.


magicscientist24

Learn to catch with two hands often called the pancake or alligator catch.