Scrimmaging

Almost every team in the country runs too many drills during practice. Practice is the only time an entire team is together. Playing ultimate requires at least 14 players. Players should be working on skills on their own time for the most part.  Only when an overwhelming number of people need to work on the same thing does a drill become appropriate for a practice. There is probably a strong case to be made for drills as warm-ups, to get throws and catches ready. However, many teams have opted for simpler partner throwing to begin (see: circle drill). 

The scrimmage is far more versatile than most people give it credit for. There are countless ways to tailor a scrimmage towards a team’s needs. A short list of examples would be; disc starts on sideline, half sized endzones, double score, break side scores worth double, focus on no around, focus on no inside, focus on deep help, must throw a break before a score, must complete five unders, etc.

Very few players make individual gains during team drills. For the most part the benefit is that everyone is on the same page (as long as the drill simulates a game scenario). Any drill which focuses on developing a skill rather than a situation is a waste of precious practice time. Swinging a disc off of the sideline to a defended player is a much better drill than a break-mark drill. 

Teams should practice as often as is feasible, and as much of that time as is feasible should be used scrimmaging in some fashion. Beyond that, players should work on skills in smaller groups according to how much they desire to get better.

Good teams play more tournament games than bad ones. Here is the average number of games played in descending order (i.e. top 10, 11-20, 21-30, etc): 20.5, 20.3, 18, 17.2, 17.6, 17.1, 20.2, 14.7, 14.1, 14.4. Clearly the good teams have either consciously or unconsciously realized that playing more tournament games is better. The most similar thing to a tournament game is a scrimmage. Scrimmages are where people compete, they are where you get to see people’s best skills in use, and they feel much more like a tournament game than a drill does. 

Drills have their uses, and if there is an unseasonably strong wind it may be good to have an upwind throwing drill to shame those who have not practiced and to show others what is possible, but in general, a drill belongs in a smaller group setting or a specific circumstance. It is probably almost never optimal to drill when a team could be scrimmaging.