Marking Frustrations

Warm Ups:

            Warm up drills are the time to warm up.  I don’t understand why anyone would go for a point block during a throwing warm up drill.  Throwers need a few reps to just reach out and hit their release points, they need to see moving targets, and they need to ease into stepping quickly and explosively.  While someone is going through that process, trying to get a point block on them is incredibly dense.  You’re making your throwers turtle before the first game even starts.  If the drill is throwing to an upline coming from the breakside to the forceside, no one should have to break the mark to get that throw off.  No marker is ever going to stand right where you are trying to throw in a game.

            The argument is that you want to push your teammates and to grind and make each other better.  First of all, it’s still just a warm up so chill out.  Second, if you are going to try and push your teammate at least react to what he is doing.  If the thrower is holding a backhand grip and is squared up to throw the around, why are you just sitting in the way of the upline?  In a game I am just not going to throw the upline and I will throw it across the field.

Breakmark drills to Games:

            I don’t feel that the skills I have in breakmark games translate to the field.  As a marker I know my guy has to throw it breakside.  I am not worried about him throwing it forceside, throwing a huck or throwing and going.  Without these things to worry about I am just focused in on staying invert then getting around.  In drills I feel I can get footblocks often and am disciplined with the shuffle to no around, because I am anticipating that the shuffle is coming.  In a game I am not able to anticpate anything.  I am slow to shuffle on the around because I don’t have an internal clock saying time to shuffle, and I don’t even strike on inverts because I am just trying to not bite on anything and end up not pursuing enough.

180 degrees:

            No one can cut off 180 degrees of the field.  People should be very happy if they can take away a 60 degree V shape behind them.  Zubair told me he just shades heavy to the no around and trusts his downfield guys to help on the inverts.  I like this.  I think the around is so much more dangerous because it is to more and gets further to the wideside.  The invert is quick and doesn’t gain as many yards to the wideside.

            Cutting of break continues is really hard.  You have to commit to cutting off that around throw.  As an offensive player catching a swing, faking the backhand continue and then throwing the invert continue is extremely tempting but the window is closing while you are throwing.  So as a marker I think it is fine to over pursue these arounds because if the thrower burns you on that invert then you’ve given up a low percentage shot.