The Physics of Goose

Matt “Goose” Pasienski was the Coach of Menace during my freshman year.  He got that team to Nationals, sure he had Tania but Menace has had several very good players since then.  When people write off Goose  getting that team to National because he “had Tania” not only do I find that offense towards Goose but I find that offense towards Jody, Foster, Risa, Allie Fish, and all the other good Frisbee players that have been on Menace. 

Goose was in charge of FC Champaign.  I consider myself very fortunate to have gotten a year in with him, here are the three things I’ve learned from Goose.

1.       You’re an ultimate player and throwing is your hobby:

Dear readers may be beginning to notice a trend here; I think throwing is really important.  Goose is the one who told me “you’re an ultimate player and throwing is your hobby.”  When you’re bored, throw.  When you need a study break, throw.  When you’re on a first date, throw.  When you’re hanging out with a friend, throw.  This mentality that your day job is playing ultimate and what you do for fun is throwing still resonates with me.  Sometimes during warm ups or when I’m just throwing I get this rush from deep within and I just have to exclaim about how much I love watching Frisbees fly.

Goose also had an idealized vision for throwing.  Prior to Goose I assumed that everyone would just naturally throw the Frisbee differently.  No.  There is a right way to shoot a basketball and there is a right way to throw a Frisbee.  Get your arm away from your body, use your wrist, and make that disc float.

The perfect huck in Goose’s mind was one that covered 40 yards very quickly, got to about 15 feet in the air, and then floats down with a flat shape letting your receiver jump and catch it around 10 feet.  I still think that being able to execute this huck makes you an excellent hucker.

2.       Running Track:

Goose made me run track junior year.  Workouts were about 45 minutes, we were in and we were out.  We’d warmup with about 1000 meters twice, and then we’d do some kind of workout like 800mx4, or 400mx6, or 200mx8.  Everyone run would have a time goal that you were supposed to hit.

I remember being so torn because prior to this everyone had told me that ultimate is about short explosive moves.  I was told that training long distance running could be more detrimental than good.  All of those opinions are fine and I understand the rationale and studies behind them, but after doing a season of this with Goose I felt faster and in better shape than I had ever felt before in my life.  That year at Nationals I never felt overwhelmed athletically by any matchup.

3.        The Value of the Core:

In Goose’s senior year he got together with his class, they had about 10 guys who decided they were just going to go nuts.  They decided to throw 6 times a week, lift three times a week, track once a week, and go to practice.  These ten guys came together and pounded the rock.  They set the tone for the rest of the team, they made it cool to work hard, and they made it socially unacceptable to not be bought in all the way.  They got second place at Nationals.

I’ve never been able to replicate what Goose described, but the idea has always enchanted me.  If you could have something like 6-10 guys just decide that this is something they want, then they could be the heartbeat of the team and they could drive their team to unbelievable heights.

This will remain to be a fantasy until I experience it for real.