Alpha Dog

We’ve been playing 3v3 in Evanston once a week all summer.  There is a peculiar phenomenon going on at 3v3.  Walden’s team has never lost.  There is the obvious factor that Walden is by far the best player.  The mismatch he creates is debilitating for the other team.  There is another, harder to explain, factor going on.

Everyone plays better when Walden is on their team.  Across the board when on Walden’s team we play simple, run more, throw under stall three, don’t do anything crazy, put better touch on our throws, and in general act with some swagger.  Take us away from Walden and all of the sudden we are staring downfield, ignoring the easy throw at stall 1, moving less, throwing hammers, turning the disc over because we suddenly can’t execute a throw, and most shockingly the idea of a space pass goes completely out the window.  We look like a bunch of college B teamers trying to prove ourselves to the A team captains.

It’s pretty obvious why this happens.  When you have Waldinho on your team you know you’re going to win, as long as you stay out of his way.  There is no need for you to do anything special or crazy.  When you don’t have him on your team you know you’re going to lose so you lose your mind trying to pull and upset.  You convince yourself that if you don’t do something amazing right here and right now then it’s over.

The alpha is the guy who you know you aren’t better than, so when you’re on the line with him all you have to do is not screw it up.  Catch the disc, find your alpha, give it back to him, play defense as hard as you can on a turn, don’t be the dead weight that drags him toward defeat.  In return he will bring out the best in you and give you Ws.