Low Playtime / Sideline Talk

Kevin:  Okay, well first of all I don't think anyone appreciates how tiring it is just to stand on the sideline for an entire tournament.  When I get done coaching for a day, my legs are actually sore and my lips are chapped from the sun.

Jack:  Yeah it is exhausting. I know because I didn't get much play time in college during freshman or senior years, and during the series for two seasons of club. What experience do you have not getting PT?

Kevin:  I got no playtime my freshmen and sophomore year, Boomland 09 was a team with about 35 people on it.  they tried to run a 5 man oline and a 3-4 guy dline.  Which left 5-6 free spots open for the rest of the team.  It was a good thing if you played a point a half.  Sophomore year I was pretty close to being the last guy on the Ateam roster.  Again if I did play it would be about 1 point per half.  I have fond memories of watching my team get blown out of games while not stepping on the field once.

Jack:  I think people blow their PT's importance way out of proportion. Most of the time there are opportunities to get really good reps either at tourneys that aren't important/have low attendance or during practice. If you are getting so little play time it is likely that your team is full of better players and you should probably have your hands full getting better at practice anyway. The only time PT is really a huge issue is when you perceive that you are one of the better players on your team and for some reason you aren't getting commensurate play time. This is a pretty bad scenario that I experienced last season during club when I felt like I was playing better defense and safer offense than all but three or four handlers and still getting almost no PT during important games. It is super frustrating when someone throwing terrible hucks is the hero when they get caught but nobody cares when there is a turn and they get roasted by their guy up and down the field for the score the other way.

Kevin:  There are two different scenarios that you have established.  I think at some point in time everyone has to deal with no play time because they aren't good enough, it's called being young.  I completely agree that the more valuable time for these people is at practice or by sneaking off to a weaker tournament with your friends.  I improved the most during my Sophomore and Junior years.  Which is interesting because of how much my playtime differed in those years.  I didn't play at all Sophomore year and got good at ultimate by trying to guard people more athletic than me.  However, even though I realized I was still improving it was still really tough to be at a tournament where I didn't get any PT.  Those are long weekends where you are standing there with little idea of what to do with yourself.

The playtime issue where I thought I was better than the people getting playtime isn't something I am familiar with.  Couldn't you have just talked to the captains? Made it obvious in practice you were dominating?  Maybe trash talked and spiked it every time you did something good so they would have to recognize you?

Jack:  Yeah, well you definitely want to talk to the captains, but captains are pretty well rehearsed at telling you what you want to hear and then doing whatever they want anyway. Making your point at practice is also good, but it becomes harder when there are 11-14 guys showing up to practice, and the 7 who aren't there are getting tons of PT anyway. The trash talking is a fine line, what if you're at a tournament and one of your teammates does something shitty, you aren't going to say how bad that was because you've got to pick him up, but at the same time you know you wouldn't have made that bad decision. Or even when you do something good, you don't want to be the guy who celebrates every time he scores because that is reserved for the guy who doesn't score often, and that isn't who you see yourself as. I think once you reach that point either the team needs new leadership or, more likely, you need to find a new place.

Kevin:  I am pretty convinced this is an issue unique to "Tier 2" Club Ultimate.  These guys formed a team with their friends and of their biggest motivation for playing is because they just want to hang out with their friends.  There is extremely little you can do.  Usually they make up some kind of "chemistry" excuse.  This person and that person have great chemistry, even though they just run the cuts that we taught everyone else to run.  If you are playing Elite Club then the captains of those teams want to compete at the highest level, which means the better players play.  Just look at Machine, one of their captains deals himself almost 0 playtime and he gets over it because the team finishes in 5th place while under his watch.

College Ultimate is also different because you cannot find a new team.  The only other option is to quit.  The good news about college is that people graduate.  Usually a college player that gets inflated playtime is a "vet", or a senior who "knows what he is doing".  Even though he is unathletic and crazy with the disc.  These guys graduate and move on though, which springs hope for more playtime next year.

Jack:  That's true, you have no choice in college ultimate, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is an issue in Tier 2 college as well. Let's talk about tiers of club. I would say Tier 1 is any team with a serious chance to win a game to go to nationals and Tier 3 is any team that loses the vast majority of its games at every tournament. I think Tier 2 is really varied, with teams that are getting similar results with different styles and preferences. For instance, 2a could be teams full of T1 caliber players who don't practice, 2b could be teams of T2 level friends who like playing together, there are also teams that are trying to become T1, old T1 teams that have lost their way, and teams that are essentially farmed by a T1 squad in the area. Would you categorize them differently?

Kevin:  No I would not.  Using this categorization I think that 2b and T1 who lost their way are going to be more likely to misallocate the play time.  If you deserve playtime and are looking for a change, you need to find a team trying to be T1 or a team that is farmed by T1.  The danger with this is that every 2b team markets themselves as a squad that is trying to be T1, which is a lie.

Jack:  I think the biggest give away of a T2 team that isn't trying to be T1 is when there is a markedly lower number of people at practice than at tournaments, what other signs do you think there are?

Kevin:  Say you go to a combine.  Usually there are multiple teams "recruiting" at these combines.  Usually the leadership of one team is kind of halfheartedly recruiting, and they don't follow up very well.  I think a team that is serious about getting to T1 will be going hard in the recruitment process, and a team that is pretending will be goofing around with their friends instead of convincing the good players to play for them.

Jack:  Okay, back to college. If you're not getting PT at college what kinds of things can you do at tournaments to benefit?

Kevin:  As we learned from that arthritis commercial, "It's simple physics a body in motion will stay in motion."  You need to keep moving.  Walking up and down the sideline is level one, but as soon as you just stand there and relax it is really hard to get yourself going again.  I found that usually after my one point for the half I would want to grab some water, and end up standing next to my water for multiple points.  It is far better to grab your water and keep walking around.  This is good for keeping your sideline presence, but its also good for your muscles and mind to keep going.

Kevin:  How active do you think someone needs to be on the sideline?

Jack:  I think a player should follow the disc as closely as he can, especially if he isn't getting play time. Most people go stay between the 25 yard lines (35yds is midfield so that's a 20 yard range), the farther you are going with the disc the better you'll be able to stay with the play. As far as talking, I think a player should do what he can to contribute. If a new player doesn't know what to say he is probably safest just shouting encouragement after the turn and before the disc is picked up, or when the disc is thrown. A good player can have a big impact on the sideline. I think it is maximized by talking to one (or two, if the player they are talking to gets too far away to hear them) person. I think the most important information a sideline player can relay is where the disc is and when it is safe for the defensive player to find the disc. Telling a defender when the disc has swung to the far side is one of the best things to tell them and I think one of the most underutilized.

Kevin:  I am a big fan of "Ripsky Tricks".  Ripsky believed in just talking to the guy who was the last back.  This is awesome because the last back guy needs to have a good sense of where the disc is.  If he has no idea where the disc is and a shot goes up, the when the sideline is yelling, "up!" he will spend way to much time trying to find the disc and may even panic as he is doing so.  If he is aware of where the disc is before it goes up he can quickly find it and instead of wasting time he can start moving into his spot to make the play.  I would say being with the last guy back is a lot easier for a young player than being with the disc.  Do you think there are other safe places for a young player to talk?  Or are there any places that a young player should just not talk?

Jack:  Being with the last guy back is definitely easier, and might even help the team more, but I think the best way to learn is to be with the disc. I think a new player should do his best to relay facts rather than opinions to the field. "Up" is much harder to mess up than "No around". I think that during most points a new player should be watching the best player on the field (especially at his position and potentially with his body type). Tournaments are when people bring out their bread and butter with no frills. You might see a thrower like Kennedy showing off with between the mark's legs throws at practice, but during a tournament he is going to bring out his big guns and murder teams until they make him stop. That is how you want to learn things, from the base level and not with all the attachments that come later.

Kevin:  You mentioned encouragement being a great fall back, do you have a how to guide on encouragement?  I find that some people get annoyed by my encouragement and others love it, how does someone find that balance?

Jack:  That comes from knowing your teammates, only an idiot is going to tell someone who is angry that it was a good look just bad execution, but if the thrower is more sad than angry it will help. Some people just want a fist bump after getting scored on, others would rather have you talk to them. It really individual.

Kevin:  Making any kind of effort to help your squad from the sideline is definitely the best way to deal with not getting PT.  It shows your captains and coaches that you care about the team doing well, and it helps you stay in the game which ultimately makes you a better player.  Not getting PT should bother you though, it should motivate you to work harder in practice so that you can get out on the field in the future.

Jack:  Yeah I agree. Low playtime shouldn't really be a big problem in most situations. If you aren't one of the top 10 players on your team it is unreasonable to expect as much play time as you likely want, making it all the more important to take advantage of the points you do play.