V&V

Wreck Room details:

• Location
• Reservation for our team is under "Torontula" or "UofT Ultimate Team"
• We have the back section of the club (by the dance floor) reserved
• It's an all request night...make good requests
• Beer and Rail drinks <3$ before 12, so get there early to buy your early drinks
  

Torontula Ladies Oct. 10th

Tula Ladies in all their early morning glory!
Photo taken by Kevin Brown

# of players= 14 + 2 sitters

Alright Torontula, this was our last early morning practice before Nationals! I hope to see lots of people out for our game at Greenwood tonight.

Practice:
Warm up was run by Nancy

• Traditional Endzone: Focus on running into the endzone from a turnover, staying calm and consistent.
• Communication Stacking: Focus on planning the cuts ahead, talking and taking charge.
• Scrimmage:Focus on timing, dump swing, communication

Vancouver ladies, have a safe trip and please check your emails for tournament info. This should be a great weekend, I'll see you on the West side!

-Lexi

Tula B - What is wrong with you?

Seriously, if you weren't there today, there better be something seriously wrong with you - like your appendix ruptured or something and you had to rush to the hospital so fast you didn't have time to post on the BBS. We had 8 guys. We had 18 guys at Easterns. we lost Krish and we gained Alex, so we should still have 18 guys coming to practice. We had three guys post on the BBS, which still leaves 15 guys, enough for a scrimmage (+1 sub). "I thought practice was cancelled" is not a valid excuse, because we never said anything about not having practice, and I specifically wrote about today's practice on the blog. Last night the captains were e-mailing each other about practice and our plans, and we ended up not really being able to do any of it, because we had 8 guys. We need at least 14.

In practice, we went over all of our plays, and a new naming/calling scheme for all of them. So right now 8 guys on our team know what we're doing. If you missed it, you'd better talk to someone to get up to speed. We're going to have a practice on Monday, probably afternoon. We have not yet determined a time, but we'll sort that out on the BBS. Obviously not everyone will be able to make it, but we expect you to treat this like any other practice and let us know on the BBS if you can't come.

Right now we have 11 guys saying they're coming to Cleveland. If we don't have at least 14 by the end of today, I'm going to start inviting alumni and other guys with connections to Tula. I'm not going to tell anyone "Sorry, I know I invited you, but some idiot forgot to tell us he was coming, so now we've got too many guys and we don't need you," but I might tell someone "Sorry, it's too late, you should have told us you were coming earlier, and with the amount of practice you've missed I'm not sure we want you anyway." So, don't be that guy.

I don't want to be too negative. There are guys on this team who set a shining example for the rest of you. Alex not only posted on the BBS, but also told me in person. Adam has been showing up to practices with great consistency, despite the fact that he's not even coming to Cleveland (and he let us know he wasn't coming to Cleveland, which we appreciate).

Read the blog. Read the BBS. Come to practice. Don't be a punk.

Practice Review - Oct 4th

Guys: 12 runners
Pedestrians: 2

Announcements:

• Letters + CUPA memberships ASAP
• No practice Friday or Monday for A

Practice Review:

• Warmup
• Three man competition...Kieran and Peter take the tiltle
• Berkeley work ...
  
• Modified huck drill - still cuts aren't as realistic as they should be and up the line throws are poor.
• B scrimmage ... win 3-1 after letting out an unprotected huck.

PJ

Tula B - October 4

We are (almost certainly) going to Cleveland. As soon as possible, post on the BBS:
a) Who are you?
b) Are you coming?
c) Can you borrow or rent a car (and drive it)?
d) Do you need a place to stay in Cleveland (probably yes for everyone other than Sticks)?
e) Can you legally enter the United States and do you know where the necessary documents are?

Today in practice everyone who didn't have shin splints, back problems, or various other ailments ran track pyramids for half an hour. Scrimmage with A team followed.

Tomorrow is an essential practice. Unless you're in the hospital, come. We will be reviewing all of our offensive and defensive plans before moving into a scrimmage. Next week we will scrimmage Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

Tom

Tula B - October 3rd

Warm up, lotto.

No B Nationals. Will attend alternative tournament, probably in U.S.

Cutting against zone: Focus on moving the mid-mid out of position and then exploiting the holes.
Zone D: When trapping, mids need to pinch in to take away easy cross-field break.

Scrimmage against A: Wall looked pretty good. Man D was not so good. Don't get broken. Quick turns by us weren't really forced - throwaways and drops.

Practice Review - Oct 3rd

Guys: 11 Runners
Pedestrians: 6
Absent: Justin, Scotty, Tingle, Dave, Clint, Adrian

Announcements:

• No Practice Friday
• Get your letters and CUPA fees paid

Practice Review:

• Warmup
• Lotto - Quick picks - we worked on a special type of mark
• Parker huck drill - really emphasized where the cuts need to be. Many people were challenged by the conditions, but the drill improved as we proceeded.
• Game against B - worked on zone D and O. Looked good with, I think, only one turnover.

PJ

Ladies practice Oct. 3rd

A little oldschool tula action... Lisa, Dee and Julie staying dry during 2005 Nationals
Photo taken by Lexi Marsh

# of Ladies= 25

First off I would like to commend the women who came out for our "lazy" Tuesday practice the other day, and managed to stay intense and focused even through the cold and rain! It was amazing to see such great heart out there.

The numbers were back up today, allowing the team to focus on specific needs. The focus today was on the dump and breaking the mark, two key elements that can change the way a team looks in a game.

Practice:

• Warm up run by Lexi today.
  


• Break mark drill: Red shirts did breakmark 45's, Gold shirts did 3-man w/ Dwy. *For the red shirts, try not to force a throw, the cutter will come back and it's an easy pop pass, stay calm and don't worry about the numbers ;)
  


• Up the line dump cuts: focus on faking with the dump cut, cutting to the line rather than waiting in the middle, remaining active after the deep throw for the next pass (cough... Kim)
  


• Scrimmage
  

Nice work everyone! Numbers in practice help so much!

Tula game tonight which means no practice tomorrow. Scrimmage on Friday!
-Lexi

Tula B - October 2nd

Warmup, Stretch

Lane cutting: go deep and come back hard or bring your man way in to create space for a leading throw.
Layout/Attacking the disc: Too many drops. Eric is a beast. I need to stay on my feet.

Scrimmage against A team: We score once, but lose badly. Need to focus on spreading the field and getting quick movement (no one should get stuck with the disc and a high stall count). More movement from both handlers and cutters is necessary. Need to either play a lot better defence or not turn the disc over so bloody often. Every time we started to get some flow someone either got overly excited or overly lazy on a throw. Mental errors are killing us. Possession is everything. The A team is not going to give the disc back to us very many times. Our offence to defence transition has improved massively since Easterns (we've had a lot of practice), but we still need to focus on finding guys quickly and not forgetting the force. Less chatter on the line.

Practice Review - Oct 1st

Guys: 12 cleated
Pedestrians: 5
Missing: Justin, Clint, Pat Giorgio, Toly, Scotty

Announcements/To Do:

• Letters + CUPA fees
  
• Money to Norm for Easterns
• Black jersey money
• Flights
• Accommodation (Ben)
  

Review:

• Warm up
• Lotto
• 45s = x2 for team errors +15 per individual error
• 12 turns out of 60 on the flick break
• 7 turns out of 60 on the backhand break
• OvsD in 5 in a row playdowns.
• Our completion rate was low, but I think this is an area we need to be working on. This was probably the highest focus and effort level I've seen in a while.
• 3 point scrimmage against B
• Great pressure and perfect execution. Good Job.

Tula B - October 1st

Guys Missing: Mike, Jeremy, Oliver, Rich, Ben
If you can't make it to practice, try to post on the BBS rather than talking to us in person, because we've got shitty memories.

Stair runs (1 stair per step) 4x6 flights (1-7). 2 minute repeats.
Stair hops (1 stair per hop, 1 leg per flight), 2x6 flights. 3 minute repeats.
Wall squats (time proportional to number of missing people). 1 x 1:00, 1 x 1:30.

Short scrimmage against A team. Intensity level was a little low. I don't think we forced a single turnover. Need to take away the in cuts. If you can't play D when you're sore in practice, how are you going to play D when you're sore at a tournament

Ladies Practice Oct. 1st

Kim with a nice backhand break during the finals at CEUUC

# of players= 18
Late comers= Lisanne and Rosie

Energy, focus, spirits and numbers were looking very good this morning. Warm up was led by Roshni and the flow in and out of drills was excellent.

Practice:

• Check mark cuts: focus on what the defender is giving you, covering space with first cut, looking for the deep option
  
• Defensive shuffle: focus on staying low and on the balls of the feet, waiting for the "up" call to turn and sprint.
  
• Scrimmage: Added horizontal stack (big success), dump cuts looked a lot better (still could look earlier and more often), nice deep throws and good defense. Goal for next scrimmage is to get the disc off the sideline. Overall, flow and communication was looking really good.
  

Tomorrow is a low key practice, please come if you can. Wednesday we are back full force, Vancouver ladies need to come unless we have already made an agreement.

To Do:

• Vancouver peeps need to get me their letters from their college, PRONTO!
  
• Black Jerseys= $35, Black Hoodies=$35 bring money!
  
• Easterns money is due to D! Final date to pay is this Friday, try and bring exact change!
  
• Let Lexi know if you are in or not for Bowling Green Ohio in November
  

See you tomorrow,
Lexi

Practice Review - Sept 28th

Guys: 9 runners
Wallflowers: Many
Absent: Shawn, Adrian, soon to be cut Krish, Taylor, Scotty, Tingle
Excused: Kirk, Nate

Announcements:

• Letters + CUPA fees needs to get done
• Pay back norm for tourney and hotel fees
• Plane ticket went up +10$ yesterday
  

Review:

• Lotto
• Magnum drill with hardest
• Scrimmage against B. Started out down 7-0. Sounds like we eaked it out. Some of the points were a little too weak, but that gives us something to work on.

Next week:

• Key practices are Monday and Tuesday. After that we will go light for the rest of the week for the guys going to Regionals. We will discuss Tuesday. That means lets dress as many as we can for these practices to work on team concepts.

Dr. J

Tula B - September 28

Warmup with A team.

Lotto. Focus on looking at your receiver and using game moves (try to set up specific throws).

End zone offense: On offence, default is iso ("T") play, and we should go directly into this off of flow. Off of a stoppage, we will set up a vertical stack. First in the stack cuts hard to one side (make it a real cut). Second in the stack cuts hard the other way. Third in the stack cuts to the front. If none of these three gets the disc, the first two cutters clear to the back corners of the endzone and the third cutter does isolation cuts (or a german). Back row needs to be active/aware. Punish poaches, but don't clog endzone. Handlers need to be active as well, with quick resets. Try to move the disc to the break side.

Endzone defense: Against the T (iso), poach from break-side, but be ready to close on your man if they swing the disc. When guarding guys in the back row, move in as much as possible to clog the cutting space. If you're poaching, and guys start cutting from the back row, you've got to find a man.
Against the vertical stack, we'll put two defenders on the open side, one on the break side, and one in front. Pick up cutters as they come off of the stack. Focus on staying in front of the cutters (i.e. between them and the disc).

Scrimmage against A team. We score 3 times, they score 11. Our inexperience showed, but so did our talent. We often had great plays and great flow, but we also made a lot of beginner mistakes: getting too excited and throwing the disc away on crazy bombs, clogging the cutting lanes, not being ready on defence, etc. In particular, we seemed to be having a lot of trouble with resets. Handler movement early in the stall count was often good, but when things got late people were panicking and two things happened: too many players crowded around the disc & the person with the disc would fail to commit to their reset.

Ladies practice Sep. 28th

# of players= 11 and 1 sitting
Late comers= Lex (because of Steph), Steph and a few others...

Today felt like a lazy Friday morning. Because of numbers we gave a good amount of personal focus on faking, pivoting, dump cuts and striker cuts.

Drills:

• 1 min. of faking: Focus on the first two steps of a throw for your fake, lunge into your fake, bait your mark
• marking minus arms: Focus on moving your body to defend the disc, staying on your toes
• 45 degree dump cuts: Focus on finding one point to make your cut from
• Box: Focus on timing, quick passes, clearing and communication. Winner= team 2!
• Check mark cuts: Focus on on a real cut as your "fake", flow, covering space and setting up
  

Energy was a bit low this morning but thanks to those who came out!

IMPORTANT!

• Get your letters to me no later than Friday next week. Andy wins for the first letter in!
• Black Jerseys= $35 Black Hoodies=$35 so bring money and give to Deanna next week
• Deanna still needs money from Easterns. Double check spreadsheet for how much you owe.
• If you are going to the "Bowling Green" tournament in November, let us know so we can get numbers.
• Post your flight time and number on the BBS
  
• Practices for next week...
• Everyone going to Vancouver HAS to come to practice! Our numbers are getting low these days and Nationals is in about 2 weeks. Lets get on the ball ladies!
• No practice on Thursday.
• Have a great weekend everyone!
  -Lexi
  

Tula B - September 27

Better attendance today.

Warmed up with the A team.

2-disc run-through competition. Pushups. B team groups seemed to do pretty well.

Sideways-cut break-force 45s (fake to open side, then cut back to break - more closely simulates the types of cuts and throws we see in the endzone).

Endzone isos. One cutter, one defender, one thrower one marker. If caught outside endzone, give-and-go for score. Different cutting techniques may be required based on: your strengths/weaknesses, your defender's strengths/weaknesses, and/or the thrower's strengths/weaknesses. Of the people in my group, I thought Sticks had the best D. Guys should watch how he positions his body where the cutter wants to go, gets low and wide, and uses his size to herd the cutter where he wants them to go, rather than waiting to react to what the cutter does.

Scrimmage. Some of the decision-making was pretty sloppy, but both teams had good movement and flow. Too many red-zone turnovers. Sticks' and my line gets lucky on the final point.

Ladies practice Sept. 27th

Picture: Tula ladies in a more silly team picture
photo taken by Sarah H.

# of players=13

The focus for all of our drills today was to pay attention to our "in" game and beating/tricking the defense.

The breakdown...

• Running through the disc
• Getting aggressive with a defender on our shoulder
• Faking with a tight mark
  
• turning and throwing quickly
  
• hard cut after the throw

Overall it was more of a fine tuning day.
Drills:

• Go to with set up cut: Knowing when to start your cut and to practice "faking" with that much of a distance before you cut in to the disc
• Dump flow: Turning with the flight of the disc to get that extra step on your defender for the swing pass.
• Lotto: Running hard through your cut and making that extra push to beat the other team to the disc.
• Redemption: Faking your defender out with pivots and quick hand movement.
  
• Winners: Round 1) Katrina & Round 2) Lexi
• Finalists: Round 1) Kelly Nak & Round 2) Katrina

Start practicing the positions, movements and angles we have been working this week, at some point they will be committed to muscle memory and will happen automatically. Keep working hard and I'll see you tomorrow for our Friday scrimmage!

-Lexi

Tula A Sept 27 Review

Attendance: 13 runners, many watching
Missing: Toly, Steve, Justin, Krish
Excused: Peter

Warmup

2-disc run through competition. Pushups.

Yeoman's Dog. Kirk wins. Good energy.

Breakforce 45s: 82% on Flicks (45 pushups), 74% on Backhands (130 pushups)
-turnovers mainly due to TAs or Drops, not hard marks.
-throws were often at ankle level.

Zone-ish scrimmage: White plays with a man down.

3-man competition: Kirk wins again. Clint is runner up.

Homework: 50 Flicks, 50 Backhands into the receiver's chest.

Practice Review - Sept 26th

Guys: 14 runners
Wallflowers: 5
Absent: Scott, Toly, Shawn, Krish, Dave
Absent with valid excuse: Justin

As per Toms discussion below on making practice it's what the attending group of us felt too. Class and work are always a valid excuse. Please indicate on the BBS if you will be missing a practice.

Announcements:

• Letters by Friday
• Get CUPA membership @ http://www.canadianultimate.com/
• Post accommodation needs in Vancouver

Practice:

• Warmup (Late)
• Lotto - Quick Picks
• Parker huck drill with defense. We really worked on the reset cut. I liked and didn't like what I saw which means we can do more of it. I think we need to do something similar with cuts to do the same analysis. 140 pushups...
  
• Scrimmage - quick and dirty.

PJ

Tula B - September 26

Practice started a little late, so we had a shorter warmup and lotto with the A team. After that, we did stairs. We ran stairs, hopped stairs, and bounded stairs. We also did wall squats. The pain was significant, but five minutes after we finished, the pain subsided and was replaced by a blissful rush of endorphins. It was worth it. If you miss a fitness practice, make it up on your own time.

At Easterns, we tried to give everyone roughly equal playing time, even in big games. At B Nationals, we will give playing time in big games to the guys that we trust. Trust is built in practice. No matter how good you are, if you miss practice, we can't trust you. If you skip fitness practices, we can't trust you to play hard D right to the end of the point. If you skip skills practices, we can't trust you to correctly execute those skills in games. If you skip strategy practices, we can't trust you to be in the right place at the right time. If you really want to sit on the sidelines all weekend, feel free to skip practices. Otherwise, you should be there.

Ladies Practice Sep. 26th

Picture: Victoria and Sarah share the gingersnap love

# of players= 15
late comers= Lexi

We had a whole new group of girls today. The numbers are looking a little low these last few days. We still need ladies coming out to support our Vancouver teammates. We also have another tournament and the spring to think about, so lets get all the practice we can get in now.

Practice

• Go To with punishment

• Up the line dump cuts: We have been playing without defense so it's easy now. Make sure you're still making your first cut as hard as when the defense isn't there.

• 3 on 3 continuous: Keep working on using the field

To everyone who came out, really great hustle today. Everyone was running hard and the field positioning and flow in the 3 on 3 was looking a lot better!

To Do:

• Check spreadsheet and pay Deanna for Easterns
• Sign up for the Ohio tournament in November

Vancouver:

• Post flight times on BBS
• Get letter from Registrar, last date is Friday of next week
• Get CUPA membership @ http://www.canadianultimate.com/

Tonight is our Wednesday league game. Best of luck ladies and I'll see you tomorrow!
-Lexi

Tuesday Practice Sep. 25th

Torontula Women CEUUC '07
Picture: Torontula Women after claiming second place against U of O
Front: Dwyer, Kelly, Sonia, Sarah K, Lisanne, Victoria
Back: Kim, Deanna, Hadiya, Jane, Sarah H, Jooeun, Taila, Lexi
Missing: Jane Logan

Great weekend TULA! Not only did we make it to finals but we had two teams finish in the top 10. Both the Black and Red teams beat their seed and surpassed all expectations, plus, it was a damn fun weekend.

Practice today was focused on setting up the field for one another and making all our moves on the field nice and clean. The weekend gave everyone a great chance to not only play together against competitive team, but also gave a great opportunity to get to know each other as players, picking up on each persons individual skills and traits they exude on the field.

Cleanup 1: The dump
The dump cuts over the weekend, while sometimes successful, still needed a good run through. We did a drill that placed the thrower on the sideline, looking for the dump option.
Focus on:
- up field cut as the most desired option
-making the 1-2 cut so that the thrower can read when the dump will get open
-45 degree angle cuts, no pinching in! "standing closer does not make a throw easier/more successful"
-setting up the dump cut
-turning your whole body to face the dump
-looking for dump no later than stall 6

Cleanup 2: Cutter position and flow
This was the second piece of our dump drill. Once the dump catches the disc, the cutter who is positioned further down field will start running deep, looking for the long put by the handler dump
Focus on:
-Watching for the dump and timing your cut off it
-calling for the disc and cutting back in if the thrower is unable to reach you
-staying a constant threat

The second drill we ran was a focus on the cutter creating green space on the open side for the thrower.
Focus on:
-Cutters acknowledging the defense and base their cuts off that
-communication between thrower and receiver
-covering yards while setting up the cut

Overall, the numbers were really great today and everyone seemed ready to go, even after a long weekend with lots of playing. Great work everyone!
-Lexi

Practice Review - Sept 25th

Guys: 12 Runners (barely)
Sidelines: 4
Absent: Kirk, Norm, Krish, Henry, Shimon, Justin, Shawn, Tolya, Lowell

Announcements:

• Get your letters in to the president. Otherwise you can't play Nationals.
  

Practice Review:

• Warmup
• Lotto
• End-zone game - working on movement and preventing certain options for the offense
  
• Two way box - emphasis on handler cuts and focus from D to O
  

Notes:

Black takes everything with a significant number of turn overs forced by white. End-zone got better and worked on a vertical in addition to our T.

PJ

Tula B - September 25th

Back campus today as a result of soccer. Not sure what's up with that. Keep an eye on the BBS and A team blog posts to look for changes in our practice plans due to intramural sports. Lot's of people missing today. Lot's of people doing pushups tomorrow. Can't use back campus as an excuse, because I was at front campus redirecting people until 7:40.

Warmed up with the A team.

Lotto.

Talked about our weekend. Synopsis: Good times and we're all pretty stoked for Montreal. Areas for improvement: mostly spreading the field and creating better spacing.

Throws for scores. Focus on game throws, not golf throws. Try to fake before you throw. Emphasis on flat throws leading the receiver, not on maximum distance. A little bit of curl towards your receiver is okay, but if the disc blades into the turf it's much harder to time. Try to run and throw straight down the field, so the receiver can adjust to the throw with ease.

Two-way Box. This is a fun drill, but it also works on serious ultimate skills. On offence, possession is everything. On defence, be ready to defend either endzone. Talk to your teammate(s) about strategy... for instance, how do you want to handle the force?

Talked about individual experiences of the weekend and assessments of how we played.

Tomorrow we will be focusing on fitness. Every third practice will be a fitness practice. On these days, try to bring running shoes as well as cleats.

Tula Eastern Recap - Point Form

Here are the highlights that I can remember:

• Friday drive
• Checking the web cam to make sure there was no traffic
• Finishing the sheep puzzle before nightfall
  
• Friday night
• Delia is the first of many to get kicked out of a bar
• Shawn spikes 18 coasters
• Shwarma number one
• Saturday game one - win against McMaster
  
• NA
• Saturday game two - win against Guelph
• NA
• Saturday Lady Tula B watching
• Heckling Tess
  
• Saturday game three - win against Western B
• They submit before the game wins...I thought it would go to decision
• Saturday game four - win against McGill B
• Inian pull of the year
• The chua huck
  
• Group of seven unbroken
• Saturday burgers and shakes
• Burgers
• Saturday hangout
• The young guy burn
• Phil joining us in the room
  
• The X-factor beer cap toss of infamy
• Saturday walk
• Schwarma number two
• Minglewoods
  
• Playing the new game of Spanish ATM with Linky...I won $40
• Catching a glimpse of Mark breaking it down on the dance floor
  
• Escorting Tingle as he got kicked out of the bar
• Post Minglewoods
• Meeting up with Adrian and Chua
• Smoked meat poutine at Elgin St. Diner
• Matching the four of us up in fights as people walked towards us
• Hotel return
• Frac, Secretary, and Nirk reunion
• Not getting sick
• Filling my shoe with dies Sprite
• Sunday morning game 1 - win against Nipissing
• Down 2; win half 8-2
• Sunday game 2 - win against Carleton
• The strength of our zone
• Sunday game 3 - win against Guelph
• Group of seven game ending point and ensuing Mark touchdown dance
• 11 ball winner - Justin
  
• B-team game against my Alumni school
• Eric the next next big thing ripping it down in the endzone and then, finally, smiling
  
• Sunday trip home
• Smiky and the greatest rags to riches poker run after the magic touch
• Shimon Mother#$%@^# and how he screwed the van
• Worst navigator ever

Tula once again makes another weekend to remember in a long history of the greatest tournaments of my life.

PJ

Sept 21 - Practice Review

Quiet morning with just the A guys on the field.

Review

• Warmup
• 45s
• Went over plays and naming of plays
• Practiced our play set
• Went over some man defense philosophy. Everyone needs to be watching for what the opponent is doing and adjust accordingly. Relay that info to the captains.
• Huck drill
• Review

I'll e-mail out the details of the play calling for privacy sake.

Peter

Tula B - September 20th

Read the A team post for today it contains a lot of useful links and tips about going to a tournament.
If you haven't got everything sorted out for this weekend on the BBS - rides, hotel, etc. - hurry the **** up.
We do not have an official practice tomorrow. I encourage everyone to get out and throw as much as possible tomorrow.
Our first game on Saturday may be our most important one... please keep that in mind on Friday night.

Today we split into two (hopefully) equal lines for Easterns

Sticks' Line:

Sticks
Krish
Adam R
Rich
David
Me
Jeremy
Oliver
Mike

James' Line:

James
Eric
Adam (Scarberia)
Grady
Jeff
Merrick
Ben
Sasa
Rob

If you're not on this list and you're coming to Easterns, let us know.
If you're on this list and you're not coming to Easterns, let us know.

We scrimmaged, taking a few long breaks to talk about what was working and what wasn't. Emphasis on taking time to set things up, calling plays before we pick up the disc, and focusing on possession and high-percentage passes. Cup or wall still need to get better at working as a unit in the zone.

There was a point in practice when there was some ambiguity about whether a point had been scored and everyone stopped. Unless you have the disc, you should never stop unless you're 100% sure that the play has stopped. Whether it's a foul, a line call, a pick, or something else, if you're on offence you still need to catch the disc, and if you're on defence you still need to play D. If you have the disc, and you think there's a pick or a foul or whatever, please stop and don't throw the disc away.

I really want to focus on the idea of trust. It's incredibly important as a team that we maintain a high level of trust in each other on and off the field. We have to trust each other to play the right force, to play hard D, to be in the right spot at the right time, and to make the right plays. We need to make sure as well that we live up to that trust, and don't let our team-mates down. When people stop trusting their team-mates and start trying to do too much, the whole team falls apart. When you look off an open cutter or a poach or you take a cut that cuts off one of your team-mates, what you're really saying is "I don't trust you" and that's always a mistake.

If you're sharing a car with guys from the A team, that's a great opportunity to ask questions and learn as much as you can... they've got a lot of great players with a lot of experience, and you can hopefully learn a lot. If you're going up with guys from the B team, talk over the plays and zones, and make sure you understand everything.

Tom

Practice Review - Sept 20th

Guys Running = 8
Guys sorta running = 1
Guys hurt and watching = 4

Announcements:

• All A guys should be actively looking for tickets to Vancouver. If you're not going we should know as of Monday to bring up guys from the B. Post on the BBS when you have a ticket.
  
• Get your orders for black Jerseys and Hoodies on the BBS in for tomorrow.
• If you plan on going to Nationals you need a letter from your registrar. See: http://www.canadianultimate.com/Policy_CUUC.htm under Players to see what the letter should say. Needs to be done by next Friday.

This weekend announcements:

• For what to bring, please review: http://cultimate.blogspot.com/2007/03/packing-for-season.html#links
• Bring cheques or cash to pay for Jerseys, Hotel, and team fees. If you owe someone pay them back as soon as possible.
• For the buddy system, please review: http://cultimate.blogspot.com/2006/10/hey-bud.html#links
• Finally, accommodate your driver. They are giving you a huge favor so respect them accordingly by calling them if you will be late, going to them or a reasonable subway stop instead of being picked up, and paying gas costs ASAP.

Practice Review

• Warmup
• Lotto quick pick
• Talked about the hardest mark and a transition hardest mark. Both might be useful to work on this weekend
• 45s
• 6 turns and 1 D-block = 70 pushups on forehand
• 10 turns = 10 shuttle runs on backhand
• Walked through the Fisherman and played somewhat live. This will give us a good base for the weekend.

Tomorrow we will go through some plays, and our philosophy on man defense. Please try to be there.

Peter

A Team Practices

Boys,

Coming off of last year's CUUC win we're all expecting another spectacular season... and we're right to. But as countless people have said, we've got targets on our backs and there are 2 or 3 teams that are gunning to take us down. Our cool confidence has taken away from the drive that was felt every morning last fall. That said, the intensity in practices has been building going into this weekend and things are starting to look good....

Many of you have noticed the dwindling numbers at practices. We need everyone out, learning the zones and learning to read eachother. It's been hard with so many of us touring this fall, but even the extra men on the sidelines can help bring intensity to the guys running 45s. Tomorrow's practice will be more of a play/zone review than a cardio bootcamp session, so everyone will be able to participate. We're heading to Ottawa to defend our title and it's going to be spectacular. Get going boys, I can hardly fucking sleep at night. The season is short, but the glory will last forever.

Taylor

Ladies practice before Easterns

# of Players= 21
Late comer= Kim

Red & Gold vs. Black scrimmage
Warm up run by Taila.
Black:Started with the box cutting drill followed by break force 45's
R&G: Started with 45's followed by a hucking drill

The game...
Today we worked with our spread offense. This was the first time both sides had played with our offense in a scrimmage with defense. Both sides had some great cuts but the focus would tend to be on one cutter, instead of having two cuts that would mirror opposite each other, allowing a second cut to come in immediately. The Black team did some nice work clearing to the sides while it took a little longer for R&G. Overall the game came down to the use of our deep options. Black had some great looks that gave them a chance for a score after the first or second pass. Towards the end, R&G had the right idea; the cuts were where they were supposed to be, the throws were dead on, just came down to watching the disc into our hands to make the mandatory completion the offense needs to score.

Final score= R&G: 1 to Black: 12

Take this weekend to focus on one aspect of your game you would like to work on. Keep that in mind during our games on Saturday and Sunday.

Make sure you go to the BBS and sign up for the "Bowling Green" tournament in November as well as placing an order for your black hoodies!

No practice tomorrow or Monday so I will see you on front campus on Tuesday!
-Lexi

Tula B - September 19th

Jerseys - $35 - Inian
Tournament Fee for Easterns - $15 - Sticks

Today we did a whole lot of zone.

3-3-1 Defence

We will run this with the cup forcing to one sideline.
On the sideline we will put on a trap.
Cup will allow open-side swing, but will not allow breaks or downfield throws.
Mids and deeps are always covering someone, but ready to switch (must always be useful).
Deep talks to mids. Mids talk to each other and to cup.

Zone offence

2 handlers, 2 wings (sort of handlers), 3 cutters.
Handlers must swing the disc quickly, getting it to the wings.
Wings stay close to the sidelines. Gain as many yards as possible, but make sure the handlers still have clear throws to you. Come back to the disc as it is swung. Look up-field, but quickly reset back to handlers.
Our goal is to move the disc back and forth across the field, tiring out the defenders, while also gaining yards.
3 Cutters need to anticipate swings and create holes in the defence. There's a lot of different cuts that are valuable, for example:
- Cut deep, taking the deep out of the play.
- Cut to the sideline (deep or short) when the disc is swung, giving the wings a continuation throw.
- Cut in towards the handlers looking for holes in the cup.
- If their mids cover our wings, cut to the gap that's created.
- Use your imagination.

1-3-2-1 Wall
Rabbit/Monster/other silly name (1) - harass whoever has the disc as much as possible. Mark hard no dump. This person has got to run like mad.
Wall (3) - these guys need to make sure nothing is thrown up field. Move as a unit. Slant to the sidelines, taking away the swing. Talk to the rabbit to let him know where the dump is.
Mids (2) - Trust your wall. Cover the greatest threats. Trust your deep.
Deep (1) - Play aggressively & help your mids. It's hard to huck against the wall.

Scrimmage
Our zone defence is clearly better than our zone offence, as black repeatedly shut down white using both zones and then scored.
White generally had good disc movement, but would get a little too excited and throw it away. If you're not sure, get the disc back to your handlers.
Remember to set up the offence before you pick up the disc.
White eventually got it together to score the last point by swinging the disc back and forth across the field, finding an open cutter, dump back to a handler, and then hitting another cutter for the score. It was so pretty it made me weep. That was how zone O is supposed to be played.

Zone. Know each role in the 3-3-1 and 1-3-2-1 zones. In the 1-3-2-1, the dark wall needs to move as a unit and as a line, not opening up gaps or sagging in the middle. Play your hucks more wisely - we turned way too many over due to high-risk throws up the sideline or across the field. As always, possession is the key, made possible by handlers providing a good dump-swing option, and cutters reading the dump-swing to allow for a quick up field pass.

Remember, all of the pain you go through in practice today directly translates into the amount of pain that your mark will experience when they try to keep up with you tomorrow. Cup, chase, and monster, no pain, no gain.

Let's get fired up.

Ladies practice Sep. 19th

# of players=24! Good consistency ladies
Late comers= Roshni

Warm up led by V today. Focus on making quick transitions.

Practice:
-3 Man/Dump drill. Focus on faking with the mark on you and finding the openings they are giving you.
-Sprints.
-Huck For Score. Focus on placing the disc in the green space for cutters to run on to.
-3 on 3. 4 sets of 3 on 3. Focus on using the field, not forcing the throws and communication. Clearing out and working off of the other cutters will provide more space, even on the bigger field! Start clearing out and mirror your teammates cuts, ex: if they make a hard cut in, you make a hard cut out and wait for them to clear if you have not received the disc deep.
-3 0n 3 continuous. Focus on watching the field and getting ready so when you go on you know what's happening. Once disc has been caught, look for the greatest threat and take away the first throwing option.

Tomorrow is our last practice before Easterns! We have two teams for this tournament so we will have a scrimmage tomorrow in these teams. Please bring these color shirts.
*Note Nicknames can and may be changed/edited as time and inside jokes go on... ;)

Black Team
Deanna- D1
Kelly- Special K
Jane- Jane...er
Sonia- The Administrator
Jooeun- Joo Bot
Kim- YAY!
Hadiya- HRod/D2
Sarah H- Hutchie
Jane- Grandma Kiwi
Lisanne- Play Hard
Victoria- V (not 'Tory', ask Kim why)
Taila- Mauve
Sarah K- Baby Spice

Red and Gold
Steph- Jock Jams
Maggie- The Baller
Roshni- The Future
Nancy- TUCie
Inmar- Banshee
Katrina- West Coast!/ Gemini
Michelle- Gemini
Melissa- "LMS" (Little Miss Sunshine)
DL- speed racer
Tess- Slayer
Liz- shizzle
Ljubica- LJ
Rosie- The Next Generation

Please take care of yourselves, there are colds going around. Please remember to wash hands after practice tomorrow.

-Lexi "Ringalo"

Tula A - Sept 19 Review

Guys out: 13 running, 4 observing

Warm up

Break-Force 45s: 3 sets
-75% flick, 80% backhand, 90% backhand

Berkley Drill:
-same as yesterday with the up line cut, reverse, and looping backfield cut away from the handler.
-Don't get too close to the line, move back and toward midfield on your reverse.
-Hard, hard, hard
-Good consistency on both sides

Zones:
-learned 1-3-3, 2-3-2, and Fisherman
-walked through 1-3-3
-See Inian's post to come.

Ladies practice Sept. 18th

# of players= 25
Late comer= Kim

Warm up run by HRod

Practice Schedule:
-Spread Stack drill. Focus on clearing to the sidelines, watching the double cuts, not forcing our throws, communication with partner and hustling with the deep cuts once the disc is released.
-Endzone plays! Focus on hard cuts and leading throws to the green space.
-Speed Flow. Focus on catching and releasing with perfect accuracy, practicing I.O, O.I and Hammer throws, throwing while tired and listening for instructions.
-45's and Pendulum. Focus on fakes and leading passes, turning shoulders when looking for the dump pass and getting solid throws off with a mark on.

Good work today ladies. We only have 2 more practices before we head to Easterns so lets get amped and get some energy for our practice tomorrow!

Tomorrow is also your last day to pick jerseys up at the field ($35) and to pay your way to Easterns ($20). Mixed CD will be accepted at this time!

-Lexi

Tula B - September 18th

If you don't have a jersey, bring $35 to practice to get one.
If you haven't given Sticks $15, bring that to practice as well.
Please use the BBS to sort out rides and accommodation.

Warmed up with the A team.

Lotto.

Split into handlers and cutters (not necessarily set for this weekend).

Cutters: Fitness. Cutters emphasized footwork in the shuffle drill and in the chase drill. Note the need to change directions very quickly on both O and D; always be prepared to transition from a cautious shuffle to a full-out sprint to stop the ins.

Handlers focused on fitness. We started with a faking/marking drill, doing two sets of 1 minute in each role. We then ran a rapid-fire dump drill to 15 throws each. In both drills, form was suffering by the end on just about everyone I watched, but that's to be expected.

Merged for a scrimmage. Black came out strong early, but white came back at the end. Final score was still probably in black's favour. I asked black to focus on swinging the disc across the field to the break side, and we actually did it (I was very proud). We also threw in a little zone with some success. White was doing well advancing the disc through swings and short passes until they got a little too excited and threw it away attempting something deeper. Discipline is key against the zone. Against man defence, everyone still needs to work on spreading the field, although this improved as the scrimmage progressed.

Practice Review - September 18

1) Lotto

2) Break force 45s
- focus was on the marking. stopping the quick inside break early in the stall count and then shifting over to stop the outside break, higher in the stall count
- turnovers came in bunches so take an extra second... deep breath and execute your throw, cut and catch

3) Dump cut drill w/ give-n-go
- focus was on cutting and throwing to the middle of the field
- continue give-n-go cut all the way to the break force side
- always run at 100% because of ample recovery time
- touch flick throw is tough (especially in windy conditions)
- all players should work on their dump throws (both forehand and backhand) this week

4) Throw for scores w/ up-the-line cut
- the up the line-cut needs to be a little closer to the line and not too far
- hucks were looking good

good intensity today.

++++++
BMI (Body Managment Issues)
- take extra care of your bodies leading into a tournament weekend.
- this means:
a) stay hydrated
b) get lots of rest
c) stretch often
- cold/wet weather gear (tights, pants, toque, etc) for upcoming practices and tournaments

Chili Hot Jerseys
- If you have not got your jersey yet, please bring $35 to tomorrow's practice.
- Yes, it is mandatory to buy a jersey if you are playing with the team.


-morris

Week 2 ladies Sept. 17

# of Ladies=18
Picture: Didn't Get Cut 2007, Shawn shows great strength in saying no to his teammate. Go Buddy system!

It was a later start for the ladies this morning, giving a little extra time for those who had been to the teams party the night before. Lisanne ran the warm up with some great focus on our dynamic stretching.

The focus today was getting our offense organized for Easterns. We focused on two cutting drills, learning to work together and planning ahead for the future plays four or five passes after the pull.

Vertical 3 cuts
-cut 1: in cut from the front of the stack and go deep
-cut 2: out cut from middle of the stack and in for first pass
-cut 3: out cut from the back for the second pass and then a look to the cutter #1 in the endzone

Notes: cuts should start early, turning to the disc when it is about to be caught. Today we were running at about 58%, should be run 100% especially since there is no defense.

Spread stack
-starting on the sideline with cutting in the middle. *when in the middle you are at a full sprint!
-mirroring cuts from partner
-when disc is released everyone is on the go.

Notes: 1-Remember to stay close to the handler, wait till the disc is up to start pushing the field. 2-Use the space you're given when cutting, take advantage. 3-take your time with throws, know the cuts and wait for one to open up.

The practice ended with two endzone plays, details will be sent out over email. Heads up for the key words because they can be called at any time. Dwyer will be calling endzone plays in practice this week so make sure you're ready to go when you hear a play called.

Easterns is this weekend! We have 3 more practices left. (no practice Friday)
Make sure you...
- go to the BBS and work out you rides to Ottawa
-Bring money for Easterns ($20) and Jerseys ($35) *Wednesday is the last day to get your jersey at the fields! Bring your money!

See you all tomorrow!
-Lexi

TB - September 14th

# of guys: 11 + 1 injured Sticks.

Announcements:

• If you're not on the BBS yet, do that NOW. There are important things such as rides there!
• Pay your Easterns fee ($15) to Sticks either at the Didn't Get Cut party or Monday practice. Cash is fine but do not expect change, make cheques out to Adam Bak.
  

Review:

• Lotto
• End zone plays
• T
• Guys in the back keep your mark honest to make space.
• Handlers move the disc if there is no opening.
  

• Midfield plays.
  
• Web
• Memorize what every position does, this play is dependent on continuation cuts.
• Remember to do a handler reset if the play falls apart. This will be key especially if some of the cuts get shut down.

• Iso
• If the play is not on you then take your mark out of the play, remain a threat and be ready to make continuation cuts.
  

• 3 on 3 continuous.
• Worked on fast disc movement, and not allowing the defense to set up. This will be very important throughout the season.
  

Today was a light practice, next week expect to run hard. We have 4 days to be ready to take on some of the best teams in Eastern Canada; practice hard and bring your best game.

Sticks

Scotch vs. Juice (sippy cups) Sept. 14th!

Picture: Jooeun at Uni Nats 2006
Today was the Old vs. Young scrimmage which started on time! The 15 min. of suicides + the threat of not playing got everyone to the field on time, I even witnessed some of the fastest cleating up ever. (Sonia=30 seconds)

Each team started with a warm up. Old, "Scotch", was led by Dwyer who started with a warm up jog, followed by dynamic stretches and a box throwing drill. Cuts looked good for the box drill with the ladies running through the disc and setting up their cuts to help teammates who ended up a bit farther from their starting place. Nice adjustment and talk.

The Young team, "Juice/ sippy cups", followed Miss. Kelly Nak in a warm up of jogging, dynamic stretches and 45's. Juice looked strong in their speed but had a little difficulty with running through the disc. There were a few throws that tended to be a little trigger happy, causing either a layout or double back cut. Note after the drill is to throw to where the person is running to, not where they already are.

Old started on D and after a few turnovers from both sides, old won the first point of the game. Some of the highlights were a super grab over 3 defenders in the endzone by Kelly, the best battle cry from Inmar as she sprinted to save a flyaway disc, Sarah H. snagging a frantic deep pass, Grandma Kiwi popping out of nowhere to get the D, Sonia beating down almost all of the young teams hucks, proving herself to be larger than you think!, HRods Callahan for the final point, Kim screwing around with her defenders, leaving a surprised look on their faces when she would end up with the point and many many more!

The final score was Old 11 to Young 3. What the game came down to was completion in the end zone. Overall turnovers were pretty even for both teams, however the old team was able to take advantage on offense by setting up their cuts in the end zone and pushing back to utilize the entire red zone. There were some great deep looks from both teams, which I think we should continue to keep as valid options, not frantic stall 9 attempts. This should also be noted by the cutters to clear out and take a shot deep. Both teams had cuts coming from at most 15 feet away.

One thing we really need to focus on for next week is thinking about what we are going to do after the second throw is completed. If you are not cutting for the first few throws, start planning what you're going to do after the throws are completed. Keep the field moving and active, ready to continue the play. If the disc is not completed in the endzone after the second pass, the point has not been won yet!

Goals for next week:
-look for dump at stall 6 if not sooner. *This means cutters need to start earlier
-set cuts up! If you're cutting in, go deep first and if cutting deep, go in and then out. Give the thrower a better option for throwing room and will make more space between you and your defender.
-clear as hard as you are cutting. Either go for a deep option or sprint back to the stack.
-In the endzone, start cuts from the back and aim for the front cones

Great work today everyone! I saw a lot of hard work on the field today, lets keep that up for next week. Only 4 more practices!

Future plans...
Tonight we ARE having dinner at Dwyers :) Starts at 7pm followed by some bar hopping or whatever. Bring snacks/ drinks to help our amazing host out.

This Sunday we have the annual "Didn't get cut" party! All are welcome to 7 Cottingham Rd., right off Dupont and Davenport. Come and hangout with all of Torontula. Jerseys will be at the party so make sure you give D your $35! No $$$=no jersey. Stay tuned for a possible canceled Monday practice ;) Also, team sippy cups are in charge of beer. If you are underage, submit some money to the cause at the party or you can bring juice for those not drinking.

Easterns is a go! Tula ladies will be submitting two teams for the tournament. Teams will be given on Wednesday of next week. Please bring $20 either tonight or Sunday. If you're not at either, the last date will be Tuesday morning.

Great first week everyone. Hope to see you this weekend!

-Lexi

Tula B - September 13th

B Team Guys: 14 + an injured Sticks.

Announcements:

• Read the announcements from Peter's A team post.
• In general, it's a good idea to read the A team reviews, because you'll learn a lot. Reading Peter's blog probably isn't a bad idea either.
• Let us know on the BBS whether you're coming to Easterns.

Review:

• Introduction of the B team and your captains: Sticks (Adam), James, and myself.
• Lotto
• Flying V
  • High completion rate.
  • Need to concentrate on cutting back hard.
  • Continue cut through the disc.
  • If you slow down or stop to make the catch, your defender will get the disc.
• Throw for Scores (huck drill).
  • Highest completion rate I've seen from a B team on day one. We saw some great throws and catches.
  • Throws need to be flat.
  • Run straight down the field, not into the sideline.
  • Throw down the field to space, rather than throwing across the field at a hard angle.
  • Focus on footwork. For righties: do not step with your left foot. For lefties: do not step with your right foot.
• Open-side 45s
  • Throws were generally good. Focus on not throwing too hard, keeping it flat, and putting it around your receiver's chest level.
  • Cutters sometimes seemed confused.
  • Even though we were giving the open side, marks should still be intense.
• Names
  • I suck at these.

Overall, we were very impressed by the level this year. We've got a lot of athleticism and great throws. Now it's only a question of team-work and chemistry.

Tom

Tula ladies practice Thursday Sep. 14th

# of players: 28
Late comers: Maggie, Sarah K., Liz, Sonia, HRod (ended up starting warm up at 7:45)

Torontula Women are getting serious about the season. Practice began with a warm up run before our discussion about being on time. Due to serious lateness, the team ran 15 min. of suicides. Lateness make everyone suffer, even Dwyer ;)

Scrimmage focus of the day was zone, setting up a standard 3-3-1.
Notes: The general flow was looking good and there were some great deep options.
3 focuses from the practice-
1) Keep the disc move, especially handlers!
2) Throw to people cutting to you. Leading passes in zone can be risky and you will look like a viable option when your shoulders are square to the thrower.
3) When switching to man, find the greatest threat first. Point or communicate to your teammates who you have and if confused try and cut off any possible threats before you find your person.

Tomorrow we are having our old (25+ over) vs. young (under 25) scrimmage. Losers buy beer/drinks for Tula dinner later in the evening.
Tula dinner is around 7pm at Dwyers @ Victoria Park and Bloor. 2904-09 Crescent Place, East York. More details to come.

Great work ladies, great energy! You all are making me drool from the sideline :)

Tomorrow 7:15! Don't be late...

Practice Review - Sept 13th

Guys: ~30
A-team absent: Steve, Scotty, Clint, Justin

Announcements:

• Party on Sunday - "Didn't get Cut". We'll vote at that time if we are practicing on Monday AM. Location and time to be announced.
  
• Red Jerseys will be available at the Sunday party. They will cost $35. Without the cash or check in hand you will not get your jersey. Bring exact change.
• We will be ordering black jerseys, hoodies, and maybe shorts this week.
  
• Easterns is next weekend. If you have a car please offer rides on the BBS. We will be setting up accommodations shortly.
• If you can't make a tournament please tell us immediately.

Review

• WArmup
• Lotto
• Discussed the cut for the berkeley. The importance of:
• Making a hard cut up the line to setup the reverse cut
• Proper spacing
• Setting up for a swing throw afterwards
• Split up A team and B team - Introductions
  
• 45s break forces
• 80% flick completion
• 92% flick completion
• 84% backhand completion
• Need to improve these numbers with better lead throws.
• Marks need to be more intense
• Magnum drill - concept is to reset and continue the disc off the line. Lots of details here, but extends from the berkeley drill with a continuation.
• Scrimmage - White wins 2-1. Too many turns. Defense was intense which is good.

PJ

Torontula Open Eastern Rosters

Announcements:

• Party on Sunday - "Didn't get Cut". We'll vote at that time if we are practicing on Monday AM. Location and time to be announced.
  
• Red Jerseys will be available at the Sunday party. They will cost $35. Without the cash or check in hand you will not get your jersey. Bring exact change.
• We will be ordering black jerseys, hoodies, and maybe shorts this week.
  
• Easterns is next weekend. If you have a car please offer rides on the BBS. We will be setting up accommodations shortly.
• If you can't make a tournament please tell us immediately.
  

Here are the teams for Easterns. I've added some of the nicknames to go along with players. The level looked great, so let's get down to getting ready for Easterns tomorrow.

A Team:

1. Shawn - Old Man Chua
   
2. Inian - Morris
   
3. Peter - Jeters
   
4. Tolya - The Russian
   
5. Scotty - Lil Brudder
6. Lowell - The Secretary of Defense
7. Steve - Frack
8. Kirk - Nirk
9. Clint - Cliff
10. Adrian - Pain Train
11. Taylor - The President
12. Norm - Honeyhands
13. Marcius - The X Factor
14. Dave Ng - Law Boy 1
    
15. Pat Dolan - Law Boy 2
    
16. Ben R. - Law Boy 3
    
17. Giorgio - Alex Reincarnated
18. David T. - Tingle
19. Justin - McDee
20. Shimon - Shimon $!@#$!@er
21. Nate -
    
22. Mark K. - Next Big Thing (NBT)
    
23. Rahul -
    
24. Kieran - Yeoman's II
25. Henry Guay -
    

B Team:

1. Jeremy -
   
2. Adam (Scarborough) - Lefty
3. Tom - Calcs
4. Grady - The Cuban
5. Rich Mills -
   
6. Adam B. - Sticks
7. Oliver -
   
8. David Y. - Shady
9. Mike W. -
   
10. Ben H. - Linky II
11. Sasa L. -
    
12. Adam R. -
    
13. Alex T. -
    
14. Jeff S. - Gear
15. Merrick - the Great
16. Eric - Next Next Big Thing (NNBT)
    
17. James F. -
    
18. Krish -
    

Peter

Tryout Review - Sept 11th

Announcements:

• Make sure Taylor has your e-mail to add you to the contact list. Phone number might also be useful in case we need to contact you.
• Last tryout is tomorrow. This will allow late comers to be seen. We will have breakfast at Sick Kids following Wednesday tryouts. We will post the teams here by Wednesday night.
• Tournaments:
  
• Sept 22-23 - Ottawa for Easterns (both A and B)
  
• Oct 12, 13, and 14 - Vancouver for Nationals (unlikely B team will go)

Practice:

• Warmup
• Lotto
• Discussed one aspect of Lotto in the three man drill. The mark is very important and Kirk talked about moving your feet, keeping your hands moving and wide, and staying low.
• Breakforce 45s
• Emphasis is on a bunch of points:
• Completion
• Release early
• Setup your throw with fakes
  
• Lead the cutter
• Huck for scores
• Completion is important
• Lead the cutters up the line
• Scrimmage
• An okay game with some good showing of skills.

Notes:

• Good level of talent, but we have to work hard to make ourselves into good enough teams to compete with the rest of the continent.

Peter

Tryout Review - Sept 10

Guys out: ~30

Warm up: Lotto
-Need to run back into positions so that we finish on time
-Communicate with your defensive partner so you know the correct side to defend

Open side 45s:
-Satisfactory completion rate. Needs to be approaching 100% because these throws are open side and the cutter is undefended.
-Remember to make your cut sharp (no bananas, loops, U cuts -> you get the idea)

Fitness: Suicides
-Cut to the cone, reverse and catch the disc. Throw it back. Return. Repeat.
-Throwers: think about putting the disc lightly into your receiver's hands, especially on short throws. Time it so that you throw as soon as you see them reverse. Always be faking.
-Cutters: Go hard. Concentrate on making a good return throw - you will have to do this in a game. Cut hard towards the disc (run through it).

Scimmage:
-Dark: Great start, poor finish. Concentrate on game ready throws, quick resets, handler movement, and resetting after you cut. Maintain the force.
-White: Wins the last game to 3.

Taylor

First round

Tula Ladies out: 13

Today was a great start for Torontula Women. This morning we had a total of 13 out and were able to have a 6 on 6 scrimmage with one sub. Mostly new faces this morning, giving us a chance to have a meet and greet before things really start rolling on Monday. Already the team is looking like it has great potential. Keep this motivation up ladies because when we're in week 6, the numbers really help in the early morning not only for drills and scrimmage but also to help each other get excited.

First Pick up '06 vs. '07
Numbers: 5 people out 13 people out
drills: Throwing Technique (flick) Round the world/chaos
Game talk: Rules of Ultimate Dump and stretching the field

As you can see, even our first day out shows the hard work put in last year and over the summer.

Tryouts: Starting Monday @ 7:00am, cleated by 7:15, through Thursday at the same time. Practices will be on front campus unless we are ever forced to move to back campus, located directly behind the UC building by front campus. Friday we will finish the week off with an Old vs. Young scrimmage. Dwyer has made the cut off at 25 years.

See you all soon!
-Lexi

Tryout Review - Sept 6th

Guys: 22 + 3 not playing

Announcements:

• No tryout tomorrow
  
• Make sure Taylor has your e-mail to add you to the contact list. Phone number might also be useful in case we need to contact you.
• Tryouts will be extended until Wednesday. This will allow late comers to be seen. We will have breakfast at Hart House following Wednesday tryouts. We will post the teams here by Wednesday night.
• Tournaments:
  
• Sept 22-23 - Ottawa for Easterns (both A and B)
  
• Oct 12, 13, and 14 - Vancouver for Nationals (unlikely B team will go)

Review:

• Warmup
• Lotto
• Hucking drill with complication to see guys awareness and understanding of instructions. People tend to forget what they are doing after they throw. This drill is really good at getting you to focus right away.
• Run throughs - Endurance drill emphasizing a run through the disc and good lead throws.
• Scrimmage - White wins 4-2

Notes:

• Much better today. Good ultimate that used some hucks to open up the game and good little resets to keep the disc until the cutters started timing well. Darks stack was a little messy today, but we're just starting.
• Monday will be a big day. I expect to see many faces all ready to fight for a spot on the A team.
  

PJ

Tryout Review - Sept 5th

Guys: 22 + 3 observing

Announcements:

• Make sure Taylor has your e-mail to add you to the contact list. Phone number might also be useful in case we need to contact you.
• Tryouts will be extended until Tuesday. This will allow late comers to be seen. We will have breakfast at Hart House following Tuesday tryouts. We will post the teams here by Tuesday night.
• Tournaments:
  
• Sept 22-23 - Ottawa for Easterns (both A and B)
  
• Oct 12, 13, and 14 - Vancouver for Nationals (unlikely B team will go)

Tryout review:

• Warmup
• Lotto - Dump drill, Threeman, and Berkeley. I'll get into more details later about these drills. The key lesson today was you need to really go fast to get done within the 10 minute time limit. Also, consider doing the drill in the above order.
• Suicide Threeman - Did 3 sets of five to wear guys out. Looked like a good effort, but horrible throws and completion rate. Kirk talked about leading throwers with soft throws that they can run onto. I also would consider better fakes.
• Scrimmage A - Game to 3. White goes down 2-0 and comes back to win 3-2.
• Scrimmage B - Game to 3. White goes up 2-0. Dark gets 1, 2-1. White wins 3-1. Dark couldn't get the hucks to open up the game against whites under defense.

Notes:

• Good start.
• Tryouts are about showing what you have. See the following posts: 1, 2, 3.
  

PJ

Review from Sept 4th Practice

For those of you not familiar with TULA's blog format, we generally provide practice summaries so that those absent can get an idea of what we worked on. So, here's the review from Tues, Sept. 4th. Blogalicious.

We got started a bit late today- mostly a reflection that most of us are having to set out alarms for the first time in a few months. Let's make an effort to get there early so we can tend to our body management issues (water, food, braces, cleats, etc.), your social issues (chatting, hittin on the TULA ladies, etc.) and your warm-up (warm-up throws, getting the left knee to bend without pain, etc.) before practice. You should be ready to go full-tilt by 7:30.

Today we ran Lotto v.2.0 beta. The old lotto drill was comprised of "dump drill", "3-man" and the "Berkeley drill". Today we simply ran the latter two components. Here are a few tips to getting the most out of these drills.

LOTTO (groups of 4)
3-man
Players form a triangle with a thrower/marker, a receiver in a second spot and an "observer" in the third spot. Roles rotate with the disc. The observer should watch for travels (better to be called in practice than in a game).

3-man is a marking drill. When marking 1) get your arms out straight (it makes you bigger), 2) bend your knees and shuffle 1-step in either direction to cover the flick/backhand throws- if you are smaller than the thrower, then add a foot-kick to the end of your shuffle step to buy another 10-12" of reach. **Don't bend at the wait (ie, lean) to attempt blocks. It's too slow and you'll get broken a lot doing this.

When you are the thrower focus on: 1) good extension, 2) convincing fakes, 3) different release-points.

Berkeley
Thrower trapped sideline with a mark and a dump standing perpendicular and 10-15yards out towards the middle of the field with a defender. The marker tells his team-mate (the person covering the dump) which way he will force.

Berkeley is a cutting drill for the dump position. The standard cut is: hard upfield- if it's not open then reverse the cut back. Don't be afraid to use another dimension on this cut and button-hook back and towards the middle of the field. This will give even more separation from your defender. Throwers: try throwing to space vs. throwing into your receiver's chest. Floating a throw to space allows the receiver to sprint hard to the disc. Throwing directly at your receiver leaves little room for error and gives the defense a chance at a layout D.

As we get more comfortable with this drill we will add a reward/punishment component. Every mistake (drop or throw away) is punished with +10 pushups. Every point block is rewarded with -10 pushups. At the end of Lotto, do the math and then do the pushups (or enjoy watching others do them).

Throw for Scores.
This involves 3 lines --- a flick huck line, a backhand huck line and a cutting line. All throws should be marked. As we become more comfortable with our "force side" marks we will start marking "straight up" so that the huck is more difficult.

Throwers, this isn't a "throw as far as you can" competition. See who your cutter is and make a throw that forces the cutter to catch it in full stride. If you can only huck 20 yards then try to get the throw off right away. Throw in a fake before you huck it. Good hucks die flat (ie, it falls flat and slow buying the cutter more time to run it down -- vs. falling in a blade).
Cutters, time your cuts properly. Make eye-contact with the thrower, make a quick fake backfield and then cut hard upfield. If the huck is stopped by the mark, don't dismay -- simply pull back the reigns and reverse your cut back in towards the thrower.

Lastly, we scrimmaged. One take-home point from today's scrimmage is: keep the disc in the middle of the field when running the horizontal stack. If you receive the disc on the sideline, look to dump it to the middle asap.

Good stuff.

Remember, tryouts start tomorrow!

Kirk.

Map to Practice

That's where we practice bright and early on Monday morning...try and be there by 7:15 to be cleated by 7:30.

Peter

Tula Ladies 08

Ok Tula Ladies!
On September 6th we will have a morning pickup practice starting at 8:30am on front campus. All are welcome!

The tryout dates for Torontula Women is set for September 10th from 7:15am to 8:45am and will run throughout the week until Friday September 14th, all taking place on front campus.

Stay tuned for our meet and greet BBQ, coming in early September!

-Lexi

The season planning

And so it begins

07 Calendar

PJ