The Worst Advice in Ultimate (1st Edition)

I'll be writing more than one of these kinds of posts. Their order will be random. And I should say that I don't know what THE worst advice in Ultimate is, but I do know a handful of things that are among the contenders. And further, these posts will only include discussion of commonly heard pieces of advice. I think for it to qualify as "advice in Ultimate," it has to be said more than a couple times by a couple foolish players.

I've actually been writing the list for this series of posts in my head for a while now, but it wasn't until this weekend at the first outdoor practice that I was reminded it's time to start writing them where everyone listens: my two reader blog. Hearing, "when you're cutting, make your cut straight at your defender," is what triggered my memory.

Before I continue, I should note that I honestly don't know exactly how effective the "cut straight at him" technique is. What I do know is:

(1) it's virtually useless against me
(2) it's dangerous
(3) it's a foul if the defender fails to or doesn't move out of the way
(4) it's not difficult using a different technique that doesn't risk (2) or (3)

I think the advice isn't inherently among the worst, but combined with the fact that you so often hear it given without a follow-up on what to do AFTER you've charged your defender, clearly places it among the worst. I guess when people preach the "cut straight at him" strategy, they assume it's obvious what you do next. Frankly, I wonder if even the preachers know what to do.

Along similar lines is the defensive equivalent of this, which is "jump in front of your man when he cuts." I don't put this advice in the same "worst" category, mostly because, quite simply, the defense works. In fact, it works remarkably well. Too bad it's cheating. Case in point, at Regionals 2003, it was seemingly the only way CUT played D on us when I was playing for Minnesota. That year we had a number of players still learning, but our offensive was for the most part very effective (against man defense, our Zone O sucked as always). I'm not spewing sour grapes here or trying to say, "CUT is a bunch of cheaters," I'm just saying that CUT flat out shut us down with that D. And with a mostly green squad, most of our players failed to recognize the fouls when they occurred. It's different from the "cut straight at him" advice because the "jump in front of him" technique actually works. Fact is, though, this defensive strategy is categorically a foul, which makes consciously doing it illegal (i.e. cheating). The truly foolish part about this technique is that so many players have been taught that "I got to my position first" is an argument to contest the foul. Unfortunately for them, rule XVI.I.8.b* clearly states establishing position first does not grant the perpetrator clemency for his infraction (unless of course there was ample time for the moving player to adjust his cut).

The common thread between these bad pieces of advice reminds me of the flaws in this game; the game that from my non-Ultimate friends' perspectives seems comically important to me at times. I don't think by any means do these flaws make it a less great game, but it does sadden me a bit when these flaws make it less fun.

Still to come: "Watch His Hips"


* When the disc is not in the air, players may not take a position that is unavoidable by a moving opponent when time, distance, and line of sight are taken into account. Contact resulting from a player taking an unavoidable position is a foul on the blocking player.