There's been alot of chat about US teams and emulating their style of preparation in the UK. I've experienced the US system first hand so I thought I would comment on the differences and where i think they are important.
The Brits vs US: Tournaments: -We have a great thing going with the tour. It is an aspect that each American that has been here has longed for when they return home. The US system is very scattered. With top teams playing 1-3 warm up tournaments before the fall series. The standard of which can vary from 2-8 top teams in each tournament and many are invite only due to very small formats (it is very difficult for developing teams to break into these tournaments until they reach in the top 8 at nationals). -Almost all tournaments are an expensive plane journey away or 16+ hours in a car. Due to this the focus at all these tournaments is high (less so in the spring series – US teams take July off) because they are so rare. -For the frequency and attendance of our UK tournaments we must be very grateful. It is the aspect of ultimate that has brought us and kept us at the international level we are. However familiarity can cause us to be complacent (as this season showed). Upping the importance of events and reducing the tour events to 3 + regionals + nationals seems to be the most sensible solution. This also allows for a European tournament for all levels of players. [e.g. OW, Druids, Mohawks, princess layout have all benefited from European play without being national champs, their players have then gone on to teams who play at a top level] Teams: Contrary to belief most US ‘geo’ teams do not all live within a 30mi radius and practice together 3 times a week. The distances in America are large, but players do not always play for their closest team! There is, however, a greater commitment to the training. Players fly in for a weekend camp or drive 3 hours midweek] This commitment to training means that you can have a productive session with everyone focus on that training’s goal and there is a definite goal to every training!. Training: This is the point that distinguishes the US teams from any European team and should be the reason that ANY geo team (mixed or otherwise) should always beat a non-geo team. The way the US trains to the UK is different!! They train hard and focused. They do fitness training incorporated into training and also separately. Most importantly they drill. Not the square drill, the flow drill, the endzone drill or any of the other standard British game warm-ups, but properly drill their Offence and defence. I’m sure most of you reading this will say… hang on we drill our O and D. I can promise it is nothing like it. Being out of position in UK is an Opps, being out of position in the US is a disaster and you are letting your team down, they know it, you know it and you lose playing time because of it. The same goes for the correct throwing option. The offence is so well drilled that everyone knows where the throw is going to go – no mental computations involved. Each player also knows how to play every position but yet limited to the role they are called for. In the UK I have not seen from any team, outside of the open top 4, who actually drill offences to a level where they gain an advantage over a less drilled team. Even in the top 4 this is done with varying success. More than anything else this showed in the GB squads across every division in Finland. A more drilled team will always have the advantage from a static disc (just like a set piece) and with the increased number of calls the Americans and Japanese make, there is plenty of static disc! Shortened season: Just a miny word of warning when comparing the US short season to ours. The US players are all hikers, skiers, runners, basketball players, surfers etc.. in the off season. In the off-Season the UK players are for the most part pub golf players, smokers and drinkers. It is possible that any dramatic shortening of the season will most like reduce the general level of fitness (this was one reason winter league was actively embraced). These were just a few thoughts about the US/UK playing scene. I think it easy to think that everything a US team is right and everything a Uk team is wrong, which i do not believe is true. Mostly I would like to see us take the advantage of our close geography to surpass the US. This type of discussion plus the conference in October should send us in the right direction. In the meantime I’ll be off in the next month to play my third UPA fall series. It is against teams with players, that I know are individually no better than my fellow GB players but together they form a stronger unit. Bex -- Rebecca Forth Portex Research Fellow Portex Anaesthesia, Intensive Therapy & Respiratory Unit Institute of Child Health 30 Guilford Street London WC1N 1EH __________________________________________________ BritDisc mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://zion.ranulf.net/mailman/listinfo/britdisc Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/informed.asp
