How to call a line

You are on the line at the start of the point with six teammates. You need to communicate your plan to them for this point.

What do you say?

How do you communicate it?

There are three important aspects to consider.

Being predictable (you want to have a routine that your teammates know).
Being clear (speaking loudly and authoritatively so your teammates know they have to listen)
Being efficient (each sentence is communicating one idea in a few words)

You know you're doing this well if no-one asks questions at the end, and no-one chimes in.

Here is a sample line call:

1. We have 7. We're on D. (This gets people listening. If you're wrong someone will correct you on either item.)
2. We're forcing backhand (The plan.)
3. Fred is on 1, Jimmy is on 2, Tina is on 3, Jane is on 4, etc (Call the match ups from left to right, with their name first so they listen. Assign key defenders to key targets but don't worry about the three or four least important matchups too much)
4. We're straight up to backhand (Repeat the plan since people may have forgotten the plan. There are good listeners and poor listeners on every team.)
5. On offence, we're in a vertical stack (The plan for offence.)
6. Let's really take away the under cuts (Emphasise what we want to focus on. This message can really set the tone so choose how you say it.)
7. <wait> (This is the time for teammates to communicate - with you, with the sideline, with each other)
8. We're forcing backhand, vertical on O (Repeat the plans once more)

Choosing your language

The language you use in a community or team sets the atmosphere and direction of the group.

So what words and terms does your team use now?

Which expressions do you want to use?

Here are some to compare, with implications that vary from obvious to subtle:

1. "Stop turning it over, guys" vs "Let's take the simple options"
2. "Our focus is to score every time we have the disc" vs "Our focus is to be assertive every time we have the disc"
3. "We've been running really hard" vs "We're running really hard"
4. "We want take away the deep cuts" vs "We're going to take away the deep cuts"
5. "After a turnover, we're gonna play zone" vs "If we're on D, we're gonna play zone"
6. "You need to stack deeper" vs "We are going to stack deeper"  
7. "Let's play man when we are on D" vs "Let's match up when we are on D"

I would suggest that successful teams want to use language that is positive, phrased in terms of the controllables, phrased in the present or near future, creates the desired behaviour instead of wishing for it, focussed on the task at hand instead of errors, inclusive of speaker and listeners, and inclusive of both women and men. Each of the comparisons listed above highlights one of those features.

You and your team can make a conscious decision to use the language of winning. It starts at your next training or game. 

Positions on offence ain't positions on defence

Just because you are a handler on offence, doesn't mean you will always serve your team best by defending handlers.

Just because you are a receiver on offence, doesn't mean you will always serve your team best by defending receivers.

Those were the main messages I got from this article on basketball matchups.

In fact, the traditional convention of 3 handlers, 2 mids/cutters and 2 longs/receivers might have served a purpose for assigning pull reception roles for a few plays in the past, but it doesn't describe what most players are doing in most systems these days.

I know that the 2008 Dingoes had a variety of roles.

Player A: on offence, a handler who didn't huck and was a semi-regular deep threat; on defence he defended handlers
Player B: on offence, a handler and in-cutter; on defence he defended handlers and under cutters, but got blocks when he could afford to poach off his man
Player C: on offence, an in-cutter; on defence he defended handlers
Player D: on offence, a long; on defence he defended handlers or cutters

So a different system might be needed to describe roles, particularly for defence. Being called a "handler" doesn't tell you what your role is on defence.

Naming a licence

So I like to name things (eiffel cut, gender bender, Lois Lane, turbo D, tiger, T-bone, alpha and beta pulls, etc).

But I need a new term for an aspect of Ultimate.

We talk about someone having a licence to pull, e.g. "Barry, that was a terrible pull, your licence to pull is revoked".

Now on a team with 14 average players, and one superstar thrower, a team may decide they want the superstar to get more touches, and take more risks with their throws, because the rewards are worth it.

And if the rest of the team is told they should engage their dump on a 5 count, but the superstar doesn't have to, because their throws upfield on an 8 count are better than the average player on a 0 count, what is the name of that licence?