Possible to out manuver a d?

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[wlflover]

Hey there. So I play with alot of fast guys. When we were doing a cutting drill no matter how sharp my angle on cutting I couldn't lose my D. One of our captains came over and said if I make sharper cuts I should be able to lose the guy. From my two years of experience this doesn't seem true. I don't run very fast compared to the other guys and I am slow when i change direction. What do you think? Is there anything I can do to lose a D better? 

[Ben-I]

Hey there. So I play with alot of fast guys. When we were doing a cutting drill no matter how sharp my angle on cutting I couldn't lose my D. One of our captains came over and said if I make sharper cuts I should be able to lose the guy. From my two years of experience this doesn't seem true. I don't run very fast compared to the other guys and I am slow when i change direction. What do you think? Is there anything I can do to lose a D better? 

This is pretty obviously the key. You need to hit the track to work on speed, and work on making your cuts quicker.

[mwitmer15]

It is going to be difficult to get open on faster players if you cannot change direction quickly.  If your captain says you need to make sharper cuts, it's possible that it's just your agility or it could be possible that you don't fully understand what your captain means by "sharper cuts."  You mention the cutting angle, so you probably do understand it.  But I find many players who think they are making sharp cuts are really not.  So maybe get him/her to demonstrate what he/she thinks you are doing vs what you should be doing.  I dunno.

The simpler explanation is that it's your agility.  A good place to start would be to work on your one legged strength.  After a few weeks try doing some agility drills.

Another large component of getting open is the timing of your cuts.  This is more important than speed for getting the disc in a game.  And this is hard to replicate in drills.  Are you having trouble getting open during scrimmages or just during the drills?

When I learned to play it was with a bunch of guys who were faster than me also.  The bad news is, it can be difficult and frustrating.  The good news is if you can learn to get open then you have truly learned how to cut vs learning how to get open on speed.

[wlflover]

I'm a girl playing with guys and it seems like I can get open during scrimmage but during drills I normally do not because they are right there on my hip.

[mwitmer15]

Ah.  I am a woman who learned to play with guys also.  If you're getting open in the scrimmages, then you're probably doing alright.  I still occasionally do drills w/ some guys I play pickup with.  Much harder getting open in drills than it is while playing.  Still, if you are shorter (because of a lower center of gravity) if anything will allow you to get open, it will most likely be your agility.  But each player has to find their own strengths and refine them.  Good luck!

[wlflover]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm not too much shorter than the guys just not very fast.  I do have endurance!

[SouthwestUltimate]

I would worry more about getting open in a game than in a drill, simply because in most drills the defender knows you are going to cut.
Next, cut harder, by which I mean plant your foot really hard and then push off in as close to the opposite direction as you can(180-135 degree cut)  If your cutting foot never actually stops moving, then you probably aren't cutting hard/sharp enough.  Cutting really hard can be hard on the knees, so don't overdue it until you have built up some strength.
Next, try to implement the stutter step, which sometimes can be as simple as slowing and starting to twist your body as if you are about to cut, then continuing the original cut, and sometimes means actually making two drastic changes in direction as rapidly as possible
Another great thing to do is watch the old/overweight handlers and see how they get open, and then pick their brains.  If necessary, just become a really good thrower so you can become a handler rather than a cutter.  This requires a lot of throwing practice while being marked; most ultimate players spend way to much time throwing without a mark, and not nearly enough with one.

[AndyHarry]

One of the best ways to equalize athleticism is to fool your defender. If you can get yourself into a position where your defender loses sight of you, eve for a split second, you'll have a lot of separation. Another good way to get open is to take off deep, and really act like your going to the house hard, huffing and puffing, but hold back a little so you can make a quick and controlled direction change. The second your guy realizes, 'Oh crap, I'd better get on this!' and starts to accelerate to chase you down, plant and go back in. He's going to expend a ton of energy to accelerate in that first step and then having to stop and double back as soon as he turns his hips is going to slow him down immensely. It's difficult to reverse the kind of force, acceleration and momentum that is generated at the beginning of a sprint.

[Roundabout]

This thread is helping me out with my game too, so thanks to everyone for helping out! Keep the pointers coming! I am similar to OP, definitely not as quick as most of the other guys I play with.

AndyHarry: What you've suggested is basically the same as a post or button-hook in football right? How many other kinds of football cuts could apply to ultimate? I don't suppose jukes would be of much use except for quick direction change, but that's what cuts are for aren't they?

[AndyHarry]

The key is giving yourself the most time to get away. You won't get away if you don't sell your defender into doing something wrong. That's why you need to get him to turn and take off, and as soon as he commits to chasing you deep, come underneath. If he doesn't commit to chasing you deep, i.e., he backpedals along with you when you run deep instead of turning around and committing to give chase, he's going to be right on your hip when you come underneath.

A post is a football cut that begins on the sideline and slants to the middle of the field (toward the goalpost). It is totally different than a buttonhook. Either way, a lot of football is the quarterback and receiver timing up a cut, a spot and a throw so that as soon as the receiver comes out of his break and turns toward the quarterback, the ball is already there. In ultimate, you have some of that as well. A good thrower is throwing to a spot and he's counting on you to get there first. In ultimate, the cut is usually set up with more running than football, which start to finish is only about 2-4 seconds before the ball is thrown and the play is over.