Last month I was lucky enough to be invited to Mooncatchers training with Stef Pazzo, and coach of Mooncatchers Pierre-Alain was kind enough to let me film Moon’s flowy dish pass warm up drill. This drill marries simplicity – every person does the same thing every time – with a high density of touches on the disc. I think it would be a great drill to add the the repertoire of any team who likes to take these small dish passes.
This month we gathered together some footage from a few sessions where we ran some of our favourite keepdisc variations. These rulesets all help with positioning and spacing of the players off the disc, as well as working on core throwing, catching, and decision making skills.
Full video available for Training Tier patrons, check it out here.
In this set of drills we’re looking at patterns of play likely to follow from an open under pass. First the most classic cyclical isolation, then finding a power position from a backwards pass to dump, and then finding power position from an open under.
Full training video available here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/101433438
This exercise trains players ability to recognise space, to create space for each other, to communicate / cooperate with teammates, and to use space on the field. It’s a flexible drill so I talk about many additions, modifications, and keepdisc game conditions which can be used to run a full session on Space.
Following on from Tobe Decraene’s Run’n’Gun Loophole video, this training session covers a new Run’n’Gun drill by Felix, a variety of warm-up exercises and throwing exercises, and details on a modified game to provide more opportunities and motivation for players to try the run’n’gun move in-game. Full video available to Training Tier patrons.
This drill is a short minigame where pairs of players compete. The goal of the attackers is to use the positional advantage they have by double dribbling the disc towards the endzone whilst maintaining flow. The goal of the defenders is to stop flow and prevent the attackers from scoring. Full video available to training tier patrons.
This drill puts the spotlight on one player at a time. First they catch & throw from a feeder, passing to every player cutting under, then they bounce discs back to every player as they give-go attack downfield.
The huck extension adds a long throw to the end of the drill, after the players are set up perfectly in power position by the spotlighted player, who is bouncing the disc back to them. Full video available for Training Tier patrons.
Introduction:
Welcome ultimate frisbee coaches and players! Thank you for taking the time to look over this resource. I am a middle school ultimate frisbee coach and have been working with that age group on and off since 2015. My cocoaches and I are all middle school teachers (ages 11-14) and coach a team for our school. Up until this year (2023), I have taught my teams vertical stack, as I felt it was the best introductory offense for teaching many of the principles of the sport. This year, however, my cocoaches and I decided to try teaching hex instead, to match the shift made by the high school team in our district. We kept notes of our teaching progression and thoughts as we went to make adjusting our ultimate frisbee curriculum easier in the following years. This is a modified version of that document that omits identifying information. Please note that most of these reflections are my own, as my cocoaches and I have not yet discussed our big picture thoughts in depth. We may add/change notes once we have those discussions.
Our Programs:
We run two programs (open to all gender identities) at our school. Our casual, non-commitment club meets twice per week and runs from September to March. It is welcome to all students grades 6-8. At the end of March, we run a competitive Spring team that meets four times per week for approximately two hours. This is only open to 7th and 8th graders.
The 2023 Team:
Every team has a different feel and culture. It is important to have this context when reading our notes. This year’s team was invested in the sport and had great physical and cognitive potential. They struggled with carrying a focal point into a scrimmage, drill, or game, and had issues with team culture. I bring this up because some of the challenges this team faced were characteristic of these kids and their classmates as a whole, and were not specific to our hex for the first time.
Training Tier patrons can access the training plan here.
Reflecting on Hex
This intensive and fun 9-week training plan is a great introductory resource for youth teams and college teams too. It is aimed at teams with some players with a year or two of experience and some beginner players. This resource is available to Training Tier patrons.
Here’s a good game to expand your offence, encouraging your players to look for bigger throws to bigger spaces, and to use the space effectively by spreading out whilst staying active. Video available to Training Tier patrons.