getting ready for the fall season

with another year of summer league done with, i figure it's a good time to talk about what you can do to get into shape for whatever the next season of ultimate is.  i'll break it up into a couple different days of stuff.

first, as an overview, what does it mean to be in shape for ultimate?  in terms of other sports, soccer and lacrosse are probably the most similar in terms of gameplay and fitness requirements.  there are elements of football, but obviously it doesn't have the same kind of continuous gameplay that ultimate does.  so, with that said, what to you need to do to be in ultimate shape?

the most important thing in my mind is endurance.  this is pretty self-explanatory.  if you don't have the endurance to play a full point, you won't be able to do much on the field besides stand around.

after endurance is speed/agility.  again, fairly self-explanatory.  if you don't have speed and can't change direction very well, you will be almost totally ineffective as a cutter or a defender, and again, you won't be able to do much besides stand around.

last on the list is strength.  this is not to devalue raw strength in an ultimate game, but as a non-contact sport (in theory at least), you don't need strength as much as you need running ability.  you could be a very weak person, and still be effective based on simple running ability.  however, strength i think is usually overlooked for this reason exactly.  the biggest reason strength is important is it just makes you stronger and more resilient, and therefor, less prone to injury (strength makes you stronger...that might be the most insightful thing i've ever said).  apart from the health benefit that strength will give you, it will also give you an advantage, particularly when it comes to 50-50 discs, and especially 50-50 discs in the air.  if a throw goes up, and the receiver and defender converge at the same time, almost 100% of the time, the stronger person will come out on top.  strength allows you to more effectively box people out, put your body in the way of the disc, fight through a hard D, etc.  IMHO, developing strength is the easiest and fastest way to dramatically improving your game.  obviously different people have different philosophies, but talk to almost any high level ultimate player and they will tell you that hitting the weight room was one of the best decisions of their lives.

put these three factors together, endurance, speed/agility, strength, and you will find yourself performing dramatically better on the field.