Be Purposeful

...in everything about which you care.

If you want to be good at something, you need to work at it. For example, with ultimate, sure, you need to throw a lot, play a lot, practice a lot and train a lot. But more important than that, you need to do each of these things with purpose.

You should not go out and "just toss," you should go out with some particular throws in mind that you want to work on. Examine your release point, the various flight paths, the speed at which it arrives to the target, in what direction your misses go, and everything else. Every time you catch the disc, work on something. Catching with your off hand, catching trailing edge, catching with the hand you would be least likely to use for that type of spin, whatever.

When you play, examine your play. have some personal goals every single time you step out on the field. What are you working on this weekend? Defense? Be more specific. On-disc or off-disc? Getting Ds or preventing your man from getting the disc? Is there a particular hole in your mark? Do you want to work on getting Ds underneath or on hucks? Think it through and have a plan. On O are you working to asses the field faster and move the disc? Looking for more hucks? Improving your continuation cuts? Improving the cuts you would make to initiate an offense? Where are you weak? Focus on that.

In practice, are you dialed in during every rep? Do you think about he purpose of the drill and maintain your focus on that, or do you drift off and think about last night? Do you drift forward and think about the next drill? What are you thinking about when you're watching your teammates in practice? What can you learn from the way that they react in these drills/scrimmages?

When you're training, what are your goals? What are you trying to improve? Speed? Agility? Explosiveness? Endurance? How are you working toward that end? Are you maximizing your effectiveness during intense training, or are you zoning out during 2 hour marathon sessions? Are you even interested in training?

You've got to ask yourself all of these questions and more. If the answer comes back that you don't want to put in the time, perhaps this is not the goal that you should set for yourself. If you don't relish improving your game, perhaps you need a different game. You've got to love what you're doing in order to dedicate the time and energy necessary to improve.

In the end, you need to be aware of what you're doing both on and off the field. You can learn from other players almost every day you play. You should be purposeful instead of haphazard in what you work on. Develop a plan (With room for improvisation) and stick to it. Ultimate isn't so advanced a sport that you can't make it to the top of the mountain. The difference between "elite" players and run-of-the-mill players is not genes, it is dedication.
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Workout Total
12 Minutes Circuit Training