Breaking the Mark

This is going to be a short post, but it's super important - everybody needs to be able to break the mark consistently (at the very least, to be able to swing the disc off the trap sideline).

There are a lot of ways to break a mark, and a lot of skills that can be useful for doing so.  The most important skills are probably the ability to fake effectively and pivot quickly - just by doing those two things you can almost always get off any break throw you want.  Those things are pretty easy to work on, though they take a lot of time and reps - I always tell my teammates that they should be pivoting, faking, and working on grip transitions whenever they can.  Carry a disc with you, work on faking and pivoting while you're watching TV, etc.  There are other skills that are more difficult to work on, but become more important the more you try to improve your breakmark throws.

One of the biggest mistakes I see younger throwers making when trying to break the mark is the way they pivot - they step forward with their pivots, and the result is that they only cover a foot or two of horizontal space when moving from flick to backhand.  Watch somebody struggling in a 3-man marking drill, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

This is something that is covered and explained in greater detail by Mario O'Brien of RiseUp in Season 6, Episode 1.  Every ultimate player should watch this video - the skills he talks about are absolutely crucial in breaking the mark consistently.  Even if you think you don't need to be able to break the mark, you're wrong.  Watch the video, try it in your next breakmark drill, get better.