Why You Are Not Making Progress (by Yuri Marmerstein) [Part 2]

This is part 2 (of 2) of this post; you can check out part 1 here.

My brother recently wrote this post, where he talks about some of the potential pitfalls and mistakes people make when they are trying to make progress in hand balancing.  As is the case with many of his posts, I think there are a lot of parallels that can be drawn between hand balancing and ultimate; I go through some of Yuri's points below, with my comments in italics.

-You train with the wrong methodology
Always remember what your goals and expectations are.  Are you training as a competitive gymnast?  If the answer is no, it may not be worth learning your handstand like one.  The same applies with yoga, circus, breakdance, and other handstand styles.
Ultimately, this is an individual practice, so find what works for you without getting caught up in too many dogmas.
Different acrobatic skills will also require different variations of the handstand.

Remember that we are ultimate players, not cross country runners or football linemen.  Make sure you are training appropriately.

-Your view of 'progress' is too narrow
There are many ways to get better at a skill, and many of them are not as obvious as you would think.  Handstand hold time and body line are pretty obvious things to work towards, but things like efficiency in entry/exit, cleanliness of balance, consistency, fluidity of transitions and ability to save a fall also very important elements.
Improving on these is just as important, even if you're not actively improving your line of hold times by doing so.

This is something I see a lot with younger players, and some more experienced people as well. Often, players can get frustrated because they don't see exactly the results they want to see - for example, they still aren't able to complete 60 yard hucks, but they don't realize that as a result of the practice they've been putting in, their 30 yard throws are much more reliable.  This is one reason that I think it is very important to talk to and get feedback from teammates, captains and coaches - self-assessing is great, but usually you need an outside perspective as well.

-You get too caught up in PRs
Unless you were performing a feat of endurance, your longest hold time is not something you should get too caught up on.
Hit 60 seconds?  Great!  How many attempts in a row can you hit that same number?  Ascending skill levels is going to take thousands of repetitions, so what we're looking for is consistency.  How long can you hold your handstand on the first attempt after rolling out of bed in the morning?  That's what I would be more interested in.

If you're playing ultimate, it doesn't necessarily matter how far you can throw a disc, or how high you can jump, or how quickly you can change directions.  As Yuri points out, consistency is the name of the game.  Can you still throw that forehand 70 yards with a mark in your face and a cutter open by 2 yards? Can you learn to holster that same throw when the matchup isn't favorable? What about when the wind picks up - does your 70 yard huck turn into a 90 yard huck that sails out of bounds?

Don't get me wrong, you can be a good player with just the raw skills I listed above.  But if you want to be great, you have to be able to execute them again and again, and to integrate them with other skills and with situations that are presented to you in a game.  To finish off this point (which is likely one I'll revisit in the future), here's another quote from "Relentless" by Tim Grover:

Most people are ready for one scenario, they can't even envision ten; they're completely paralyzed by all the possible variables, and when one thing goes wrong, they can't adjust.  You can practice the same shot over and over, until you can do it blindfolded.  Great, now can you do it if I hit you with a sandbag while you shoot?  Can you focus if I blast horrible music or scream in your face?  When you always go according to plan, you get robotic and lose that innate ability to know what to do when plans suddenly change, when you're confronted by the unexpected. 

-You spend too much time training on your own
I love training alone, but it has its pitfalls.  It reminds me of this quote:

"Solitude has but one disadvantage--it is apt to give one too high an opinion of one's self. In the world we are sure to be often reminded of every known or supposed defect we may have."
- Lord Byron

We all have a skewed perception of ourselves, so there are simply things we cannot notice or correct when it comes to our personal form.  For this reason, it's useful to have a teacher or training partner, at least every so often.

On this note, I think it's important to seek out new opportunities to play with new people. Whether that is local leagues, organizing teams for tournaments in the off-season, or just going to pick-up, try to play with as many different people as you can.  If possible, try to play with and against people that are better than you.

-You don't do enough research
You might be someone who just likes to try something to see what happens.  In handstands, it's possible to progress this way for some people.  However, eventually there will come a point where some guidance is needed to continue progress or correct bad habits.
This is where it helps to observe, watch videos, and take notes to get ideas from other sources.

There are very few ultimate players who watch enough film.  If you listen to or watch interviews with players from more popular sports (e.g. basketball), you can get an idea of just how much they watch film and prepare for each game and opponent.  We don't necessarily have the ability to do that in ultimate, but for some opponents you can sometimes gain an upper hand by watching them play (either in person or on film).  What moves do they use to get open? What are their favorite throws? What do other defenders do that seem to bother them or shut them down?

-You do too much research
Knowledge is important, but ultimately meaningless without proper implementation.  I encourage vast amounts of research, but there should be a good ratio between researching and doing.  There are too many people well versed in theory but with little practice in it.
Don't be that guy.

Again, I doubt there are any players (maybe some coaches) that watch "too much" film or read about ultimate too much.  Especially now, during the offseason, take advantage of the extra time you have not being able to play outside and read up on the game.