Ultimate Frisbee - A Captain's Guide to Team Congruency

As the captain of a young Ultimate team, I realized that I needed something to use to make sure everyone on the team had the same foundation to build on. My experience does not equal anyone else's and my inclinations on the field are not shared by everyone. 

In previous years, for example, we had plays that were named after players that are gone or unknown to new teammates. We have a range of skill levels from beginner to nationals caliber. We have a difference in opinion on where cuts come from in a Vert stack. To make sure we are all on the same page and acting as a single, cohesive unit, I wanted a reference-able source material we could all access easily. 

So, I spent a weekend putting together this ~40 page booklet with plays, drawings, principles and more to make sure everyone is on the same page. It's a starting point. 
I predominately play mixed club ultimate these days but everything in here can be easily applied to opxn, womxn's, college and high school teams. 

Why am I qualified to write this? 

Partially because I had the time and energy to write this, partially because I have played ultimate for over ten years now. I put in my 10,000 hours and have played on high school, college, summer league, and club teams. I've played in nearly 20 states, 3 countries and two continents. I've been an assistant to the coach, coach, captain, sideline presence, handler, cutter, D line, O line and basically everything else you can do on an ultimate team. 

Who is this for?

If you are a coach, captain, or in a leadership position on an Ultimate team, this is for you. If you are a player that has noticed a lack of cohesion on your team, this is for you. If you are an assistant coach and noticed that the head coach does not seem to have their head on straight, this is for you. Are you a history teach that got roped into coaching your high school's team because you knew how to throw a flick? Definitely for you. Are you John Gross, multi year coach of the winningest mixed team in club history? (Drag'N Thrust). This is not for you. 
If your primary focus is on teaching the rules of the game to a brand new team, this is not the starting point. If your team has routinely made a run at nationals, it's probably a safe bet that you don't need this either. It can be free though so what the heck, why not check it out? 

If you just need ideas for drills to run at practice, this is not for you. 

What is included? 

Principles of ultimate that are often unspoken. E.g. be quick but not in a hurry, & don't be stagnant, & Focus on winning transitions. 

Options for O line plays and D line sets. 

Really good drawings and visuals. Really bad drawings and visuals. 

40+ pages of content. 

FAQs: 

Will this teach me the rules of the game? No

Can high schools read this? What about college or club players? yes to all. I would highly recommend sharing this with the entire team so everyone is on the same page. Really, I would recommend taking this as a starting point and making it your own based on your team's skill level. Add other plays you like to run. Get rid of the dumb zones I think are effective. Do whatever you need to do to make it work for your team. 

Will this guide get my team to Nationals? No. I mean maybe. But this is really meant to be a foundational text used to align the team. Once aligned, execution is still up to you. 

Will this guide have typos, unclear instructions and contradict itself at times? Yes. 

Are there refunds? No, this is a pay what you want guide. I would recommend paying nothing if you are worried about the value here. If there is value, please come on back, download it again and pay what you think is fair. 

Why is the recommend price $40? Are you crazy? Most teams have roughly 20 people on them. $2/ person is pretty reasonable (I think). I anticipate that coaches or captains will buy this once and just send the pdf to everyone on the team. If you want to have your whole team buy this separately, paying $1-3/ person would be great. Or pay whatever feels right.

What if everyone knows what we are doing? There is an old story (that I will butcher) about a martial artist telling their opponent what attacks they were going to use in an upcoming bout. The opponent, thinking the fighter was an idiot, spent the next few weeks focused on defending the expected attacks. 
When it came time to fight, the opponent had spent so much time worrying about how to stop the expected attacks, they were not ready for their own offensive movement. 
The lesson being, if you are a master of your own strategy, no defense can stop you, even if they know what is coming.