One of my favorite Ultimate activities is fast becoming the "Clinics" we run for new Ultimate players before League starts. It's hard to describe why it's so much fun - sure, part of it is introducing new players to the game, the inherent joy of teaching (if you're into that sort of thing), and the cashing in of all this playing and practicing and skills to really be able to show a group of initiates what it's all about. On top of that, though, is a nostalgia-driven love-fest, just remembering days on the quad and all the teaching / learning events that have taken place in your life. Everyone is hyper-vigilant about congratulating everyone on each nice throw and catch, quick to compliment a good decision even if the throw ends up being horrendous. On top of THAT, all the usual tom-foolery that happens when you get good Ultimate players together in a decidedly non-fiery competitive environment - crazy throws, heckling, etc. Just great, great times.
Jose pulled all the newbies aside on Thursday before we started scrimmaging and ran through some basics, even employing a "walk-through" point which beck and I had talked about as being a good idea to initiate newbies to structure instead of just throwing them in the mix. It worked really well; Beck pointedly commented how nice it was to have someone spelling things out in this situation as opposed to the unstructured mess that can occur when players who think they know exactly what they're doing refuse to specify what the design and structure are. After a few points of slow-paced walk through, stops and constant instruction, we gradually let the game develop a flow of its own, still stopping to instruct occasionally and incorporating a few more veteran players to give the night a sort of "evolved structure." It worked well, and I think across the board the rookies learned a lot more than they would have by just showing up cold for league games next week.
Just a FUN night. And for me, it really spilled over into softball the following evening - we were playing an 0-10 team, and the games was vastly more about having fun and letting people play and learn than who was going to win. Lots of friendly trash-talk barbs on both sides, just a happy night - and thanks to some rather incompetent batting / fielding / pitching on our part, um, I guess all around bad softball, the other team came back to win the second game in the bottom of the last inning. And as Brock pointed out, "From a utilitarian standpoint, that was probably the best thing that could've happened." True that.
Really looking forward to league and more sports clinics to come. I should probably get into coaching youth Ultimate once my knees finally shatter. Something to think about.
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