The interplay between dribbling and hucking

How hucking and dribbling can enable each other to increase your competitive edge

Historically I have been known as a big thrower tall receiver type guy, this meant that my opponents would be prepared for a big ball style of play and would do what they could to make it more difficult for me.

As competitors there are two fundamental ways we can try increase our likelihood of emerging victorious.

1. Lower the opponents winning chances (Make whatever they want to do harder)

2. Increase your winning chances (Get better at doing what you want to do)

At its simplest this is what is happening tactically from one on one matchups all the way to season long strategic direction. As a tall player I realised I could use these preconceived notions of being a big ball style player to my advantage. Assuming I could get good at moving the disc quickly and being agile in small spaces; the effectiveness of that movement would be multiplied if the defense instead attempts to stop me hucking the disc or cutting deep.

Extrapolating this theory it then figures that eventually the defense will need to give extra thought to my small ball tendencies which then should allow me to open up my hucking game more easily once again. And so continues the perpetual game of tug-o-war. Although this example has been distilled down to just two dimensions, these give and take mind games are often multifaceted and are how I internally frame many decisions in Ultimate. You'll probably see this reflected through more of my writing in the future.

I have always liked moving the disc quickly. I don't think it is directly correlated to my background in football but I don't think its a coincidence that to me the most satisfying moves in football are strings of one touch passes to generate a scoring threat.

The progression of my small ball style is documented in the following few notable give go moves of my career.

NZ vs USA at WJUC 2018

The comment on this clip helped me realise that this style of Ultimate was desirable viewing which started to reprogram the "huck good, jump high" endorphin generation in my brain towards the "I am speed" mindset I am more aligned with these days.

My technique improved over the following few years, partially through attentive practice of the skills in question but I think more so through the enjoyment of play. Messing around, trying to throw the disc to whoever is ready as quickly as possible, to the extreme, gave me more understanding of my own limits. This meant, come game time, I could (sometimes) dial back the cadence to something more reasonable that fit in with my ability and the expectations of receivers.

One clip that exemplifies this energy is from an interfaculty tournament from my last year of uni, a wide range of skills on the field but really just able to involve everyone on the field and have some fun with it.

This one is just fun I can't not include it, a little spin move to initiate some flow across the field that as the defence compressed to stop the flow opened up a larger throw for the goal.

The next clip is from the great run we had in 2022 with Huiripari to win NZMUC, in this clip we are up against the top Christchurch mixed team (Credo). This season was also the first time I had been largely involved with coaching a team that I was playing on. Being a major voice in coaching meant that this quick style of play was expected and practiced to a higher degree than any other team I had been with prior. During this clip you can pause any time I catch the disc and see that if there were ready receivers the disc likely would have progressed downfield and maintained momentum in that direction. However in the clip this doesn't occur except in the scoring pass so instead the momentum of the disc is reversed to get the defence on the back foot which opens up the field more each time the disc is passed.

This next one is from the finals against Ellipsis in 2023, the play starts with a blade over the stack to the tallest player on the field who is very poached. This throw being unexpected gives the offense the advantage right from the start, the quick give goes of the team then maintains this advantage up until we score.

This last clip is from the most recent competitive event I played, with BIG Ultimate Club. This shows a full point where nothing extra special occurs but the whole point has consistent cadence and the movement and spacing means the defence struggles to stop options that in isolation aren't super threatening but cumulative over a point are.

In conclusion - I love moving the disc quickly, not only is it fun but it also gives a competitive advantage by creating threats and being high percentage. Hopefully this blog makes people play tighter on me which will allow me to return to my natural traits and chase plastic deep into the endzone.

p.s. I didn't know where else to clearly make this point but it follows that if you are gifted at give goes and small ball, learning to cut deep and huck the disc effectively will then give you more space to tear up with give goes once teams start needing to stop that threat.